Training Is Vital For Running A Successful Pub

I guess that most of you know that taking on a pub is the dream of many people, and you’ll certainly know that all of the doom and gloom merchants say “Don’t do it, Stupid”.

What I know is that for some it will work out brilliantly, for some it will be a disappointment - and yes for some it will be a disaster. But surely that mix should not take away the dream?

The one thing I do know without reservation is that ‘going in blind’ is a recipe for the disaster zone.

There are so called ‘industry experts’ who condemn Pub Companies for leading new entrants along a path of taking on ‘no-hope pubs’, and yet I know (there’s a lot I know, I know) that pub companies take enormous care, face high costs and show great commitment to ensuring all new entrants to their pubs have as much information as possible to prepare them for each pub. This preparation is no guarantee of success of course, just as preparing any athlete to run the 100 metres at the Olympics would not guaranteed them a Gold Medal. It would however point out the reality of the contest and the challenge ahead - the rest is frankly ‘down to them’.

Well, I want to put the record straight … new entrants into the tenanted and lease sectors get fantastic support, advice and training prior to taking their pubs - and I want to share with you some recent feed back from delegates on our latest 5 day course run for one of the largest pub co’s in the UK.

Here goes (all verbatim):-

• “The entire course has been relevant and extremely practical, very impressed”
• “I found the course very helpful as I am just starting out”
• “Very good course, the tutors were wonderful”
• “The course has been relevant and extremely informative and has cleared many questions and issues I could see prior to taking my pub. It has shown me issues in the pub that have to be addressed as soon as possible. All sections of the course have been explained in clear concise terms by the tutors. I strongly recommend using the training available so that I can pass all onto my staff”
• “This was a brilliant course, a brilliant week”
• “Good to come on the course before getting into my pub so that I can take what I have learnt into my new business”

Follow your dream say I, create your own future say I. Be aware however that there are no guarantees for success, BUT failing to prepare is preparing to fail!!

Here endeth the lesson.


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of www.inn-dispensable.com Personal Licence Courses

‘Appy Hours - Now With Alcohol Consumption Tracking?

Is it just me or is the world going mad?

I am all for the responsible retailing and consumption of alcohol. I am also all for the survival of the British Pub and for the great enjoyment 99% of drinkers get from a visit to the pub. I am also all for downing a pint or two responsibly (or whatever your medicine is) and for personal reliability. BUT am I alone?

Drinkaware (a worthy organisation) have now launched, would you believe, an APP which enables you to track your alcohol consumption, calculate units and calories and set goals to help you moderate your drinking. So when you are enjoying a drink with your friends and they ask "what are you having?" you can check your APP before you reply.

This technological wonder apparently has a plethora of indispensable features, including:

• Tracking the units and calories in your drinks
• An extensive database of alcohol brands
• Teaching you more about the health benefits of cutting down
• Allowing you to feel supported with regular and personalised feedback
• Pinpointing locations where you need extra help; from your local to your own home
• Setting goals tailored to your existing drinking habits
• Setting rewards for achieving your goals
• Displaying your progress in terms of units or calories drunk
• Recording and reviewing your drinking over time - How you’re doing compared to last week, or last month?

AS Far as I’m concerned I have my own APP, it’s called self control, and if that doesn’t work I have another fall back APP when I’m drinking in my local, its called The Landlord; who says “you’ve had enough Readie, go home”. And if the Landlord doesn’t spot it I have another APP, it’s called my mates who tell me I’m talking rubbish, and then my final APP - myself!! so  one way or another; I go home!

31 Pubs closing each week, health warnings on all alcohol packaging, fines for buying your mate a pint if he/she appears intoxicated, now an APP to see if you can have another half of Bitter.

World gone mad for 99% of drinkers or perhaps it is just me?


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of www.inn-dispensable.com Personal Licence Courses

Is Beer A Super-food Health Drink?

I think it depends which doctor you go to. Here are two recent research reports … I go with number two!

1. A single alcoholic drink per day could put health at risk: Research published by the British Medical Journal has suggested that a single alcoholic drink per day could be enough to increase the risk of heart disease. Previous studies had suggested that between 12 to 25 units a week could be good for the heart and could reduce the risk of problems. The BMJ concluded (at least in this study), that its findings simplified the approach to alcohol in that it concluded that no level of consumption was actually beneficial.
2.  But another, rather unlikely low-sugar beverage is increasingly being hailed for its health benefits – beer! Research suggests it can help protect against Alzheimer’s disease, aid weight loss and even balance hormones – and now it’s attracting more and more health-conscious men and women.

A raft of female celebrities are also embracing the brew. Actress Mila Kunis says her favourite drink is Blue Moon beer, while supermodel Elle Macpherson revealed recently that she washes her hair with it. Even saintly Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow has said she “can’t get enough of Guinness”.

So what are the benefits of beer, and can it really be good for you?

A VITAMIN-PACKED PINT
“If you analysed beer you would be amazed at how many super-nutrients there are in it” says Dr Stephan Domenig, medical director of The Original F.X. Mayr Health Centre in Austria. “Beer contains  all of the essential – and many of the non-essential – amino acids.”. As well as these protein-building blocks and minerals including phosphorus, iodine, magnesium and potassium, beer is rich in calcium - so could benefit your bones.

A study by Tufts University in the United States in 2009 found that moderate beer consumption can protect bone mineral density. For years Guinness was even prescribed to pregnant women due to its high Vitamin B content. “It’s  now recommended that pregnant women avoid alcohol but other people could benefit” says nutritionist Vicki Edgson.

