The Pub Trade

[trebor171170 0]

Having worked in a town centre pub for 12 years, I left 2 yrs ago to go mobile again.

I wondered how many of us have watched the town centre pubs disappear or the trade drop to nothing

We have 3 large town centre pubs which probably 6/7 years ago you be waiting a good 10/15 mins to get served. The places were packed and rocking.

NOW

I went out with friends work for a leaving do, every single pub, it was straight in and to the bar, no ques

We still have the same number of people in the town, no mass exodus have left, the roads are not jammed with removal vans.

We cannot be an isolated incident!

I know the credit crunch, the price of booze, smoking ban, taxi fares and the kebab.

[Dukesy 0]

Yes, the pub trade has been hit very hard recently. Some may say cursed, others may say its a conspiracy by the Government to keep us all indoors, off the streets and brainwash us into early senility and snuff out any urge to complain with reality shows and game shows. Maybe its a radical new age cure for binge drinking or perhaps now they have got smoking largely and successfully confined to the home, they want to do the same with drinking too.

 

I met up with a DJ@ member who voiced similar concerns recently. He had been speaking to the landlord of his local pub / club, and like the OP, his takings and clientele had slowly declined as each piece of new legislation was introduced.

 

First it was the licensing laws, any club previously with a late license was now open to competition from pubs extending their licensing hours to that of a late license venue - thus Pubs and Fun Pubs and even hotels could employ a DJ to play until 2AM, 3AM or beyond.

 

Then along came the smoking ban. This probably hit the traditional social and working men's clubs the hardest, with older age groups and 'die hard' smokers of many years.

Unwilling to adapt to the rules or stand in the cold, they simply stayed at home. Many pubs tried to counteract the ban with legal, purpose built shelters fitted with new technology quartz heating, however no heating in the world is going to compensate in the bleak mid winter for standing in a biting wind with 2 foot of snow which has piled inside! The few smokers which these shelters did tempt back into the pub has not really even paid for the cost of these 'current hungry' heaters, more so as energy has gone up hugely since the ban came into force. We've swapped polluting the air with ciggie smoke to burning more energy from fossil fuels.

 

According to my members' licensee contact, the margin between the cost of alcohol in pubs and that available from the supermarkets is growing at an unfair (in his words) rate.

Recently the cost of beer to pubs has increased by 3p per pint in some areas, which in real terms will mean 5p or 6p being passed on at the bar.

Strangely enough, supermarkets have not been hit with any increase. The licensee has also contacted his brewery, who in turn have researched market forces, and determined that it is actually cheaper to brew, transport and package beer in reusable kegs in bulk quantities than it is to supply in bottles or cans, much easier, cheaper and environmental friendly to recycle too, and so it should be cheaper to buy drink over the bar than over the checkout!

 

All of this comes at a time when pubs are still paying off loans which were taken out, such as to make building alterations for new disabled laws, then more money was required to build and heat smoking shelters, and all of this in addition to increasing costs of SKY subscription for big-screen football matches, music licensing and legislation, red tape, legislation, red tape, legislation etc.

 

Then, an ill timed credit crunch came along and it became even more cheaper to sit in your own home, watching your own SKY connection, drinking your cheap supermarket beer, smoking when and where you want without freezing your wotsits off.

 

No, I don't envy anybody in the licensed trade at the moment.

[Steve_Mitchell 0]

My mates pubs takings are down 25% on last year. And last year was down on the previous.

[stevie 0]

Hi all not on here often as I do work in a pub

Any way our sales were down but in the last month they have gone up a lot. I work for a big pub chain and it seems about half the outlets are down on sales the rest are doing ok we have even beaten buget the last few weeks :Thumbup: .

 

But we work hard long hours entertainment three nights a week (i dj one nite a week) We do great food t a good price,great big tv,s everywhere for sport or even the soaps :hide: whatever the customers want on.

 

We have had to adapt to customer needs so we did and its working and yes we have the freezing cold smokin shelter with the usless heaters wind rain etc the customers seem to all go out there at once for a ciggy.

 

Anyway if you look after them entertain them make it a pleasent place to be they spend money.We dont charge for anything by that i mean entertainment big partys weddings etc,we do every thing in house as it were and its working we even did a buffet for 150 (wedding do)two weeks ago we charged them for that the grand sum of £60 yes £60 thats realy cheep cost us more to make it but the money they spent made up for it,they had the whole pub food disco no late bar (midnight) and they loved it we are now booked nearly every weekend till after new year.

