Bosses of the biggest pubcos in the country came together at the first Publican Industry Leaders' Forum - and agreed that they needed to do more to speak up for the trade. Daniel Pearce and Hamish Champ report.
It's time for the pub industry to move onto the front foot - and let the country know about the massive contribution that the vast majority of pubs make to society. Pub company bosses attending the first-ever Publican Industry Leaders' Forum - supported by Coca-Cola Enterprises - agreed that they needed to do more to gain publicity for the thousands of licensees who go to considerable lengths to ensure they operate properly. Acknowledging that problems did exist, the industry leaders said it was time to broaden the debate on social responsibility.
"We should recognise that some of our people are very, very responsible," said Shepherd Neame chief executive Jonathan Neame. "We do more than many industries when it comes to operating properly and we should focus on that."
Mike Bramley, managing director of Mitchells & Butlers Pubs & Bars, agreed, noting that while binge-drinking was a problem it was being addressed and the industry nevertheless "had good people in it who wanted to keep their houses in order and maintain their good reputations".
The pubcos were outraged that supermarkets still appear to be way below the police's radar when it comes to cracking down on alcohol-related anti-social behaviour.
Fuller's chief executive Michael Turner reiterated the industry view that people often drank heavily at home before going out, "and it's the pubs which get the blame for any bad behaviour".
Charles Wells' managing director Paul Wells said supermarkets should be required to record all incidents where minors attempt to buy alcohol.
Enterprise Inns' chief executive Ted Tuppen called for stricter controls when it came to selling alcohol to people who were potentially underage. "We should press for these outlets to require that all customers provide identification," he said.
Mr Tuppen also called for the industry to get behind the push for ID cards, and Spirit Group chief executive Karen Jones noted the ease with which children could obtain fake ID.
The cost of policing remained an issue, with many noting that football clubs were only required to pay for security within their respective grounds.
Former Yates chief executive Mark Jones said that the threat of being hit with an alcohol disorder zone should convince high- street venues to pull themselves together.
Who's who
- Rooney Anand, chief executive, Greene King
- Jeremy Blood, chief executive, Scottish & Newcastle Pub Enterprises
- Mike Bramley, MD, M&B Pubs & Bars
- Stephen Crawley, MD, the Caledonian Brewing Co.
- Ralph Findlay, chief executive, Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries
- Karen Jones, chief executive, Spirit Group
- Mark Jones, former chief executive, Yates
- Jonathan Neame, chief executive, Shepherd Neame
- Ian Payne, former chief executive, Laurel
- Giles Thorley, chief executive, Punch Taverns
- Ted Tuppen, chief executive, Enterprise Inns
- Michael Turner, chief executive, Fuller's
- Scott Waddington, chief executive, SA Brain
- Paul Wells, MD, Charles Wells
- Andy Slee, licensed trading director, Coca-Cola Enterprises
Inconsistency to blame
Local inconsistency was to blame by the pubco chiefs for much of the fiasco surrounding the new Licensing Act.
Karen Jones, chief executive of Spirit Group, said in some cases councils had turned a changeover which should have been reasonable into something "tortured and difficult". "The interpretation at a local level is in many cases simply wrong," she said. "There are 376 councils, each one interpreting the guidelines in a different way."
Punch chief executive Giles Thorley wondered why the idea of handing licensing to the 43 police authorities had been rejected by the government, forcing pubs to deal instead with 376 councils.
Mitchells & Butlers Pubs & Bars managing director Mike Bramley said: "Some local authorities are more difficult than others, some are horrendous. One authority was adamant that a notice outside one of our pubs was wrong, until we showed them it several times."
The process had not been helped by the negative image of pubs which had been built up in the national media, declared Shepherd Neame chief executive Jonathan Neame. "Most council members have a negative image of pubs," he said. "Two years ago they were talking about liberating pubs. Now they are talking about control."
The industry leaders were broadly in agreement with the licensing minister James Purnell - that there should be no delay in the Second Appointed Day (SAD), the day by which all licensees need to be in possession of a licence, now set for November 24. The brewers present agreed that there was a pressing need for a campaign to urge licensees to apply before the "potential time bomb" of the SAD. This has now been launched in the shape of the British Beer & Pub Association's Act Now! initiative, which will see all its brewing members promote the message to their customers.
Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries chief executive Ralph Findlay advised freetraders: "If they haven't yet applied they should contact their brewery supplier and ask them exactly what they should be doing."
But Ted Tuppen, chief executive of Enterprise Inns, refused to blame Westminster for the ongoing problems. "To pass the blame back on to the government would not be right," he said. "How many people will really be forced to shut down after the SAD? The reality is that people will struggle, but they will get their applications done."
Looking for positives
Huge concerns about the potential fall-out of a smoking ban did not prevent the industry leaders from looking for possible positives.
Ian Payne, who pioneered smoke-free pubs when he was chief executive at Laurel, declared: "There are a large number of pub rejecters who don't go into pubs because they don't want to come out smelling of smoke. Many women, in particular, are put off pubs by smoke."
In the current climate, the success of smoke-free trading depended on your customer base, he said. "There's no doubt that if your customers are ABC1s aged over 40, you are on to a winner. For a pub in the right area, a ban is terrific news," he said. Some Laurel pubs saw sales rise more than 20 per cent following a smoke ban - but he warned that another venue in Nottingham, which went smoke-free as part of a controlled experiment, saw sales dive 25 per cent.
Mr Payne added that the industry needed to do more to tell the public about what it was already doing to combat smoking.
"We are not doing a good job in conveying what we have already achieved," he said. "There are an awful lot of pubs where you can smoke in one room, and not in another."
Rooney Anand, chief executive of Greene King - which has also been at the forefront of the smoking debate - said it was still far too early to come to any long-term conclusions about the effects of a smoking ban. "People are still trying to make sense of what is happening in Ireland," he said.
Shepherd Neame chief executive Jonathan Neame also said the industry needed to convey a better image of itself.
At the beginning of Labour's third term, and with a new Health Secretary, he said, this was the industry's chance to present a better picture of what it had achie