Reaping the rewards of responsibility

Running a pub in a responsible manner is good for business and can cut your operating costs. So say the winners of the Morning Advertiser's Responsible Drinks Retailing Awards... one year on. Christine Boggis reports

Mitchells & Butlers 2004 Winner:

On-trade Retailers Managed Chain

Mitchells & Butlers, described by RDR judges last year as the 'Rolls Royce of the managed chain sector, has spent the year since its win investing in training and raising awareness of responsible drinks issues.

The implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 spurred the chain to boost training across the board, from regional business managers through house managers to all staff. 'People now know what their personal legal responsibilities are, explains public affairs director Simon Ward. M&B also makes sure that at least two members of staff in every outlet hold the national personal licence holders' certificate. 'That is a substantial investment, says Ward.

The chain is also boosting awareness of the Portman Group's Drinkaware website by including Drinkaware and alcohol unit information on a range of point-of-sale material, as well as noting alcohol unit information on more and more of its own point-of-sale material, such as All Bar One wine lists. It has become a national corporate member and financial supporter of Pubwatch, and has continued implementing the Challenge 21 scheme, in which any customer who looks under 21 is asked for ID.

To improve its door staffing, M&B has produced a manual for security staff about due diligence and how to operate. 'We sent it to all of our houses, trained it in, and the Security Industry Authority has acknowledged that it is a good document, says Ward. The chain is also reviewing its own alcohol and social responsibility policy not with any major changes, but just to 'keep it fresh, Ward explains: 'We are not letting it become irrelevant. In May 2005 M&B published its corporate social responsibility review.

'We have had some recognition that we are at the forefront of responsible retailing, and that is what we want it gives us an improved reputation, he says. 'Our own staff are motivated by being recognised as a leading company, and I think also they themselves get the benefit from us putting in all this training and safeguards.

Ward adds: 'If we can root out the sort of customers we don't want, who deter other customers and give staff a bad name, then it's good for business that's unquestionable. I think ultimately people don't want to visit pubs where there is irresponsible retailing and trouble.

The Boat Inn 2004 Winner: On-Trade Retailers Tenant/Lessee

'We're the standard-bearers, says Shara Lyons, who runs the Boat Inn near Loughborough, Leicestershire, along with co-licensee Richard Parry. The pair won an RDR award for house policies that transformed a pub with drugs, binge-drinking and offensive behaviour problems in 2004 and have found that news of their no-nonsense stance has spread so far that they barely get any trouble any more.

'It's spread the reputation so we haven't had many people even trying to push their luck this year. If you are underage don't bother trying the Boat. If you want to do an all-day session shotgunning Stella don't try the Boat, says Lyons. 'If we had cause to say something is against our house policy and then they start giving lip back, we could say: 'You've just walked into a pub that's won Responsible Drinks Retailer what did you think we were going to do?'

When Lyons and Parry first cracked down on the drugs problem in the pub they were threatened and their car was vandalised. These days they still get the odd drunk upending their hanging baskets after being told they've had enough to drink but nothing like the sort of problems less responsible operators have, according to Lyons.

'It is actually more profitable to operate responsibly because you cut your cleaning bill, you cut your repair bill, you cut your wage bill because you don't need random staff in a policing capacity. Most businesses' biggest costs are recruitment and retention of staff, and the best bar staff in the world aren't going to stay in a pub where they have to serve the same drunken idiots day in, day out, she says.

Lyons and Parry have continued developing their house policies. In the last year they have worked with Leicestershire Police enforcing their Challenge 21 policy, in which bar staff ask anyone who looks as though they might be under 21 for ID. They have also banned customers from downing shooters and chasers at the bar. 'It's not something we had ever encouraged, it's not that kind of pub, Lyons notes, but her staff had noticed drinkers in other town pubs getting into trouble after drinking shots at the bar while buying rounds for their friends, and wanted to shore up the Boat Inn against that kind of behaviour. 'There is a responsible drinking aim in mind, because it is the sort of thing that can cause trouble on a night, says Lyons.

Bedford Borough Council 2004 Winner: Local Authority

Having transformed Bedford town centre from a no-go area for law-abiding citizens to a controlled, relaxed environment where people of all ages feel safe at night, Bedford Borough Council has set its sights on pubs further afield, and has set about reviving a 'dormant Pubwatch scheme outside the town centre.

Last year the local authority won an RDR award for its Bed:Safe initiative, which aims to 'sustain a vibrant evening and night-time, leisure-based economy that is safe and where people feel safe. Keith Simmons, head of licensing and chair of the Bed:Safe steering group, tells the Morning Advertiser: 'I've been out working in relation to licensing for the last 11 years, going out and seeing how things work and it's the safest I've ever felt in all of that period. It was visibly, palpably safer as a town centre than it has ever been during all those years I've been doing this.

The council's schemes include Challenge 21 throughout all licensed venues in the town; 'Spikey drinks stoppers to protect against drinks spiking; the BAND project banned from one venue, banned from all; supplying all venues with ultra-violet scanners to expose forged notes; and taxi-marshals, introduced last Christmas to control vehicles in town centre streets blocking access to and views of any trouble. They have proved so successful that this year Bedford has extended some of them to pubs beyond the town centre under the name B:PubSafe. 'A lot of effort has gone into trying to rejuvenate Pubwatch outside the town centre, says Simmons.

He adds: 'We're never going to eradicate all violence, it would be an impossible dream to achieve that. But we have dampened it down because of the initiatives that we have taken, and it also feels safer so that people can feel more confident about coming into Bedford town centre at night.

The Union Pub Company 2004 Winner:

On-Trade Retailers Pubco Chain

'Responsible drinks retailing has become part of our DNA that's the best way I can describe it, says Karl Czinege, business opportunities manager at the Union Pub Company (UPC), the tenanted arm of Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries. The company won an RDR award after cracking down on drinks promotions that encouraged binge drinking or associated drinking with sexual achievement, setting up responsible drinks retailing courses for its tenants and working with the Portman Group on a number of initiatives.

And UPC has continued with the good work, says Czinege. Over the last year the company has implemented a number of responsible drinking schemes. Working with the Portman Group, it has implemented a code for retailers on which drinks promotions are acceptable, signed up to the group's retailer alerts against 'dodgy products and run its 'I'll be DES promotion in which they gave out free soft drinks to encourage designated drivers to stay sober. UPC has also taken part in the Department for Transport's Think campaign against drink driving, and rolled out price lists that include the number of alcohol units in each drink across its pub estate, and carried on with its