A positive approach

Despite there being thousands of pubs that pride themselves on their service, there is still clearly a lot to be done. Michelle Perrett reports.More...

Despite there being thousands of pubs that pride themselves on their service, there is still clearly a lot to be done. Michelle Perrett reports.

More than 600 people wrote to the Good Pub Guide 2004 to complain about the service and quality of some pubs. That may seem a small number but the fact remains that most people simply vote with their feet rather than complain.

So, while there are thousands of pubs that pride themselves in giving good service to customers and treating their staff well, it seems there are still a lot of people out there who have bad experiences in a pub.

For example, one customer who wrote to the guide said: "The pleasant manageress became aggressive when she realised my wife had queried the taste of the lemon sole. When my wife wanted to make a complaint about cold food the licensee swore at us and threatened us with violence in front of our children."

Another claimed: "Three hours for two courses, rude staff and no separation between dining and drinking areas, which left our table as a dumping ground for drinks. When we asked for service to be removed from the bill, we had our credit card thrown back at us and were told 'If you can't afford it, get out and don't come back'."

Although these are extreme cases they don't do licensees or the pub industry any favours.

Pubs have traditionally been seen as the bottom rung of the service sector. British customers tend to expect shoddy service in pubs.

In many pubs people expect to wait two minutes to be served, are content with not getting a decent welcome or a smile and will brush aside the fact that they sit at a table with the last occupants' dinner and drink leftovers.

This is not the sort of image that the industry wants to portray and while every pub may have a bad day it does not excuse such incidents.

With over 20 companies and many licensees pledging support for The Publican People Charter it proves the industry is striving to move forward and beat such negative stereotypes.

What is The Publican People Charter?

The Publican People Charter aims to raise customer service levels in British bars and pubs by promoting friendly, efficient and courteous service among staff.

Members of The Publican team are currently visiting companies and licensees to encourage them to sign up to the Charter and to discuss how the industry can work together to improve service levels across the sector.

The thinking behind the campaign is that improving staff attitudes cannot be taught through training courses, but rather by treating staff properly and creating a fun working environment for them. If these targets are met then levels of service can't fail to improve.

We have asked pub companies and individual licensees alike to pledge to treat staff well by giving them opportunities for training, striving to make all staff part of the business and having a company culture focused on providing the best customer service and making it a number one priority.

By signing up to the Charter licensees and pub companies promise to:

Give all staff the opportunity for training and career development
Strive to make staff an important part of the business
Provide a motivational atmosphere where employees can feel they can add to the business
Have a company culture focused on providing the best customer service and making it a number one priority
Have clear structured career paths to build on staff ambitions.

If you would like to sign up, have had particularly bad or good service in a pub or have improved your own pub please contact zvpuryyrc@gurchoyvpna.pbz

Go to www.thepublican.com/news/campaigns for more information.

The Prince's Head

While visiting a pub in Richmond, South West London, for Sunday lunch I found evidence of excellent service. In fact since my last visit to the Prince's Head, which has always been a good traditional local, there had been a vast improvement in the way the pub is run.

The staff were friendly, the pub offered a much broader lunch menu than my last visit and there was even table service. Staff seemed happy and relaxed, offered to get us whatever sauces we needed with our lunch and were extremely helpful.

While we can all focus on the fact that some pubs in the industry are not offering good enough service there are many that are. Michelle Perrett

Companies who have pledged support for the Charter include: