More Spent on Drugs & Prostitution than Beer & WIne, Say Government Statistics

Whilst pubs are closing left right and centre, the drug and prostitution sectors appear to be in good health - and growing dramatically!

The Office of National Statistics have reported that consumers in the UK spend more on illegal drugs and prostitution than on beer and wine. Well, not in our village (to the best of my knowledge).

They say that £12.3 billion was spent on drugs and prostitution - but only £11 billion on Beer and Wine. So HMG gather billions in tax and duty from B & W but naff all from D &P (both D & P being recorded as miscellaneous goods and services, presumably!!)

I wonder if HMG are going to introduce as many laws for D & P as they have for B & W, and then ensure that the tax revenue grows from such activities? I doubt it, myself. Much easier to go on persecuting the poor old publican!

We run courses on Drug Awareness and preventing same, but not got into a course on prostitution yet. However, good to see there are some growth industries in the UK!

Has the world gone mad?


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of Inn-Dispensable Personal Licence Training

£90 Million Boost For UK Tourism (and Pub Trade?)

More good news for the hospitality sector; HMG has committed a further £90 million to help promote the UK as a place to visit and do business in. Forecasts are that some 32.6 million people will visit these shores during 2014, spending some £21.5billion!

New markets for our visitors to come from include China, Malaysia, South Korea and Mexico, and new (relaxed) visa regulations are forecast to see a step change in visitor numbers from these countries.

Now being that pubs are in the center of hospitality in the UK and being that "to visit a British Pub" is often on the list of reasons to visit the UK, it seems to me there is a few quid to be made here by our over-worked, under-paid (apparently) licensees.

I have tried to work out on my calculator that if say 20% of the £21.5 billion is spent in pubs and that there are some 50000 pubs left, how much could each see in their tills? Unfortunately my calculator does not allow for such large numbers, all it tells me is that there is plenty to go around!

Which pubs will benefit the most? I'll bet it's those that market their businesses the best! 'Hospitality' is the Bedrock of the UK economy, so says a report from Visit Britain and their GREAT campaign; The Great British Pub is at the heart of it!!


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of Inn-Dispensable Personal Licence Courses

Scrapping The Personal Licence Is Insanity

If you have ever wondered how HMG views alcohol, and therefore pubs, well here is the government department in charge of all matters relating to alcohol: The Home Office. The Home Office amongst other things, deals with: Drugs, Crime, Counter Terrorism, Passports.

Alcohol and therefore pubs used to be under the control of The Department for Culture Media and Sport, they deal with; “Making Britain the most creative and exciting place to live in, VISIT and do business in”. Now all surveys dealing with why people visit Britain always have “visiting a British Pub“ high on the list, why then is our sector controlled by the department dealing with criminals, terrorists and drug dealers and not the department dealing with visitors and making Britain exciting?

Of course there are issues around alcohol, of course we need to sell and consume alcohol responsibly, of course we need to educate children on its adverse effects, of course we need to protect staff in A&E against abusive alcohol soaked idiots, of course we need to ensure bar staff do not sell to drunken people or underage children of course we need to reduce the cost to the country of alcohol abuse, of course we need to do something about days work lost though alcohol, of course we need to do something about domestic violence caused by alcohol, of course of course of course (the list goes on).

But hang on a minute, we do have an industry that employs around 900,000 people, generates billions in tax and satisfies all of those tourists, so now why is HMG proposing that we do a way with Personal Licences to sell alcohol? It is the one element of the 2003 Licensing Act that brought knowledge and professionalism to the trade and taught staff how to sell alcohol responsibly (my previous blogs offer a full description).

Here are some of HMGs (insane) proposals regarding Personal Licences:
• No-one need have one unless it is a condition impose by the Local Authority on the Premises Licence
• No-one need have Criminal Record check to sell alcohol unless stipulated as a condition on the Premises Licence
• Any training will be by way of a Training Certificate (not examination)

So currently we have a test of knowledge by way of examination which is the building block of getting young people onto a professional journey into the licensed trade; It works, it is respected, it is universal, it is inexpensive (around £150) it is held by around a quarter of a million bar staff.

Is it that as the numbers seeking a Personal Licence are dwindling (because so many have already obtained one) that HMG see a reduction in income for local authorities and so they want to devise something new for which they can charge? (Just one of the many conspiracy theories abounding).

If handed to local authorities, look out for the Politicisation of regulations around alcohol!

It is not broken do not mend it!!


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of Inn-Dispensable Personal Licence Courses

Should We Scrap Personal Licences And Risk Lawlessness in UK Pubs?

Personal Licences were introduced as part of the new Licensing Act 2003 (introduced on November 24th 2005) to effectively provide a qualification by way of training and examination, thereby ensuring those who sell alcohol (and authorise others to sell alcohol) actually know the law of the land and how to ensure alcohol is sold responsibly.

Sound thinking and sound rationale, which replaced the previous system where new licencees had to appear before a magistrate's bench and be challenged on their knowledge of licensing laws - with no national standards of interrogation. So far so good. Thousands of bar staff, off-licence staff and supermarket staff, etc, have achieved the required qualification which in turn has given them a foot on the ladder of professionalism in our industry. So why now should HMG believe it is not fit for purpose? Is it because local authorities have been so depleted of resource, they cannot cope with the administration? Is that what is really behind it?

There are flaws in the Personal Licence system, for example a pub could legally get by with just one Personal Licence Holder (who might also be the Designated Premises Holder, the person in overall charge of the day-to-day running of a Licenced Premises) then have another 6 staff who sell alcohol under the authority of the Personal Licence Courses Holder (you still with me?) but those 6 staff would not have need to have a CRB check (part of the Personal Licence requirement) at all and so could be villains galore.

Maybe the answer is that ALL those selling alcohol should have a Personal Licence, not do away with them?

If our industry is serious about raising professionalism, then understanding the Licensing Law is a vital start point. There's no point in studying: customer service, cellar management, financials controls, wine dispensing, menu planning, employment law, marketing, merchandising, chalkboard skills, pricing strategies, competitor activity - and about another 30 items that a real professional licencee or bar person needs to know - if the first thing you do is to serve someone under-age, or someone who appears to be intoxicated, or serve someone outside of permitted hours, only to find yourself heavily fined or sent to Prison!

Once again we see the UK Government looking to interfere where interference is not needed!


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of Inn-Dispensable Personal Licence Courses