Drugs Awareness Pub Training - Online Mock Exam

Inn-Dispensable are pleased to announce the launch of our FREE online Drugs Awareness mock exam. This is a great interactive tool to test your knowledge prior to attending our one-day Drugs Awareness Course and exam at one of our many fantastic training sites across the UK.

This online test contains 15 multiple-choice questions which are randomly selected and are typical of the exam subject matter and mirrors closely the type of questions which appear within the real Drugs Awareness exam – so you can test yourself again and again to help build your knowledge.

Available on all devices, from desktops to mobiles.

Best of luck!


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of Inn-Dispensable Pub Training Courses

Knowledgeable Bar Staff Sell More Beer

Fred, a long way from home, popped into the Dog and Duck, longing for a pint of good traditional 'real beer' (call it cask ale, call it hand pulled, call it cask conditioned, call it non fizz, call it dry hopped) call it what you like but the essence is that it is brewed naturally and is created from only four main ingredients:

• Hops – to add flavour and aroma
• Malt – to provide fermentable sugars
• Liquor – the brewer’s name for water
• Yeast – to start the fermentation process

Each individual brewer then puts his or her 'Chef’s Hat' on and brews to their own recipe. That's why the fabulous range and diversity of Cask Ales exists within the pub world. Different flavours, colours, strengths, hops, barley, liquor (water), tastes, head retention (the foam), different lacing (the foam as it sticks to the glass), different smell, different glasses to serve it in, different methods of dispense (top fill, bottom fill), different knowledge needed to understand its constitution et al. And all information available for hundreds of beers via Cyclops!

Cyclops Beer is a way of describing beer so that you can find out quickly and easily what a beer will look, smell and taste like. It tells you whether a beer is hoppy or sweet and helps you to discover what you like and what you don’t, so that choosing a beer becomes easier in the future.

British beer is incredibly varied with a whole host of different styles and tastes. Cyclops will help you to discover more about the many thousands of different beers available and make your choice at the bar easier. So are you a hophead, a sweet tooth or a balance of both? Is your favourite beer dark and smoky or golden and grapefruity? Over 1500 beers have been 'Cyclopsed'.

Back to Fred, he looked along the bar counter and saw three choices of Cask Ale on sale. Now, since he was well away from his home territory he had never come across any of them. He asked the bar person to take him through the range and what do you know, the bar person had no idea! Now Fred figured that if they don't know about the beer they sell, then they probably don’t look after it too well either, so he left and went to the Kings Head along the road - where he found a bar person who knew their stuff (It ain't rocket science).

So come on you Landlords, train your staff to be knowledgeable (knowledge is power). Come on an Inn-Dispensable Beer Quality course, learn how to sell the highest quality beer and use Cyclops to impress your customers and keep them from going elsewhere!

Beat your local competition by selling top quality products with top quality knowledge. And all of you customers; get more demanding, ask staff for advice, see what they know. You wouldn’t buy a new computer without expert advice I’ll bet!

Pub co or Freehouse?

This one is a long (long) read but worth getting to the bottom!!

Fred and Mary have always (for as long as they can remember) wanted to run a pub, they have no experience of running any sort of business what so-ever but as Fred has just lost his job and he is in his mid forties, they both reckon this is a good time to pursue that dream.

Mary, also in her mid forties, can easily give up her job behind the till at the local supermarket (when the time is right) not least because the £12k a year she earns for her full time duties has always seemed to her a poor reward for the effort she puts in.

Fred has been a store-man for a number of years at a local warehouse and his £19k pa is now lost, the company have however given him a redundancy package of £7k.

The three kids are at various stages of their education, with Sally doing A levels, Bert in year 9 and Rebecca in year 6. The combined wages of Fred and Mary over the past few years have been just about adequate to live quietly in their three bed semi, holidays and luxuries however have been sparse to say the least. They have maintained a mortgage on their property and have build up an equity stake of around £35k, they have little or no savings and so their fund to seek the pub of their dreams is around £40k.

Fred now has time on his hands and so starts his exploration of the various pubs available on the market and the various ways in which he and his missus could enter into the trade. He scours the web and finds there are “thousands” of pubs available and to his surprise finds there are many different ways in which to take one on, Free house, Tenancy with a tie, Tenancy without a tie, Free-house- free of Tie deal, Lease deal with a tie, Lease deal without a tie, Shared equity deal, Pub Management; all a bit confusing!

So he seeks advice, starting with his bank manager (same bank manager who told Richard Branson he would never make any money)who tells him to take up llama breeding in the Himalayas rather than take a pub, onto his solicitor (also Branson’s solicitor)who tells him he would be better off staying at home, getting hold of his cash and burning it in the fireplace as it would save time and effort in losing it. Undeterred however Fred does take one piece of advice from his solicitor; that as an entry point and first task he needs to get himself a Personal Licence (bit like getting a driving licence before you buy the car). Being equipped with this he is advised will at least have a bit of credibility with those who can asses his seriousness about taking on a pub.

He again scours the web and finds more “thousands” who deliver the course but settles on the most attractive looking company which offers not only the course but an on-going relationship should he eventually take on “The Dog and Duck” and yes you have guessed it he chooses Inn-Dispensable.

