Reasons to be proud

Entering the reception area of Gales' brewery in the Hampshire town of Horndean, one is immediately struck by how proud it is of its award-winning success. Certificates of achievement adorn the walls, and wherever you turn there's a trophy of some sort sitting proudly on display.​

The accolades don't stop there. More of the same can be found in the boardroom. The Publican's Pub Company of the Year 2004 and 2005 are among its major awards, plus a good handful of individual pub and people awards. Its most recent success, winning Hampshire's Company of the Year, is something Gales is particularly proud of, given the size of the county. As managing director Nigel Atkinson says: "Hampshire is a very big place with many sizeable towns and large businesses." The win also met with approval from the one of the most important of critical quarters. "Quite right too," responds Gales' customer Keith Wilson via The Publican's website. "I have been with Gales for two years now and have never before encountered such high levels of customer service. Its beers [which include HSB, Gales Bitter and Festival] are great and reasonably priced, its telesales staff are knowledgeable, the cellar technicians are experts in their field and the freetrade manager visits once a month with helpful advice."

It's not very often people go out of their way to offer praise. So what is the company's winning formula?"We are not a company that likes to sit still," says Nigel. "We are constantly moving forward and treat every award entry as a review of our business - a way of driving ideas and helping to grow our business. We are proud of our awards success and use it to market and promote our company. It has certainly aided recruitment and as a result better people are running our pubs."

The key to success​

The company's success is impressing judges and consumers alike. Enjoying its 15th consecutive year of growth, Gales grew overall by 9.8 per cent last year with all divisions registering an improvement.

"The managed business had a better year because of better people, tenancies had a good year despite all the additional legislation and even the freetrade market, which is highly competitive, saw improvement," says Nigel.

In terms of posting such widespread gains Gales is now in the minority. Despite the declining beer market and the closure of dozens of regional breweries over the past few years, it still hangs on to its brewing heritage and Nigel maintains that the brewery is still very much a part of the company's future.

"As long as we can afford to keep the brewery and as long as it's right for our business, we will continue to brew. I see no reason why we will quit brewing, but at the same time I can't say that we will brew forever. It is part of our income stream and as with any part of our business it has to be regularly reviewed."

Nigel says recent brewery takeovers, including Jennings and Ridley's, were "inevitable". "It's difficult for many brewers to find areas to grow," he comments.

However, he admits that each brewery closure gives Gales a boost in a niche market.

"There's no doubt brewing is highly competitive, but we are brewing the same amount as we did when I joined the company 15 years ago and in a massively declining market that is pretty stunning," he says.

Room for expansion​

Meanwhile, the company's estate of 70 tenancies and 40 managed pubs is expanding by one or two outlets a year. The expansion is necessary to keep the company moving forward and helps pay for the increasing burden of legislation.

Nigel claims his managed house estate needs to take an extra £300,000 a year to cover the costs of licensing reform, minimum wage and new environment bills, alone.Gales' head office bore the burden of all new licence applications to the tune of £100,000.

"This was money not budgeted for but we chose to absorb the cost as there's no value in a pub without a licence," explains Nigel.

"Today, with off-trade prices so low, you can't pass on the cost to the customers as you used to be able to by putting a penny on the pint. Customers won't stand for that now. We have to look at growth in food, accommodation and, importantly, buying power which results in discounts."Head of marketing Derek Beaves adds: "All our licence applications have been completed and all were successful. The exercise ensured that all pubs got virtually what they wanted with the exception of just four, which are going to appeal.

"On average pubs have got an extra hour every night. We certainly didn't take the easy option of simply adopting grandfather rights. But it was not an easy task, especially dealing with local authorities. All our forms were identical and on one hand you'd get a letter from the local authority praising us for the way we filled in our forms and on the other you'd get someone saying they couldn't make head nor tail of it - despite it being identical."

Gales lobbies through the British Beer & Pub Association and the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers and has been following the smoking debate closely; it has serious concerns for some of its pubs.

"What we want is for all outlets to compete on a level playing field," says Nigel. "In one of our pubs, which is opposite a private members' club, we anticipate that trade could drop by £2,000 a week. "Self employed people and small businesses are going to lose out. Whatever happens must be fair to all."

Nigel believes the biggest changes in pubs over the past 15 years has been prompted by more women spending time in them.

"Women demand different drinks and higher standards. They want to eat and they want a choice of soft drinks," comments Nigel.

"As a result we now have a lot of good brands of top quality and we have to continually look at providing better standards. For instance, we all spend a lot of time on beer dispense to maintain quality, but we also had a review of the fluid used to clean glasses which can seriously effect the taste. We must always be one step ahead."

So in keeping one step ahead, what's up Gales' sleeves for the future? "We run individual inns of character and will continue to acquire within our financial restraints," says Nigel. "We know what we're good at and won't go into areas where we are weak.

"It all comes back to moving forward and not being prepared to stand still. We will continue doing much of the same and with 15 years of consecutive growth have no plans to change."