Regent turns away 5,000 people a week

High-street operator Regent Inns is turning away business potentially worth around £4m per year in pursuit of its responsible retailing campaign.

Door supervisors at Walkabout and Jongleurs outlets refuse entry to around 5,000 people during a typical week for failing to produce acceptable ID, violations of dress code, drunkenness or unruly behaviour.

Regent's commercial director Simon Kaye said: "The implications of this are that those 5,000 would typically be spending around £15 each. So over the course of a year, we are talking about a significant number of people and a lot of money."

The move is one of several initiatives that Regent has adopted to distinguish itself from other high-street operators that still run promotions such as "all you can drink for £10" and "buy one, get one free". Another initiative is a computer-based risk management system that has been installed in every outlet.

The system covers all

aspects of operating, from fire safety inspections,

drugs awareness, disabled access and smoking policy, right through to subjects such as bomb threats and running barbecues or setting up a bouncy castle.

Coupled with this is an incident reporting facility where venue staff can log anything from the number of people refused entry and customers slipping or tripping, to inspections by agencies such as police, fire brigades and local authorities.

Regent Inns operations director David Turner said the risk management system had helped reduce the company's insurance premiums by half over the past year.

He added: "The number of slips and trips has been reduced by 75% because we know what is happening in every venue and can take steps to eradicate problems."

Turner said the revenue lost by turning people away had been more than offset by customers' desire to visit safer, well-run outlets.

l Regent safety drive - p36