Make a week of it

It's time to start planning for National Pubs Week in February 2004. Adam Withrington sees how to get the customers back after Christmas.

As we hit mid-November, minds inevitably turn to Christmas, always a bumper time of year. However, licensees will also have that nagging feeling in the back of their mind that as soon as the calendar hits January trade will drop off just as dramatically as it rose, and it usually falls even further in February.

What can licensees do to stave off the post-Christmas blues? The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) believes it has part of the answer in National Pubs Week.

The event will take place between February 21 and 28 and CAMRA hopes it will give pubs a real shot in the arm by getting more people in front of their bars and more punters eating at their tables.

A CAMRA spokesperson said it is up to pubs themselves to make the week a success. "The end of February can be a quiet time for the pub industry after a busy Christmas and New Year," he said. "National Pubs Week has been created to give the industry a boost.

"But if it is to fulfil its true potential it is important that licensees start to think of different events they can run throughout the week to encourage more people into their pub. Speak to your regulars about events they would like to see and start planning soon."

Last year over 15,000 pubs came on board for the first National Pubs Week and it was hailed as a great success by CAMRA.

However, some industry figures were not so sure. In March this year Bob Ivell, former chairman of the now defunct retail arm of Scottish & Newcastle, said: "I'm not sure if it meant much to consumers and if it's going to be a success next year it needs to have a longer lead-in time."

This is a fair criticism but CAMRA has done all it can to rectify the problem. It has started publicising the event a lot earlier and has already signed up a number of trade partners, including Charles Wells, Fuller's, Tynemill, Enterprise Inns and Batemans as well as the British Institute of Innkeeping.

Peter Wells, marketing director of Charles Wells, is very excited about this year's event: "All our promotions focus on getting more people into our pubs and this initiative from CAMRA falls right into line with this."

A spokeswoman for the Chiswick-based brewer Fuller's said: "Pubs are the keystone of our communities and we think National Pubs Week is the perfect opportunity to celebrate all that's great about British pubs. We already have some good plans to support it."

How to get involved​

This can be easily done online by visiting www.camra.org.uk/pubsweek or by calling 01727 867201.

Online you can fill in a registration form for National Pubs Week. You can also keep up to date with the latest information and events that will be taking place.

Individual pubs can also register events they will be putting on during the week on the website, which will then be promoted and publicised online. It will give the licensee several ideas on how to best publicise their pub during the event.

A link to the CAMRA Pubs Week site can be found on the home page of thePublican.com

Ideas for National Pub Week​

The crucial point is that National Pubs Week will offer licensees a great opportunity to boost their trade. However, this can only be done if licensees come up with good ideas to motivate customers to come into their pubs. For example:

• pub quizzes
• theme nights, eg fancy dress
• pub crawls, setting up pub crawls with other local pubs
• local entertainment
• local bands, comedians
• food promotions
• traditional pub games
• games and competitions
• free travel to rural pubs.

Pick up publicity material​

A CAMRA spokesman said: "The promotional material for next year's event is ready to be distributed to thousands of pubs across Britain. We have already received plenty of orders but would urge all pubs to come on board and order their free publicity material as soon as possible."

There are three categories of National Pub Week publicity pack - Gold, Silver and Bronze. All three packs contain publicity materials that licensees can use in their pubs, including A3 and A4 posters and beer mats. Bronze packs are free for all, while silver and gold packs may have a small charge attached to them. Contact CAMRA for further details.

• Bronze​

Standard pack available free of charge to all pubs. As well as the beer mats and posters it includes advice on publicising your events in the local press.

Silver​

Available for bigger pubs and contains all the above as well as bunting, t-shirts and tent cards.

Gold​

Has the same items as the silver pack but double the volume and is meant for large pubs.

The packs will be distributed early in the New Year.​