The St George's Day weekend offers pubs a perfect opportunity to cash in on extra business but you may have a fight on your hands if you want to open for extra hours, as Adam Withrington explains.
Luckily for the pub trade, St George's Day falls on a Friday this year, which means there is a weekend of opportunity for licensees. However, despite April 23 being England's national saint's day, St George's Day is not considered a special occasion that merits the automatic granting of a licence extension.
Bedfordshire brewer Charles Wells is continuing its campaign to get the English national saint's day recognised as a day of special importance, in the same way as St Patrick's Day and New Year's Eve. But in the meantime licensees have to apply to magistrates for a special order of exemption (SOE) which allows pubs to stay open longer. According to research commissioned by Charles Wells, pubs stand to make £14.1m from the St George's Day weekend if they take proper advantage of it by holding special events. And as it falls on a weekend, getting extended opening hours would definitely be a popular move in the eyes of punters.
Your application for extra hours must be made in the correct manner to stand a chance of being accepted, however.
So, having sought guidance from various legal sources, here is some advice on ways to obtain an SOE for your pub for the St George's Day weekend.
- There must be an event within the licensed premises that is entirely related to St George. This could be a special meal with English dishes, an organised quiz about England, a contest or series of contests featuring English traditional games, a charity event with an English theme, or some special ceremony involving the local parish or town council. There may be an opportunity to link up with the church, perhaps the vicar might be persuaded to bless the ale?
- Licensees must be able to show to the magistrates written or published material, for example a special menu design or a description of the event that they are planning to hold. Any kind of advertisements, publicity handouts or posters, or a screen grab from a website, would be beneficial.
- The duration of the event in question must realistically extend beyond normal permitted hours to justify an extension.
- If an attempt is made to involve Saturday and Sunday as well, then events must be shown to be taking place on both those evenings.
The most important thing to remember is that you as the licensee must display a genuine commitment to providing special events. You may even wish to enlist the support of your customers in putting your case to the magistrates, with some customers attending the hearing whenever possible.
Extension Application
Procedure for England and Wales (outside London)
- The application may be made on a form giving details of each of the occasions for which an extension is required.
- Make THREE copies of the completed form and send two to the clerk of the justices and one to the chief officer of police (usually at the local police headquarters). Keep one for yourself, so that you know exactly what you asked for.
- It is advisable to send your application off at least ONE MONTH before the first date requested (for example, for Friday, April 23, post or deliver your application to arrive no later than March 22). The fee is £10, however many dates you request. You should enclose a cheque for the fee with your application
- You should also enclose as many details as possible of the events related to St George that you have planned, in support of your application, including the proposed times when they are to take place on your premises.
- It is likely that the magistrates will want to hear from the licensee in person. The chairman will ask you questions about the proposed event and how you intend to run it on your premises. If there is a hearing, you should receive a decision at the time.
Procedure for the London area
- Applications should be made in writing to the Metropolitan Police direct, not to the magistrates.
- Written applications only are accepted and there is no hearing. Your local police can give you details of the procedure.
- You should also enclose details of the St George events, as above, and be prepared to answer questions when the police contact you. The fee is the same.
- Again, applications must be made at least ONE MONTH in advance of the first date requested.
What the experts say:
- Deborah McCallum, from The Publican's legal team Joelson Wilson: "The earlier you get yourself organised the better chance you have of getting extensions. Plus you should also look for a charitable angle. If you go to a magistrate and make it clear that you want this extension purely to make more money they may not be very impressed. However, if you add in a charitable element, like having a collection or organising fund-raising activities, then you stand a much better chance."
Bob Tilt, chairman of the licensing committee of the Magistrates Association: "It depends on the views of who is sitting on the bench that day. But they will view the case with regard to what is on offer to the customers - is it of national and local importance? In many cases the answer could well be no. You have to take into account how each local constabulary will view it - if they have a major objection to your plans the magistrates will often side with them."
Case Study: The King's Head, Hythe, Kent
Kent licensee Caroline Chambers will turn the centre of Hythe into one big St George's Day celebration - with the full support of the local council.
Her 500-year-old pub, the King's Head (pictured), will be the focal point for the celebration of England's patron saint's day - but it couldn't hope to accommodate everyone expected to turn up. So Mrs Chambers successfully applied to Shepway Council for a road closure order for the evening of April 23, which will allow her to stage a massive St George's Day event featuring 100 morris dancers, an historical re-enactment and a play based on the legend of St George.
The council was very supportive, according to Mrs Chambers. "I applied on the grounds that Hythe is trying to develop tourism and this sort of event should be supported," she said. "I had to fill in a form, but there was no fee, and the council approved it. I guess it will vary from council to council, but if you can demonstrate that the community will benefit from the event you are more likely to be granted an order.
"We have great hopes for the day - St George is proving more popular than St Patrick here."
The community will benefit from the re-enactment of "Taking the King's Shilling" - the ritual of signing on to join the army. The King's Head was a military recruitment office during the 17th and 18th century - but in the 21st century, customers will sign up for community service. Mrs Chambers says: "When they buy a pint they will take a 'shilling' from a bag and this will set them a task - cleaning the brass in the local church, serving tea in an old people's home or just buying flowers for an elderly person they know."