The ALMR conference - a lesson in how to have fun in the licensed trade

I wandered over the Millennium Bridge from our offices on the South Bank this week to pay a visit to the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers' annual conference in the City.

My attendance was all a bit last minute, skin-o'-the teeth stuff, but I'm really glad I made it. Listening to the likes of Keith Knowles of Interpub, Geronimo Inns' Rupert Clevely and Philip Thorley of Thorley Taverns waxing lyrically and with near-limitless enthusiasm about their operations, it was hard not to get fired up about what they did.

All three referred to various key ingredients that go into make a successful hospitality business: maintaining a sense of fun, of vibrancy, enthusiasm and commitment, to name four. And passion. The passion for their staff, their offer and their customers was clear for all to see. It was impressive stuff.

I envisage the life of such an operator as akin to being among a flotilla of small boats circling a lumbering great oil tanker; small 'n' sleek enough to nip in and out of the larger boat's path, but always wary of getting run down and sunk.

With the costs of business an ever present and growing challenge, even before rent reviews, operators at this level of the industry perhaps face more hurdles than most.

And while enthusiasm might not pay the bills, it is still good to have buckets of the stuff in one's company locker.

Guns, beers and near-naked women

Here's an interesting fact I picked up at the ALMR conference from Spearmint Rhino boss Simon Warr. Did you know that in many states in the US you can legally acquire a high-powered assault rifle with little or no background checks required, but it's against the law in many states to drink a beer while watching a near-naked girl twirl round a pole? Only in America…