The next generation

A housewife, a car inspector whowas made redundant last week anda young couple in search of the good life were among hundreds of visitors to an Avebury Taverns open day organised by Fleurets last week.Claire Hu heard some of the storiesof the would-be licensees

Driving ambition

The shock of being made redundant from his job as an RAC vehicle inspector last Monday was all the impetus Ian Simons needed to investigate his dream of running a pub.

Trade newcomers Simons, and his wife, Sue, both 40 and from Gartrey near Market Harborough, were hoping to find a rural pub in the Blackpool or Newcastle areas.

"Being made redundant was the kick up the backside I needed as we had been thinking of getting a pub for a while," says Ian.

His wife, a play therapist for a hospital, adds: "We are fed-up with working for other people. We want a small business, we don't want to make millions but have a decent way of life."

They were both attracted to the idea of living and working in the same place with their three children, aged 10, 14 and 19.

Sue's brother-in-law, a pub manager in Blackpool, told them about the open day and will become a business partner. They couple say they will also sell their house to finance taking on a long lease.

Despite having no experience of the pub trade, Ian believes his stock-taking backgrounding and Sue's people skills will help them make their new pub a success.

"We will look at the property and location of the pub before we decide how to change things," says Ian. "We have had our eyes opened this morning. There are loads of issues, like redundancy pay if we take over a pub with existing staff, that we hadn't even considered. We are not as naïve as when we walked in the door."

Falling for the trade

Marie-Clare Tack has had a lifelong love affair with pubs, but it is only now her children have grown up that she feels able to consider taking on a lease.

She started in the trade as a teenager serving drinks at her parents' RAF bar in Cyprus, and went on to become a bar manager in London in the '80s.

Tack, from Northampton, works part time preparing food in a pub, and was at the Avebury Taverns open day with family friend Barry Cushmore to investigate the possibility of taking on a 10 to 25-year lease.

She hopes her 17-year-old daughter will come in on the business with her. Her husband will keep his job as a dustman to ensure the family has an income while trade builds up.

Tack is studying a management degree and, despite having only a small amount of personal capital to invest, believes she has the business and personal skills to make a small community pub a success.

The Cambridge Tap, in Wellingborough, which Avebury Taverns says it is willing to invest £15,000 to improve, caught her eye during the open day. She was given details of a £25,000 loan at 6.25% interest to buy the lease.

She says: "I think cleanliness and good service, as well as joining in with the local community, is what counts in running a community pub. Hopefully, the locals take more kindly to a family than a consortium taking over their pub."

Gap for young guns

At 21 and 24, Shach Wilson and John Harris were among the youngest people at the open day.

Wilson is a bar manager and Harris works as a hotel food and beverage director. The pair, from Birmingham, believe they have the skills needed to make a pub a success, but admit they lack significant investment capital.

They were drawn by the "Starters Package" ­ developed to encourage entrepreneurs into the business ­ which has no set tenure terms, guide rents or ingoing figures to maximise the flexibility of any agreement.

"We have got the ability and we know what we are doing. We want to turn that around and start making money for ourselves instead of other people," says Harris.

They hope to plug what they see as a gap in the market for a community pub targeted at affluent young people, tired of pretentious city-centre style bars or crowded nightclubs. They are interested in taking on a 10 to 25-year lease in Birmingham.

"There are lots of younger people with disposable income in our age group, but they haven't got a local pub to go to," explains Harris. "Not everyone wants to have to go to a nightclub, but they also don't want to go to a local full of old men smoking Woodbines."

Wilson adds: "I'm a young person, but I can't stand the club scene. A lot of people from my generation want to go to the sort of pub where they can have a drink and relax."

The open day was the "starting point" for gathering the knowledge they need to operate a successful lease, says Harris.

Looking for fun and a better way of life

Trisha and Spencer Pearson say the low cost of some of the Avebury Taverns leases lured them to the open day.

Spencer, 27, is a property developer and Trisha, 32, fits working part time at her local pub around looking after their four-year-old daughter.

The couple, from Birmingham, say they are attracted to the idea of being their own boss and also wanted to relocate to a more up-market area to bring up their daughter.

They are considering viewing the Brook Green Tavern in Exeter ­ its lease is being put up for sale at £21,500. "We are looking for somewhere with a good school and somewhere posh, at least compared to Birmingham ­ but that means 90% of the country" quips Spencer.

Trisha appeared to have a more realistic view of the challenges of running a pub than her husband, who asked half-jokingly, "How hard can it be to pour beer?"

"It's long hours, but you can be sociable at the same time," she says. "We're looking for a pub that we can add value to, but also have a bit of fun with. I think if you want people to come back you need to put something a bit different on now and then, but don't push it in their face. You also need consistent staff."

The couple are looking at mortgaging and renting their house to finance buying a lease, but Spencer stresses they will enter any potential deal with their eyes wide open.

"The cheap leases are a way of getting people into the trade. You may build a pub up for them and then, after a couple of years they will put up the rent. At the end of the day, they are after something and so are we."