Less than two weeks to go now until St George's Day, and the chance for pubs to unite the nation by celebrating this splendid occasion in ways that only they can.
There is so much untapped potential in this April 23 celebration that it's amazing the trade has not fully capitalised on it until now. But this year, all the signs are looking good. Thousands of pubs are preparing their promotions. Numerous brewers are investing heavily in the success of the day, most notably Wells Young's with its Bombardier ale, but also significantly Greene King with Abbot Ale. Several family brewers, seeing the obvious possibilities, have signed up too.
And thanks to the Herculean efforts of events organiser Bruno Peek, hundreds of thousands - probably millions - of people, have been reading about the event in local and regional newspapers.
The force is definitely with St George, and the pub trade should be looking for the weekend of April 20/21/22 and the day itself to be far busier than any previous St George's Day event.
The MA has been determined to help the trade maximise this opportunity - and we're confident that enterprising pubs will gain great benefit from throwing themselves into the Best Dressed Pub competition and the Abbot Ale Party, as well as the national toast to St George.
As we all know, pubs need great events such as this to excite their customers and attract new trade. Get people along who have never bothered before and you could create bonds with drinkers and eaters who'll spend thousands of pounds in the years to come. And with Scottish nationalism getting stronger by the day, tapping into Englishness is a timely marketing strategy.
With pubs under so much pressure from other leisure industries and greater home comforts available, the St George's Day promotion and its like are essential, particularly for community pubs.
In that spirit, the move to cheque-cashing that Greene King is pioneering is clever.
So, too, is the fitness-centre operator's vision of gyms for women in pubs - see page 10. Too many pubs have not exploited available space - this is one way of getting your whole pub working for you.
The lesson is being learned by more licensees as they look outside at unused areas and consider their post-smoking ban potential - but more can always be done if you think entrepreneurially enough.
LETTERs
Police don't have hearts of glass
I was saddened by your editorial (MA, 15 March 2007) suggesting "plastic glasses will not work, and disappointed by Jon Collins' comments.
I recognise the power of the MA, which is read and respected by the licensed trade. As a Wiltshire police licensing officer, I am concerned that your negative editorial undermines positive work we are carrying out.
Wiltshire police contact premises where a glass-related incident has occurred and assess each incident and premises. It would be unfair to suggest we label these as "problem" premises. Often they carry higher risk because of their customer base, operating hours, style and location.
In my experience, "strong management" would not prevent attacks as you suggest in your editorial, but removal of potential weapons would at least reduce injury.
Once we have established the level of risk of a further occurrence, we may suggest polycarbonate as the way forward. The response from the trade in my area has been excellent so far.
Your editorial strongly suggested that the police are out of touch with pub life. This is simply not true - we recognise the issues, particularly those facing late-night operators, and our activities include attending trade groups, assisting the trade with training and much more - including reading the MA!
Our expertise includes dealing with violent crime, offenders and the impact of violent crimes on victims and their families.
This expertise should be recognised when constructive crime- reduction advice is given.
Wiltshire police, together with Crime Reduction Partnerships, understand trade concerns about switching to polycarbonate.
Many barriers could only be overcome by premises being able to trial products for a given period. We will offer our licensed premises the opportunity to do just that via a polycarbonate loan scheme this year. This project, funded by partner agencies, aims to convince operators of polycarbonate's benefits, including reducing injury and promoting staff health and safety.
Jon Collins and yourselves have missed the point - Wiltshire police want self-regulation - particularly in late-night venues, rather than blanket bans. In the spirit of the Licensing Act 2003, should we not be looking for continuous improvement across all business areas and prioritising customer safety?
Many late-night venues operating with poor-quality plastic products welcome polycarbonate products.
Wiltshire Police recognise that polycarbonate is not appropriate for every premises, but surely we have to take a common-sense approach to high-risk late-night venues and work in partnership to meet the licensing objectives?
Perhaps the MA will consider featuring the Wiltshire polycarbonate loan-scheme and include feedback from customers and the licensed trade.
Jacqui Gallimore
Divisional Licensing Officer, Wiltshire Police Divisional HQ, West Melksham, Wiltshire
Warn those who are underage
I write regarding your article about planned nationwide pub stings (Morning Advertiser web forum and this week's issue):
During one of our recent "sting" operations, working on behalf of our client in order to help ensure that their policies are in place at the sharp end, our purchasers made 28 visits and were declined on 27 occasions.
The erroneous one was for a cigarette purchase.
When debriefing, it came to light that none of our "children" had been warned that by attempting to purchase alcohol they were committing an offence, nor were they warned that the police may be contacted.
While it is appreciated that licensees are busy, and reporting crime takes time, true offenders will not be prosecuted unless police make spot-checks on pubs.
A poster campaign to remind underage drinkers that fraudulent attempts to purchase alcohol may mean facing prosecution could help to discourage them.
Nigel Parsons
sent via email from
nigel@answers.uk.com