THE GUV'NOR

John Ellis

The licensee

of the Crown Inn, Oakengates, Shropshire,

is sure he has hit upon a positive suggestion to help the trade - and please the Government

It's very easy to look back at the trials and tribulations of 2007 and get steamed up about the unfair treatment the trade has had this year.

I do it as much as anyone else, but there is an old saying that "you make your own luck". This is down to a determination to be receptive to new ideas and opportunities and to be in the best position to take advantage of any that arise.

Generally, people who are open to new ideas are those who follow the trade press, looking at what others are doing and being willing to work that bit harder to try something new.

We know that there are too many pubs to be viable and that some people running pubs should not be allowed near the paying public.

As for the rest of us, by dint of reading this publication, we are not the hosts most likely to take our customers for granted and we are the least likely to open our doors and wait for the public to flock in.

We know that we have to be a bit different to survive - sell something special, organise events, or find another way to give added value to customers.

If we are the type of people who go that bit further, we should also be the kind to seek out our local councillors and write to our MP rather than hope someone else will do it. What should we tell them? I asked my MP that question and he said that he has so much to read and think about every day. It's clear that something easy to read, making positive suggestions, is received...well... positively.

Don't just moan about competition, prices, smoking ban and your landlord - give them a positive suggestion to back, a corner to fight.

I am putting forward a positive suggestion that the way to help balance the market between pubs and supermarkets is to charge a higher rate of duty on products in cans or bottles than on draught.

That would have the added benefits of reducing the waste mountain while reducing "binge drinking". We all want to see more drinking done in safe, secure, regulated environments than in unsafe, insecure, unregulated ones, don't we?

If that doesn't appeal to the Government, nothing will!