Pub & Bar 2005 preview: News and features
All the latest news on the range of features offered by Pub & Bar 2005.
Competition ends to find the UK's best pub singer
Pub singers are getting in tune for the finals of Pub Stars, the country's biggest independent karaoke competition, being staged at Pub & Bar on April 20. It is the culmination of four months of larynx-straining local and regional heats, involving more than 300 pubs and 15,000 singers. Now whittled down to the last 14, finalists will be singing to impress a demanding panel of judges and be crowned the first-ever Pub Star.
Organised by Mediatheme with support from Easy Karaoke, Pub Stars was launched in November 2004 and was open to all pubs, bars and clubs. It sought to find the most talented amateur karaoke singer in the country.
The grand final winner will receive £1,000, a day in Easy Karaoke's recording studio and a gold disc to commemorate their performance. Two runners-up will receive £250 and £100.
"Karaoke is as popular as ever and the response we have had to Pub Stars is testament to that," says Bill Blackmore, managing director of Mediatheme. "We have seen some incredible talent over the course of the competition and we know the judges are going to find it really hard to choose a winner."
The Pub Stars final is just one example of pub entertainment you can see on Pub & Bar's live stage, sponsored by Mediatheme, Owl and Boru Vodka. Boru will be serving the Irish premium vodka from the bar adjoining the stage and visitors will be able to taste cocktails while enjoying the That's Entertainment programme.
CHIP & learn
The introduction of Chip & PIN for card payments is presenting the industry with a challenge - and quite a few headaches.
The Chip & PIN Learning Pavilion, which runs throughout Pub & Bar and is sponsored by Kilrush Consultancy, offers a great opportunity to get to grips with the issue.
Hosted by Kilrush's Connie Penn, sessions feature presentations by the Hotel and Catering Industry Management Association (HCIMA), card issuers trade body APACS and suppliers. They are followed on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings by drinks receptions where you can have a more informal discussions with the experts. Topics covered include:
- How the HCIMA is helping the hospitality industry to adopt Chip & PIN
- Update by APACS on progress in hospitality
- Implementing Chip & PIN in the traditional pub and in the restaurant
- Learning the lessons of Chip & PIN implementation
- "Customer not present" transactions
- Adding value to Chip & PIN
- Making Chip & PIN pay
- Debit cards: the migration from Switch to Maestro
- Dynamic currency conversion
Cook up a healthy profit...
Food is the fastest-growing part of pub business and gives licensees plenty of scope to exercise their creativity and boost profitability.
Expert advice is on hand at Pub & Bar in the 3663 Food Innovation Theatre. Sponsored by the foodservice wholesaler, this feature is your chance to learn from professional chefs who will show you how to create dishes that not only taste good, but sell well. The programme consists of five 45-minute sessions running on all three days.
- Fish delights: 11am
- Creating simple starters and mains Noon and 2pm
- New product launch from the Authentic Food Co 1pm
- Cooking with 3663's new Italian range 3pm
...and boost your drink sales
There's more to selling drinks these days than just pouring them out and taking the money. A better understanding of wines and spirits, getting your range right and serving with style can really improve your take and profitability.
Wine & Spirits Live, sponsored by WaverleyTBS, offers a series of tutored wine and spirits tastings plus demonstrations and bartending flair displays designed to help you give your business a boost. Sessions are:
- Developing your wine business: WaverleyTBS helps you select the right range for your pub
Tuesday, 11am; Wednesday 2pm; Thursday 11am - Whisky - journey of taste: Diageo GB takes you through the components of blended whisky and premium choices
Tuesday, noon; Wednesday 1pm;, Thursday 3pm - Back to basics in serving perfection: Maxxium shows you how to enhance your customers' experience with the right mix and simple cocktails
Tuesday 1pm; Wednesday 3pm; Thursday noon - Food and wine matching: Beringer Blass looks at understanding the basic taste sensations of food and wine
Tuesday 2pm; Wednesday 11am; Thursday 1pm - Responsible bartending: Bacardi Brown-Forman addresses responsible drinking from the bartender's point of view
Tuesday 3pm; Wednesday noon; Thursday 2pm.
Take a taste trip round the globe
Cask beer may not be a growing market overall, but put the right brands on your bar, served at the optimum quality, and you can create a healthy market that can attract people into your pub.
Pub & Bar's Cask Beer Showcase once again gives you the chance to sample a variety of ales from around the country as wholesaler Waverley TBS gathers together more than 30 brands from regional and small brewers.
Licensees will also have the chance to pick up practical cellar management tips from experts to help their bid to serve the perfect pint.
Brewers taking part this year include: Banks & Taylor, Black Sheep, Brains, Broughton Ales, Caledonian, Camerons, Coach House, Cotleigh, Highwood, Oakham, Okells, Old Mill, Orkney, Ridleys, Skinners, Springhead, St Peters, Stonehenge, Thwaites, Wolverhampton & Dudley, Young's and Refresh.
Waverley TBS is also putting together Pub & Bar's World of Beers feature where you can taste specialist and niche brews from foreign parts and maybe pick the brand that can give your bar its point of difference. Beers include: Arisolend (Turkey), Asahi (Japan), Budvar (Czech Republic), Efes (Turkey), Estrella Damm (Spain), Hirter (Germany), Kalnapilis (Lithuania) and Windhoek (South Africa).
