LETTERs
Trying to bowl over Sky Sports
Just a few lines regarding Sky and bowling greens (MA, 1 November 2007). Would you say that a public house with a skittle or bowling alley that has been established since 1987 would be or could be counted as a "public leisure facility".
It's very similar (to a bowling green) except we have a polished floor and not cut grass, and this is a very busy venue - 52 weeks of the year, even when snow and frosts are with us.
Out skittles alley is a sporting facility that's in public use and in great demand.
We used to subscribe to Sky for the sport, but I'm afraid they got greedy and we could not afford them - or Setanta.
I could not agree more with Alan Williams (MA, 8 November 2007). If Sky made reductions on sports channels surely they would stand to make more money over a period.
I really do hope that Sky comes unstuck. Come on Mr Murdoch, give us a break.
N G Broster & C A Smith
Licensees, Shakespeare Inn,
Bridgnorth, Shropshire
Improving alcohol training US style
I write with reference to the outline for the Responsible Drinks Retailing 2007 conference, "So what more must the on and off-trade do to convince the Government and hostile groups that self-regulation is working?"
The answer is to improve training and reduce failed alcohol stings.
The BARS Program is the largest provider of in-store compliance training in the United States.
We sell our service to licensees in all 50 states, providing more than 15,000 store visits each month to on and off-premises' retailers.
Our service extends training into each outlet by sending in persons aged 21 to 25 years of age ordering alcohol.
We monitor to see if employees follow company policy and ask for ID. We give a green card on the spot if the employee passes, a red card if they do not pass.
The next business day,
the outlet's management receives an email report on the visit.
Clients that use our service see their compliance increase dramatically in a short period of time.
In a recent independent study in Madison, Wisconsin, licensees saw a 44% increase in compliance within six months of using our service.
Our reporting site is password-protected for each client. More importantly, we have reports designed for every stakeholder concerned with the sale of alcohol in the community. We document responsibility levels with every store visit.
The BARS Program is a self-policing service and the outcomes for our clients include better trained employees and a reduced amount of failed alcohol stings.
David Gaudet
The BARS Program
