Blaize bounces back

Instead of being a silent partner, Sue McIntyre found herself running the Bishop Blaize single-handedly - despite having virtually no trade knowledge. Jo Grobel looks at how a zest for training built a sound reputation.

Sue McIntyre was just two months into her first tenancy when it became clear that her relationship with her business partner wasn't working. Eventually she found herself running the pub alone, with no cellar experience and no personal licence.

At the time, McIntyre, who is a trained accountant, was also running a small accountancy firm, having taken on the Bishop Blaize in Stockport, Cheshire, as a "silent partner", relying on her business partner's hands-on

experience to take care of the pub. The only knowledge she had of the licensed trade was what she had gleaned 20 years earlier as a part-time barmaid.

"It was a hair-raising time, but I realised there was no point worrying about it all - I needed to do something about it,"​ recalls McIntyre. "I knew virtually nothing about cask ale and so enrolled on a BII cellar management course, and also took my personal licence-holders' course." ​

Up to that point, McIntyre had been relying on a Marston's step-by-step guide on how to care for cask ale, from delivery to dispense.

"The booklet was really useful, but I realised that alone wasn't enough. It's all very well understanding things theoretically, but I felt I needed some practical advice." ​

McIntyre's husband Ian decided to take the cellar management course with Sue so that he could help her out in the pub occasionally. Ian has a full-time job, but thought he might as well be cellar-trained, too.

At the same time McIntyre, a Union Pub Company tenant, began entering Marston's CaskForce competition every week, and won the monthly draw in April.

In-pub training was crucial.​Having completed her cellar training only six months before, she decided to let two of her four staff take the in-pub training course, but sat in on it with them. She says the course was "invaluable", as it was tailored to her own pub.

"I like everything to be spot on, so decided there was no harm in sitting through the course again, and, in fact, picked up a couple of new things,"​ she says. "I don't know how any-one can keep a cellar without the training."​

McIntyre also won £4,000 to spend on improving her pub through the CaskForce draw. She has so far spent just under £1,000 of the prize on auto-stillage machines for the casks, but is still deciding where to invest the remainder. She is considering either new furniture, renovating the outside area and putting in a beer garden, or buying kitchen equipment. McIntyre is talking through the options with Union to decide which would benefit the business most.

At the moment the pub doesn't offer food and is open only in the evenings from Monday to Thursday, and from 1pm onwards from Friday to Sunday. If she invests in kitchen equipment, McIntyre will open the pub during the day, and start offering food. She has just taken her one-day basic food hygiene course through her local council.

She has also taken Diageo's Perfect Serve course, and says she is enjoying soaking up as much advice as possible: "The more training I have, the more confident I am in running the business. I'm finding that there's always more to learn, and it's all helping me notice if something isn't right." ​

She believes all licensees should carry out refresher courses every two to three years to keep abreast of any changes in equipment, and to help them view areas of business from a different perspective.

"The training has benefited me immensely, and it's helping me build up a good name for the pub,"​ she says. "People come to the Bishop Blaize to drink a decent pint of beer as they know we pride ourselves on offering the best-quality cask ale possible."​

How to enter

For a chance to win free training for the BIIAB Award in Beer and Cellar Quality (ABCQ), visit www.caskforce.co.uk​ or call Freephone 0800 028 1969 to register your pub. Once you have passed the ABCQ, you can then enter the monthly draws in which 10 licensees will win Cask Marque accreditation for their pub. One of these will also receive a month's supply of free beer and a place in the grand final draw in May 2007. The seven monthly winners will attend a lunch to draw the ultimate prize of having their rent paid for a year.