Christmas season over, now Pubs have to work hard.

Now that the Christmas festivities have ended most Pubs will now have their quiet period. I have noticed in my travels that more and more Pubs are serving excellent food and I was pleasantly surprised to see that The Kings Arms in East Stour, Gillingham Dorset was still very busy in their restaurant area. The new team have really injected life into this hitherto 'tired' Pub. I had often wondered whether the old estate agents maxim of location, location, location, was equally true for Pubs? I had started to believe it was not, as The Kings Arms, located on the A30 2 miles from Shaftesbury is in an ideal location and serves a large cachment area of about 15,000 people. However prior to the current owners the Pub had not really been successful for the last 8-9 years, why? In my opinion it was because whilst the previous owners were pleasant people they were not 'professional' in their outlook, running a Pub nowadays involves much more than the ability to pull a few pints! The new owners have established an excellent reputation within a very short time and it is quite simply because of their professional approach to the business, they work as a well co-ordinated team and it is refreshing to see that they have a 5-7 year business plan. They have previously run a successful Pub in Scotland and have now come South of the Border to show us how it should be done!

This contrasts to a situation recounted to me recently in Sunderland whereby a Tenant of one of the larger Pub groups was telling me that there were so many Pubs available to lease that many quite unsuitable people were going into the Pub trade as it was easier than getting a mortgage! I must admit that on reflection I have to agree with him, many new ventures fail within the first 18-24 months due to lack of business acumen or sometimes capital, I think the Pub Groups should adopt a stricter approach to new tenants, I believe that the prospective tenant should have to put forward a business plan to show that they have thoroughly researched the business. I think too many people tend to take a Pub on for some of the most whimsical of reasons.

As I read the reviews that are submitted on the Pubsulike website it is becoming increasingly apparent to me that the British public, quite rightly, are expecting more of the traditional 'local', don't get me wrong I am not suggesting that all Pubs should become Restaurants that serve beer but it is quite evident that a Pub should provide a warm welcome, be clean and presentable, provide a good selection of drinks and be staffed by TRAINED bar staff. I repeatedly say to people who bemoan the lack of even basic knowledge exhibited by bar staff nowadays, do not blame the bar person, blame the management, I have known Pubs take on a new member of staff and having shown them how to operate the till, leave them to get on with it!

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