Elliott: Enough moaning — let's have some action

Enough moaning — let's have some action

Reading the daily papers over the past few days, anyone in the licensed trade could be excused for thinking that the end of the pub is nigh. Every day it's doom and gloom.

Of course the smoking ban has affected some pubs that were land-locked and/or wet led with little or no food offer. However, I have visited a large number of pubs up and down the country over the past few weeks and the one aspect of a good pub that is crystal clear to me is that those offering a great welcome, great service and a great offer, are all doing good business.

These licensees, while aware of the issues, don't stand at the end of the bar and moan — they have collected databases of their customers' details and keep in touch on a regular basis.

Their pubs don't shut — they open all day, every day, serving food. How many pubs can say they do that?

One typical pub that stood out was a wet-led community pub. Their sales had not gone down, just up and up. Probably the fact that they did 14 breakfasts that morning to local taxi drivers, served value food all day, sponsored two darts, two football and two pool teams, had brought in pie and mash and were holding a St George's Day disco speaks for itself.

To support this, a group of licensees I met with recently were all of the same view. Not one of them mentioned the credit crunch or the smoking ban. What they did talk about was retaining key staff and developing them. Their view was that the right attitude from loyal staff helps create a great quality visit for their customers. It's not rocket science, it's plain, simple management and coaching that works.

So, all you licensees out there who are successful, let's hear from you. Talk up the positives you are experiencing and let's share some best practice.

I fully understand there are a large number of licensees out there who are working really hard, but are you working on the right things that will bring additional customers? What have you done in the last six months to change your pub? How have you improved the offer?

Customers are now looking for value for money (not cheap), great quality products with local provenance. These aspects could easily be added to every single menu up and down the country. The pub is still the best place to go for social occasions. We need to get on the front foot and make sure everyone is aware that whatever disposable income people have they should spend it in our pubs!

I hope the sun shines very soon and we can once again welcome old and new customers to our gardens and patios, and really remind them what a great institution the British pub is.