Chris Maclean: Deal or no deal?

For many months virtually all the debate on the forum, and elsewhere in the industry, has been focused on the difficult trading conditions licensees face.

With less spending money available customers are visiting pubs less often, spending less and being more selective in how and where they spend it.

For many licensees, faced with less income, high rents, painful utility bills and unsustainable outgoings, the only lifeline for them would appear to be for their pubco to offer some help. Something to revitalise their businesses. Anything to help generate sales.

This call would appear to have been ignored in many quarters. Its very sad.

Meanwhile I have been associated with Shepherd Neame, the local brewer here in the South East, for almost thirty years. They are a good brewery and it still has that parochial feeling where all the people you come into contact with have names, and know yours.

I have a personal point of contact at every level in every department. I know the names of my draymen, the tele-sales, tech services and the tied-trade office. Should I wish it I could speak to the CEO or any of the directors and they would know my name and I theirs. Wonderful. I would have it no other way.

I have always promised I would hand in my notice if my BDM (Tony) were to turn up with a laptop and announce I was 2.64 per cent adrift on cider sales. It isn't that kind of operation, thankfully.

But I digress.

So trading conditions are tough and the future looks uncertain. Add to this the imminent February price rise which we were warned about months ago and and inevitably some licensees are crying "Help!"

So it was with some astonishment that my brewery sent out a letter the other day with a deal. A deal the like of which I've never encountered before. They have offered us a discount. A big discount. A discount on the products that matter most. On our main bitter, our main lager and on Coke.

This is the deal; if you agree to sign up for the discount you must sell the products at a pre-determined rate for six weeks. Sign up, display the posters, sell the beer cheaper and you will get a big discount. Brilliant.

But the shock of the deal is that it is exclusive to tenants, it covers our two main core products, it has a limited time and we can maintain our GP's - although if our volume sales remain static our income falls slightly. But my prediction is that volumes might well increase. I think it will be very good and I suspect many who read this would wish their pub cos did something similar.

But I am somewhat surprised that some licensees here have rejected this deal. I have heard some of the mutterings of discontent. Why not other brands? Why only six weeks? Why now? I can understand for some such a deal would be of no advantage. A short term gain which will be followed by a significant price jump. And there is little point in an isolated pub having a price-war with itself.

But I think it is a bold initiative. I think licensees that survive this turmoil will do so by showing resourcefulness and adaptability, seizing every opportunity to gain market advantage. For six weeks I'll have an opportunity to use price to my advantage (okay I'll still not undercut Wetherspoons) and show to my customers my willingness to engage on their behalf.

Come March, when the promotion ends. I hope another deal will spring up. But by then we'll able to judge wether this discount opportunity helps ailing licensees or not ~ depending if the ailing licensees grasped the opportunity.

I agree it isn't everyone's cup of tea. But it is something many people have wanted and, now that it is here, they can choose it or lose it.

Damn, its exciting. It's times like this that remind me that my over-riding consideration is that I'm a businessman. Plain and simple.