Roy Boulter: Chairman, Licensed Trade Charity

Roy Boulter is in a nostalgic mood when I meet him at LVS Hassocks in West Sussex — one of three schools run by the Licensed Trade Charity (LTC).

“The industry used to be massive — there was a pub on every corner. And if you were the ‘Guv’nor’, it was a bit like being the local vicar. You had respect.

“The pub is a unique unit — it is a citizens advice bureau and an NHS. That’s why I’m sad about the number closing. There’s no doubt you have to be commercial about it but where do people socialise and meet each other?”

It’s been 35 years since Boulter joined the industry at Truman Brewers, five years since he ended his career at Heineken UK and just three months since he started his post as LTC chairman, after being appointed a trustee in 2010.

He begins his new role at a busy time. Last year, the organisation launched a new website, created a seven-days-a-week helpline, opened a new special educational needs (SEN) school in Oxford and introduced a telephone befriending service for ex-licensees.

Tackling charity perceptions​

Tackling perceptions that the charity is just focused on fundraising is one of Boulter’s main aims during his tenure.

“People see us as a cheque-giving organisation. But rattling collection boxes is not a key priority for us. The schools give us enough money to run the charity. It’s about awareness and us engaging with the trade so they understand what we do,” he explained.

The charity estimates that its 40 volunteers helped about 800 people either in or retired from the trade last year. Of the 398 calls that were made to the helpline, 66% were related to money problems, 20% to housing and homelessness, 6% were legal issues and 5% were about health. Each beneficiary required a minimum of 22 ‘actions’ and an average case time of six hours.

“All of our activities are for one underlying aim — to support people that work or have worked in the licensed trade and have fallen upon hard times,” Boulter continues. “That might be about sending a volunteer round to chat about someone’s finances and paying a deposit so they have somewhere secure to live. Or sometimes it’s just about sending grocery vouchers. Very often publicans haven’t made provisions for life beyond the trade.”

Two pupils give me a tour of the school, which is for children with autism, and a plaque outside a new kitchen, recognising it was funded by donations from the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers, provides a neat case in point.

'Alcohol changes people'​

Boulter adds: “This is a classic scenario where the organisation contributes a huge amount, but if I spoke to most of its members they wouldn’t know about us. People often think we’re about helping people who haven’t planned and got themselves into a mess. And they wonder why the pub trade needs its own charity, when there isn’t, say, a greengrocer equivalent. But they are not dealing with people consuming alcohol. Alcohol changes people — often for the better, in terms of social lubrication, but not always. And the licensee has to deal with all of that.”

The charity is planning to deliver the change in perceptions by focusing on a new marketing strategy. Part of this has been about approaching HR directors of tenanted pub companies to make their staff and leaseholders aware of the charity’s services, which director of marketing Liz Gaffer describes as “like an employee assistance programme, but free”.

It also means there will be, in her words, fewer “miserable videos with beneficiaries” and more media showing the positive changes that have been achieved. The charity helps many ex-licensees but, going forward, it wants working age people to make up the majority of beneficiaries.

“Following 30 years in the industry I thought I was well-networked, but it’s been tough to get their time and the message across,” Boulter says.

“We want to know where we sit on the agenda of the big brewers and pub companies. We want to get to the point where Simon Townsend [chief executive of Enterprise Inns] asks us: ‘So how many licensees do you help?’

“A bit of recognition and understanding for what we do is enough.”

Visit www.supportandcare.org for more details on the LTC’s support and care service.