Uniting with other licensees will help smooth the transition to come
In 1974 our pub traded at 800 barrels off a weekly rent of £20. Twenty-five years later the same pub was trading at 500 barrels with rent and rates of £50,000. Even with our newly acquired overdraft, we were still considered 'award-winning'. A two per cent franchise fee produced some award winning language and an eventual retreat into full-time licensing consultancy. Success followed success until that is until, February 2005, when I began to discuss transitional applications with licensing authorities.
Drink talking? In my case more like sleep talking. Eighteen-hour days again - not all of you exactly helped yourselves, did you? I forget if it was five or six telephone calls to get one licensee's photographs! "The plans will be here tomorrow" and "I'll ring you back" were commonly used phrases.
The most famous pub of all is the Cat and Mouse, the role being played out between practitioners and licensing authorities. In making almost 400 applications to 35 different licensing authorities, I have encountered 35 different interpretations of the Act some of them quite astonishing. I tried to do business with a licensing officer who was Attila the Hun's blood relative, and advised one authority how they should prepare for the hearing against my own application. I've also met some very helpful people.
I've been along to 25 hearings and come away not with any feelings of success, more so feeling lucky at the sheer incompetence of the system. The inconsistencies will force the pubcos to throw vast sums of money into appeals, and costs will eventually find their way to your rent reviews.The prospect of the premises licence enforcement process should fill every licensee with concern. You'll need the fellowship and the support that comes from a trade association.
In many areas it is still difficult to establish who is the cat and who is the mouse, and local strength through formation of a trade association will ensure you are the lion. Start an LVA? That's a full circle indeed.