The course is brilliant, the tutor great and the result a pass for the BII Award for Personal Licence Holders, Inn-Dispensable then carry out his application for an actual Personal Licence and he is now “fully qualified” to take on a pub (well that is the only legal requirement!!)

Fred and Mary now decide it would be a good idea to again get in touch with that splendid tutor from Inn-Dispensable and learn about all of the upsides and downsides of the various ways in which they might invest their £40k and which of the bewildering options might best suit them.

Before Jack from Inn-Dispensable offers his advice he gently points out to F & M that “there is more to running a pub than pulling a few pints” “Really” say F&M, “what like”, well says Jack, “It is a business first and foremost and if you want to have half a chance of making it work, you need to be very expert in the following:

· Health & Safety/Risk Assessment
· Duties & responsibilities for Health & Safety at Work
· Risk Assessments
· RIDDOR
· First Aid
· C.O.S.H.H
· Fire regulations
· Manual Handling
· Employment Law
· TUPE (Transfer of Staff)
· Retail Legislation
· Consumer protection
· Mandatory conditions
· Weights and measures
· PRS & PPL
· WiFi
· Crime prevention
· Equality Act
· Smoking & Drugs
· Violence
· Finance Management
· Net & Gross Profit
· Book Keeping
· Gross Profit Calculations
· Sales Price Calculations
· Stocktaking
· Profit & Loss
· Cash flow
· Dish Costing
· V.A.T
· Budgets
· Breakeven
· Stock Control
· Stock taking
· Stock reports
· Ordering
· Security of cash
· Catering
· Menu planning
· Dish costing
· Food safety
· Enforcing agencies & legal requirements
· Storage, production and service of food
· Food Hygiene
· Legislation
· Gaming & Machines
· Legislation
· Maximising machine income
· Marketing & Merchandising
· Marketing Mix
· SWOT analysis
· Customer Occasions
· Business Trends
· Internal & External communication
· Customer Service
· The service profit path
· Effective service of products
· Selling skills
· Customer service path
· Business Planning  
· Mission statement & action planning
· Market position – SWOT/TOWS
· Competitor visits
· Modern Marketing Mix
· Pricing strategy
· Promotions diary
· Event planning checklist
· Setting C SMART objectives
· Retail standards and offer

Blimey says F &M how do we go about learning that little lot. Well says Jack, if you take the Pub Company deal ,they will put you on a course to cover it all, but if you take a Free-House , you will be on your tod! You will have to find it all on the web or pay a consultant to take you through it.
“Look” says Jack “I think the best thing you can do is to refine your search for the pub of your dreams along the lines of “what you can afford, where you want it to be, what sort of pub you want to run, how the kids can finish their education and what your lifestyle expectations are, then come back to me and we can work out the numbers and the way forward”.

Off go F & M, 500 miles and two months later they come back with two pubs they really want to pursue, one a Free house, the other a Pub Co lease.

Jack takes a look at the Balance sheet and Management Accounts of both pubs and what do you know they are identical with a turnover figure of £250k pa (ex VAT), bottom line profit of £30k (net of rent or finance charges), both around 180 barells a year,  same wet /dry mix, same margins, same wage costs, just about the same everything other than; the Free house is on the market for £400k and the Pub co lease is available for an ingoing of £22k plus a rent of £25k pa.

“We don’t mind either pub” says F & M , which is the best deal?

Well lets look at the numbers says Jack, but before we do I need to tell you that this is broad brush stuff, we as a company, do not offer accountancy advice, you will need to see your accountant to get a full appraisal but I can point out a few principle numbers, You would also be well advised to go onto our website and take the BII  PEAT (Pre Entry Awareness Training) course.

About the numbers; here goes;
The operational costs of running either pub are identical, so it’s the capital cost we need to view. Effectively if you take the pub co lease you will shell out ~£22k pa in rent but you will pay around £80 a barrel more for your beer (allegedly, this could change at any time if suppliers reduce their discounts to the Free trade) so over say ten years you will pay out a sort of premium of 10 x £22k plus 10 x 180 x £80 per barrel = £364k. At the end of the ten years you can sell the lease on for whatever you can get but likely (certainly) no less than the £22k you paid originally so net cost of this deal around £342k. With the other deal if you borrow say £380k at say 6% (currently but will never be as low again? Could grow to 10% plus over the next ten years) = £22.8 pa plus ten year repayment at £38k pa = £50.8k pa first year  and near to £500k over the ten years (but you get whatever you can achieve back when you sell it!
So “You pays your money and takes your choice!”.

Only one (major) flaw in all of this says Jack… “You haven’t got £400k to buy the Freehouse. Well, not unless you can borrow around £360k - go try and borrow it!”.

