Pubs still offering free alcohol, 50p shots and £1 pints
Despite a threatened government blitz and the burning media spotlight, bars and clubs continue to serve up a raft of cheap-drink offers. The Publican has discovered one public company still giving away free alcohol and another selling a raft of shots and bottles for 50p.
The news comes despite the government's crackdown threat to operators who encourage customers to drink excessively, or "binge-drink".
The home secretary, David Blunkett, even mentioned pubs in the same sentence as "crack dens" this week.
A Publican probe discovered that Britain's biggest club group Luminar - historically one of the worst offenders - was still offering customers at Life in Taunton free drinks until 12.30am once they had paid a £10 door entry fee.
A similar scheme was found recently at Jumpin' Jaks in Cardiff, where customers paid £5 on the door and then could drink as much as they wanted. Regent Inns, which recently backed calls for minimum pricing, was also guilty.
Bradford Walkabout bar was found to be charging £4 door entry and then 50p for all drinks all night. These included Beck's lager, Bacardi rum, Bell's whisky, Jack Daniel's bourbon and Smirnoff vodka and a range of alcopops.
The Walkabout in Grimsby offered a similar deal with £1 door entry and then £1 per drink, as did Walkabout in Carlisle.
Laurel Pub Company has also been offering £1 admission and then £1 for all drinks at its RSVP bar in Sheffield since last year.
Licensees and trade leaders fear cheap drink promotions will continue to see the trade "take a kicking" in the media, and ultimately bring government legislation.
Addressing an audience of 1,000 licensees and trade folk last Tuesday (May 11), John McNamara, chief executive of the British Institute of Innkeeping was damning of such promotions, and called for an end to the deep discounting.
He said: "When I go out to meetings with Ministers or other regulators all I ever get thrown at me is examples of all you can drinks promotions or £1-a-pint offers.
"The very small minority of operators who persist in running this type of irresponsible promotion are damaging the whole industry's reputation and unless they stop right now we are going to face even more regulation.
"Whoever they are that continue to run these promotions - be they a company, tenant, lessee, freetrader or manager - they are a customer of somebody somewhere and we need to work together across the trade to stop them."
Who are the worst offenders near you? Call Michelle Perrett on 020 8565 3053 or Tom Sandham on 020 8565 3054. We will call you straight back. Alternatively email zvpuryyrc@gurchoyvpna.pbz or gbzf@gurchoyvpna.pbz
