When will there be good news?

Unionized Irish barmen.

 

They don't have much choice if they want to avoid going out of business
themselves. All the pubcos, like most of the other large businesses
going under at the moment, are massively overgeared. Now they have so
much debt to finance they have no choice but to screw the tenants with
rent and, crucially, inflated beer prices at way above standard
wholesale rates. The only pub firms likely to come out of this well are
the likes of Wetherspoons and even they're feeling the pinch.

 

Bear wrote:
[smoking ban]

I cannot think of one smoker of my acquaintance, which is no small
number, that regularly used a pub before the ban has actually stopped
going because of the ban.

Apart from you. )

 

I hadn't noticed. My patience with idiots like Irvine, Bullshit, Hog et
al is limited. It's a recognised facet of my personality. I can stand
most 'vices', but stupidity just gets on my wick.

Yeah, whatever.

D.

--
des | 'what does it matter what he posts?'
http://www.jr.co.il/terror/israel/index.html
end the 'occupation': http://minilien.fr/a0k8xe
ukrm: 'where it's "cool" to be stupid!'
myths of islam: http://minilien.fr/a0j5qo

 

Sorry, that's been outsourced to the Australians now, they're much
cheaper...

 

But not as well-trained: why can't bar staff here take more than one
order at a time?

 

Health and safety, innit.

 

Which is exactly what happened here a couple of years ago.

 

What's killing them? The smoking ban, the supermarkets and their prices
or socialising no longer places the pub at the centre? My money's on the
latter two.

Talking to landlords and staff (and I go to a lot of pubs, admittedly
city ones) they say the smoking ban hasn't had an affect on sales.

Country pubs were dropping like flies before the ban. If anything is to
blame, it's the drink drive law.

 

My experience entirely. A lot of them prefer it, partly because the
place is a lot nicer now and because they smoke less.

 

Within 10 minutes walk of me [1] I can think of around 20 and they're
still as popular and none have closed. Recently, one converted bank and
one converted shop have opened as bars in addition.


[1] I live in an area of Victorian terraced houses.

 

My two 'locals' were not damaged by the smoking ban. They did more
business with their food trade and with people who did not want to wash
their clothes after going to the pub. What caused a big problem with
both of them was the pub chains increasing costs faster than the pubs
could generate the money.

One was sold off at auction and is run privately and *works*. The other
is in Punch's hands and had one landlord after another going broke.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Bear

I spend a fair amount of time in rural pubs.

I have observed something about this. I have no evidence, other than
personal observation but there's a *definite* pattern.

Landlords who say that their trade is adversely affected by the smoking
ban tend to be smokers. Those who don't (or don't mention it at all)
tend to be non-smokers.

 

and mine

That was certainly the case in the Lower Wye Valley. Most village pubs had
darts teams. My local had some team based game[1] on most week nights as
they had a pool table and skittle alley. Sometimes there was more than one
team game as they had ladies & mens teams in most of the games. Many of the
players came out from the local town 3 miles away - quite happily driving
home pissed.

Few village pubs managed to get enough people for teams after the early 90s
as the townfolk stayed at home or walked to a closer pub.. Most of the pubs
tried to convert themselves into family or food pubs. Many no longer exist.

[1] reluctant to call them sports

 

I have.

Most of them are incompetent dreamers who have no idea how to run a
business let alone run a pub. It's always easier to blame something like
the smoking ban than admit that their pub is just not as attractive as the
competition.

 

As I mentioned above. The pub trade has always been blighted with dreamers
who want to "retire to a pub". Punch and their ilk actively seek these
people. Charge them a fortune for a 1 week course which is supposed to
miraculously turn a primary school teacher into a successful publican.
Whitbread used to do something similar in the days when they had a virtual
monopoly in tenanted pubs in the Lower Wye Valley.

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Bear

Well, obviously further research is required, damnit!

<sigh>

It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it.

 

Prefereably someone who's not a sugar-mong...

 

Using the patented Mavis Beacon "Hunt&Peck" Technique, Bear

Whereas for me they're exactly as appealing as they've always been, and
for Mrs WUN much more so because we don't leave them smelling strongly
of cigarettes.

 

I am with Mrs WUN on this.

I am going to be playing poker tonight with some friends, four of whom
smoke. So, for the first time in, well since the last time I played
poker with them, I will end up with my clothes smelling of smoke.

I used to think of it as an occupational hazard before the ban in pubs
but now it just pisses me off.