Choose unpasteurised beer for the greatest health benefits. Pasteurising, or heating to prolong its shelf-life, reduces some nutritional value as the ‘living’ content is removed, says Georgina Young, head brewer at Fuller’s. And cloudy beer is best as filtering removes the yeast and therefore a lot of B vitamins.


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

Lager Sales Up Despite World Cup Exit

The latest WDR report (a highly respected organisation within the drinks industry) reports that:

“Lager is still selling significantly more than last year, although the increase was not as high as in weeks 1 and 2.”. Tim Wilson comments “we were expecting some drop off in week 3 as the impact of England’s early exit filtered through into pub goers and shopper’s baskets. However, the football has actually got better and even more exciting without England, and consumers are tuning in in big numbers.”

So the England lads can luxuriate back home in their mansions; buy that new Ferrari, book another holiday, order their next tattoo and sleep soundly knowing that pubs are still busy without them!


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

Overpriced Drinks = Less Customers

I had a business meeting yesterday at a certain establishment in Cheltenham. I had a £3.50 pot of Tea (proper tea with leaves), and the person I met with had a 500ml bottle of beer.

Here is what the brewer of the beer says about the brew; it is a tastefully dry, crisp and full-flavoured ale, brewed with skill and passion using the finest organically grown Pale Ale malt and organically farmed English hops. It contains wheat and barley malt. 5.0% vol. Knowing the brewer as I do and knowing the price they charge if you order on their website at around £2.10 a bottle - well worth it say I. Not sure the £6.50 I had to pay for it in this particular hostelry had £4.40 worth of “added value” though.

On getting back to my office I reflected on the price I had been charged and thought “surely they made a mistake?”, and so I sent a polite email asking if the price was correct. I had a prompt and courteous reply assuring me it is indeed their price point at £6.50 (for slightly less than pint).

On my way back to my office I had to then fill up with Diesel, which was £1.32, a litre. So: A gallon of diesel is around £6 and a gallon of beer in this particular establishment is around £59.

I have always thought that Diesel was more difficult to find, mine, produce, refine and transport half way across the world than beer. Firstly, to produce Diesel; fossil fuels are mined in the form of crude oil. The oil is extracted from inside the earth, lots of other processes happen and then shipped across the oceans. This, versus beer brewed in Bristol with the main ingredient being wheat, malted barley, yeast, hops and water and delivered 50 miles up the M5. I wonder if the owners of the said establishment ever consider why there were only two of us in the place enjoying the pleasure of handing over £6.50 for a beer (about one hours work on minimum wage) and paying around 9 times the price of Diesel.

I have withheld the name of the place as their lawyers probably earn a lot. But whilst we train publicans how to make profit we also train them how to price competitively and how to ensure customer come back! I shall NOT be rushing back!


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of www.inn-dispensable.com Personal Licence Courses

Mayor & Mayoress Barred from Gosport Pubs

Doesn’t matter who you are, if you misbehave in pubs, you will get barred. Even if you have status, officialdom, and a big chain around your chest!

You couldn’t make this up but it is true! A town’s newly elected Mayor and Mayoress have been banned from 36 pubs in their own town, this despite their using that well worn phrase “do you know who I am?”.

Well 36 pubs in a Hampshire town, who have collectively barred the couple for 6 months, took no heed of this subliminal threat and duly told them they are not welcome, well not until they behave themselves and do not appear to be drunk and disorderly, which caused their eviction in the first place!

The “self important” couple have 6 months to reflect and to swot up on the Licensing Act (which they are responsible in some way for enforcing) thereby ensuring their town’s pubs sell alcohol in a responsible way!

Gosport Pubwatch confirmed that the couple have been barred from their 36-pub membership, having been asked to leave one of their member pubs. “Quite rightly so” said the J D Wetherspoon HO spokesperson who supported the local JDW manager who took the original decision to tell them to leave his premises. Pubwatch chairman Phil Cox said, “we didn’t treat them any differently to how we treat anyone else, it doesn’t matter who you are, we want our pubs to be more comfortable, and pleasant places to be in with no abuse towards any member of staff. They should know better!”. Absolutely, so say all of us!

Not possible to know if the two worthies are embarrassed or going to take their case to the Court of Human Rights (like some other thug recently barred from the towns pubs in a Cornish resort) because (perhaps unsurprisingly) neither are available for comment. Plus, the Mayor of Gosport website is currently offline. Wonder why?


Martin Read CMBII
Managing Director of www.inn-dispensable.com Personal Licence Courses

A Half Pint Glass Which Looks Like A Full Pint?!

Apparently there are fellas (might also be some gals) out there who cannot drink "pints" any more (or at least cannot keep up with their mates who still can!). They however believe that to maintain their reputation that they are not gibbers but real "drinking sorts", drinking "halves" is not an option (well not openly and proudly).

So there is now a new glass on the market that is a pint size in height but it is cut down the middle so that it only holds a half pint. But, if you hold it correctly, with the "front round side" facing your mates, it looks like a full pint (are you still with me?).

Not sure what happens when your mates ask "what you are having?". Do you say "pint please" - to keep up the illusion that you are still one of the lads (or lasses). If so, then presumably the bar staff on being presented with said glass, are either in on the act or they spill the other half a pint on the floor.

This idea could also work well for slimmers. "Full English please" - then cut the sausages in half, along their length? Topside up would still look like a full plate of food!

I wish the manufacturers well, but hope they haven’t produced too many! Happy days.


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