 

I supose were lucky and yes they all get a good deal but it realy is worth doing what we do, (i dont charge for disco and they still pay me) the bar take is amazing and they do offer money for a great day/nite the following day and we take it,we dont ask they offer its a differant world now.

 

Show people a good time nite out a reason to party they will and they will spend and thats working for us at the moment I do recon we are lucky tho.

[Dukesy 0]

Makes a change to hear a good story.

The other day, it was reported that Pubs are now closing at the rate of 36 a week, which is an increase on the 27 closures a week during 2007. The current closure rate is 33 per cent up on 2007. Pubs are now closing nine times faster than in 2006, and 18 times faster than in 2005.

 

The Chief Executive of the BBPA (British Beer & Pub Association ) said:

 

"These numbers are a stark illustration of the pressures on the pub sector. Economic stresses and strains are being felt by every household across the country and acutely by Britain’s public houses.

 

“Sliding consumer confidence and spiralling inflation are hitting pubs in two ways. Not only are the costs of running a pub increasing, but fewer people through the door means less cash in the tills.

 

“Despite this, the Government seems intent on increasing the burden on pubs. Its current proposals to target pubs with a raft of new red tape such as statutory codes of conduct and ratchet up taxes with its beer duty escalator will only make matters worse. Such policies will only drive up costs for pubs and prices for punters. Government needs to wake up to what’s happening in the real world of the pub.”

 

These latest pub closure figures follow the BBPA’s publication in July of a sharp, 11 per cent decline in on-trade beer sales in the second quarter – the first quarter following the swingeing nine per cent budget tax increase in March. Sales of beer are now at their lowest levels since the great depression of the 1930s. The BBPA says that the promise of further tax increases every year, through the Chancellor’s controversial ‘duty escalator’, is untenable and could lead to the closure of many more much-loved community pubs.

 

Thousands of much loved community pubs are under threat. They are at the heart of every community and a major tourist draw for Britain. Without a change of heart from the Government, many more are facing closure.

 

“With so many pubs in peril, the Government’s threat of further stealth taxes on beer cannot go unanswered. And with food and fuel prices rocketing, this is a terrible time to be hitting pubgoers with more taxes.

 

The pub closure figures were compiled by CGA Strategy for the British Beer & Pub Association.

 

The British Beer and Pub Association is the UK’s leading organisation representing the brewing and pub sector. Its members account for 98% of the beer brewed in the UK and own nearly two thirds of Britain’s 57,000 pubs.

[stevie 0]

I know thers a pub half a mile from where i work and thats closing down,and we dont want there customers!

The 18 to 20 year old idiots that think they rule the world,we wont have them the average age where i work is 35 to 70 well thats not an average but thats the age span.

I just hope we can keep it going we try its hard but worth it :bouncy:

[tezandbaz 0]

as a seaside town we have our summer time trade which boosts trade over a seasonal period,how ever we have had our fair share of pub closures to contend with, two locals to me here has put up shutters in the last few moths and looks as if they shall not re open... now reported that a large cosmopolitan near the sea front is closing, this pub had live entertainment 2 or 3 times a week/dj friday and sunday evening plus a full menu for meals, a great loss to the town.

last year we had a large seafront funpub shut down which catered for the young disco trade and used to feed in trade for the night club next door, this place was vibrant when in full swing. now being demolished to make way for retirement homes.

dont know what it is,when i was young the pub was the focal point of our entertainment and social interaction,i think social changes have now moved the pub off the radar of our young generation who now use the internet playstations or wii as there modern interaction to life.

for those of us who work in the pub trade can look foward to a period of deminishing returns and low employment. as the world changes there will all ways be winners and losers......

[milhouse 0]

On the flipside, the bars and clubs specialising in student trade are currently up on last year in my market area. Students tend to have no car/mortgage and are spoon fed money by their loans or parents, so most of it can go on drink.

 

The student venues are also all trying to out-do each other to get their share of the market in the big cities, so the DJ and entertainment business is booming. It's the area I work in and I'm quite happy the way things are going.

 

Unfortunately it does mean over the non-term months we have a drop in trade, however the term time sales more than make up for that.

 

There is a venue I work in that attracts 'locals' as opposed to students and the takings are currently around 50% of that 12 months ago...

Edited September 26, 2008 by JonWhittaker

[stevie 0]

Hi me again ive just got home from work yes in the pub and yet again we have beaten buget just!

Its like I said tho you have to move with the times,ive spent the last two hours talking to customers what they want would like to change etc. But we always go the extra mile and it works.

I need sleep back in the morning at 9 and we dont open till 12.We work hard do our best and it works.

Just remember every one there is no I in team and its all team work and what a team we have.

Any way going to bed take care all