F & M return a few days later after seeing six bank managers and have discovered they could get easy loans to run the llama breeding centre in the Himalayas but naff all to buy a pub! “So it looks like the pub co deal for us?”, “I think so” says Jack “But we have heard so many bad stories and bad press articles about pub cos, what do we actually get from them compared to that if we really could have afforded that Freehouse?”. Well let me give you a list of the differences, you get the following from your pub co but not if you could have afforded the Freehouse (which you cant):

You get a low cost entry into running your own business which fulfils the dream you have always had
You get an induction course to give you every piece of information you need to run a successful pub
You get a dedicated Business management development manager free to support you.
You get promotional activity on an on-going way
You get invitations to company exhibitions and seminars
You get access to on-going training courses
You will get help with repayment of your trading account if you fall behind (if you were a Freehouse the suppliers will simply cut off goods if you do not pay on time)

And remember this, a pub co can only succeed if you succeed, they have a total interest in seeing you succeed, without you, they do not have a business”.

F & M go on to get the Pub co deal and live happily ever after.

The freehouse sold and went bankrupt 2 years later.

Where There's a Will, There's a New Way to Sell Alcohol

Following on from the news that JD Wetherspoon have successfully gained a licence to open a licensed outlet on a motorway, I now bring news of a motor vehicle that is a licensed outlet itself! – So you travel to one and the other travels to you!

Will Spiers, a bright your entrepreneur. recently passed the APLH on one of our courses and has launched his new business. You will see from the picture that his business is that of a converted Volkswagen Camper Van, imported from the USA which will perform as a travelling high-end bar. Champagne, fine wines, etc. 'The Camper Vin' (very clever) will be seen at race meetings, parties, music festivals, et al.

We wish Will all the best for his new venture, and who knows, one day he may have 12 of them on the road! Thanks for choosing Inn-Dispensable, Will.


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

Providing Personal Licence Training for a Wide Range of Personalities

One of the great joys of running a training business in the licensed sector is the sheer diversity of our customer profile and venue location.

One minute we might be running a session at The Inner Temple of the Law Courts, the next minute in a skittle alley in the depths of who knows where. Then on to Les Ambassadors Club in the heart of Mayfair, London and the store room of an off-licence. We work with police officers, licensing officers, students, pub owners, club owners, a mobile "cut in half" Volkswagen owner, tea rooms, village halls, rugby, football, cricket, you name it clubs. And now and again a famous person.

Here's the latest:
Adam Henson, TV presenter and owner of The Cotswold Farm Park, recently commissioned Inn-Dispensable to obtain a Premises Licence and to train all of his staff when he recently began selling alcohol at the Farm Park.

And here is what Adam kindly said...
Adam commented "The professionalism and expertise of the Inn-Dispensable team was invaluable throughout the whole process".


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

A Plea For Minimum Alcohol Pricing Leadership

In a Blog some months ago I had a torturous argument with myself as to whether I supported Minimum Pricing or not, eventually on the grounds that it would contribute somewhat to helping The British Pub, I came down in favour of a Yes!

Now today 12 very influential CEOs within our industry have written in the Telegraph with a similar plea to “Call me Dave” to “stick to his guns” and bring in the measure.

The argument goes something like this:
Minimum pricing will not solve all of our alcohol-related ills, but it will help to encourage responsible drinking and curb excessive drinking. All too often customers arrive at licensed premises already blitzed, often to be refused entrance. They then go onto cause mayhem in town centres which in turn reflects badly on pubs and clubs, but its nothing to do with them because the alcohol has been consumed at home beforehand!! Pretty unfair, Eh?

In their letter, they urge Dave (my term) “not to waste the opportunity” and ask that he continues to show courage and leadership in theses difficult times. Bit of a different degree of courage that Maggie (God rest her soul) had to show when the Falklands were invaded. But never the less Dave needs to follow up his pledge of some time ago that minimum Pricing is a pillar of conservative policy.

The Treasury are opposing the introduction, and several ministers have argued that it will penalise the majority of drinkers - so time to be counted Dave. The British pub needs all of the support it can get. 1 million jobs, £8 billion raised in taxes!

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

Fantastic Alcohol Course at Historic Brewery

I ran a course recently for delegates to take an ARAR qualification (Award for Responsible Alcohol Retailing) sponsored by the great generosity of SAB Miller and hosted by the great generosity of Hook Norton Brewery.

We were very kindly allowed the privilege of running the session in the oak-panelled, age-old, Board Room of Hooky, a board room which must have had on the agenda; creating a “tied trade” way back in 1859. The directors no doubt discussed the benefits such a system would bring to tenants who did not have the wherewithal to buy their own pubs! So whilst the tied system has its issues today, lets not knock totally a system that in this instance has been successful for over 150 years!

This is a fabulous traditional brewery in the heart of a country village, which was founded in 1849. SAB Miller was of course founded in Johannesburg in 1895, so a youngster compared to Hook Norton.

But my how these two brilliant companies have progressed, and how they both see the value of promoting and supporting “Responsible Alcohol Retailing”. The two businesses combine tradition with modernity and demonstrate the way an age-old industry needs to adapt to current matters.

I would mention that during a coffee break I peeked into the hand-written ledgers in the boardroom and could have stayed there all day fascinated by such history (and prices for a barrel of Hooky!)

A great day for the delegates (all of whom passed) - and a great day for me.

Thank you SAB Miller and Hook Norton, and thank you to the BIIAB for a great qualification.

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