No half measures

Morning Advertiser held its Responsible Drinks Retailing 2006 awards to honour those licensees who go the extra mile

Managed chain Winner: Regent Inns

Regent Inns does not do anything by halves, and its responsible drinks strategies are a perfect example of this.

The group - whose flagship brand

Walkabout is on the high streets of 49 UK towns and cities - was one of the first to drop "two for the price of one" drink offers back in 2004.

In April this year, Regent Inns introduced

an interactive computer-based training

programme through which staff members

receive advice on how to sell alcohol

responsibly. This includes asking customers for proof of age, assessing levels of drunkenness and knowing the number of units of alcohol in each drink served.

After 8pm, door staff at most Regent

venues always check for appropriate ID. During an average week supervisors will turn away 5,000 underage people.

The computer system also reports all incidents in every pub, which has reduced the number of incidents or what Regent calls "slips and trips", by 75%.

Regent knows what is happening in every venue and can therefore eradicate problems.

Teams with sniffer dogs regularly check all outlets for drugs and the company organises undercover operations to gauge how venues are being run.

Judges' comments:

"Regent Inns' rigorous approach to challenging

underage drinkers is what impressed judges most. It is prepared to put its money where its mouth is: Regent's main branded outlets Walkabout and Jongleurs

comedy club lost out on nearly £4m worth of business by

turning away unwanted

customers. The group has a range of systems in place, which sets an example to other main operators on the high street."

Tenant/lessee WINNER: Station Hotel, Ashton-under-lyne, Lancashire

When Pauline Town and Ben Marshall bought the Station Hotel a-year-and-a-half ago, the pub needed a complete overhaul after having fallen into a state of decline. High unemployment in Ashton means crime and antisocial behaviour is a problem, and Town wanted to address these issues by ensuring she was a responsible drinks retailer.

The licensee is a member of the BII

and the Campaign for Real Ale, and she has a plethora of qualifications under her belt ranging from NVQ Level III certificate in Hospitality Management, to Cellar

Management training and food hygiene awards. She ensures her staff are also fully trained by sending them on regular training days at a local brewery. Town ensures that all her staff understand the products,

responsible sale of drinks and the

calculation of alcohol units.

The pub does not offer cheap drinks

promotions or encourage excessive

drinking. The focus is on high quality products, with premium imported vodkas and malt whisky ranges to complement the traditional cask ales.

By selling high-quality products at a fair price, the pub has more than doubled the weekly revenue of the pub in less than a year. Staff turnover is negligible. However, Town is taking on extra staff because of increasing trade.

Judges' comments:

"This licensee goes that step further: Town is the chairwoman of Ashton's Pub & Club Watch and acts as a consultant and member of Tameside's Town Centre Safety Group. She is also a representative on the Case Intervention Group, tackling anti-social behaviour in the town centre by targeting troublemakers with ASBOs and Exclusion Orders. This is someone truly dedicated to the cause."

Independent operator Winner: Old China Hand, Clerkenwell, London

Rowena Smith took over the China Hand over a year ago and made a decision not to sell spirits or cheap beers in order to get rid of the underage drinkers and drunks. After eight months, Smith consulted the local police and put spirits back on the menu, but not cheap beers.

Staff understand the importance of not serving alcohol to underage customers. As soon as they start working at the pub, they are given detailed training notes on responsible drinks retailing, including what to say in difficult situations.

The staff all know that the licensee views the CCTV footage regularly, especially to keep an eye on the situation during periods when she's not in the pub. Anyone found to be serving underage drinkers or drunks will lose their job. Smith also makes it clear to all staff that they could be fined up to £1,000 if they do serve these customers.

Spirits are only served in 35ml units and this is displayed on a board for customers to see. When anyone asks for a double, the barman will explain that it's policy just to sell single shots of spirits.

Judges' comments:

"This licensee was taking a forceful approach to combating underage drinking in a pub

previously notorious for drug dealing, fighting and after-hours drinking. When Smith took over in March 2005 she set up a number of initiatives to change the clientele: she works closely with the local police force and imposes tough disciplines such as the removal of spirits from the bar for eight months simply to get rid of the unwelcome

customers and drunks who had previously visited the pub before Smith took it on."

Local Authority Joint winners: Watford and Worthing

Watford: Several licensees in Watford admitted to the council that they struggled with paperwork, did not have computers or needed help filling out forms. To help these pubs, Watford Borough Council put together licensing packs which included advice and what its team look for when they carry out inspections.

The pack also has training sheets, which licensees can use to develop schemes for their staff.

As with Worthing Council, joint winner of this award, Watford has many initiatives to help combat crime and disorder.

It is in the process of implementing a three strikes policy, that works in a similar way to that of a football match. Anyone breaking the rules is shown a yellow card, then a red card, a third strike, and they're out. The first time a drink-related arrest

occurs, the person will be issued with a fixed penalty notice and gets a yellow card - a letter with a health education message on it. After a second drink-related arrest or a court conviction, the offender gets a severe warning - a red card - and on a third occasion they could receive an ASBO.

Worthing: A few decades ago Worthing had the reputation of being a good place to retire to. But after being voted the most profitable town in Britain in 1998, 1999 and 2000, young families moved in, and the expanding range of shops, bars and pubs reflects this.

The night-time economy means there are 35 pubs in the town centre.

The council has set up several initiatives to ensure the outlets run smoothly,

including Worthing Pub Watch, which is

supported by five separate Pub Watch Groups in the Borough.

Worthing Club Watch - the sister

organisation to PubWatch, is also a strong influence and distributes posters, such as one that says: "We serve drinks not drunks", to remind customers that they could be asked to leave a premises for bad

behaviour.

Another approach taken by Worthing

was to introduce high visibility clothing,

including orange padded jackets and

armbands, for doorstaff. This ensured police dealing with disorder could distinguish between offenders and door staff.

Judges' comments:

"Watford has every angle

covered, whether from a drugs perspective, taxi marshalling scheme or police radio

enforcement. It doesn't wait to enforce these measures until problems have occurred. Watford implements initiatives to prevent nightmare

scenarios taking place."

"Worthing is an example of a borough council doing all it can to reduce crime and disorder. There are too many initiatives to name, but one that stood out was it