United we stand to champion the pub trade
Welcome to the first edition of The Publican's Morning Advertiser (PMA).
This week, the pub trade's two best-known magazines have joined forces to become a single title that will contain the best content of both going forward. The new name has historical resonance — it was the original name of the Morning Advertiser when it was first published in 1794.
The PMA also now offers a portfolio of around 20 awards, events and business conferences aimed at showcasing success in the pub trade. The merger also means that the PMA can expand its circulation by around 25%.
Our task at the PMA is a simple one — to become the industry's indispensable guide as
it meets the challenge of keeping its existing customers and drawing in more. This is, of course, about retailing — how our industry meets the challenge of attracting customers whose expectations of value, quality and service increase every single year.
The industry is blessed with large numbers of companies and licensees who are showing the way in competing with the coffee outlets, sandwich shops and restaurant chains to win sales.
And let's not forget that the size of the opportunity for the pub trade is enormous. People in this country spend a large amount of their disposable income on food and drink away from home. We like to go out — and we go out a lot.
Households in the UK spend two and a half times more of their disposable income on eating and drinking out than people in France — and more than four times what the residents of Germany shell out. The UK is only a little way behind the United States in terms of the out-of-home food and drink spend total — and our spend figures will most likely catch up with the world's most developed eating and drinking out market quite shortly.
Put simply, in absolute terms, there is no shortage of customers out there — and, at the moment, they also spend twice the percentage of their available disposable income figure on alcohol in on-premises of the United States, almost five times the French level and eight times the proportion in Germany.
And, come economic boom or recession, our customers have kept their spend on eating and drinking out remarkably consistent for the past 45 years.
Disposable incomes have risen pretty consistently, save for the past three or four years, and consumers in the UK have spent just under 10% of their spare cash on food and drink outside the home throughout this half century. It's just that the competition for the traditional pub has stiffened.
The PMA believes in self-help. The gears may be grinding as the pub trade evolves at speed, but this great industry has the answers. It's the job of the PMA, like our readers, to be obsessed by high-quality food and drink retailing.
We believe that the industry needs every brain in the game — it's our job to showcase outstanding pub retailing, disseminate ideas, celebrate success and remain the first and best reading material for anyone who wants more customers next week than they had this week.
