The Lockdown Chronicles #4

Hundreds of destitute landlords across the uk are calling for the government to not have a #NationalTimeOut on rents for the hospitality industry as they desperately need the money, for like investments and stuff.

With pubs bars and restaurants closed and most breweries only doing very limited capacity during lockdown landlords are still charging full rents on many businesses as they look to profit as much as possible during these trying times.

The rationale that these poor landlords are using is that if people can afford to stock up on loo roll, face masks and rubber gloves then surely these craft beer businesses make more than enough money to pay their rents; after all their customers are drinking more than ever before, so what if they're at home instead of in the pub!

The craft beer industry replied with a collective "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!" as it went down the shitter leaving thousands unemployed and the beer industry back in the glorious 1970s.

Now obviously this is just badly written satire but there is a serious issue here; the majority of the hospitality industry is still being charged rent which is in turn putting jobs and livelihoods in jeopardy, this includes clients of mine, favourite pubs, breweries and restaurants of yours so please click on this link and support the #NationalTimeOut initiative.

Blog Noir, Number 1

The cold afternoon was outside, blowing a blizzard that would have frozen over Hades itself. Inside our hero is going over the days events, playing them out in his mind, where did it all go so right?
He managed to pick up a bottle of the Hop Devil IPA, made by those cats at Victory, these guys know how to make beer, He'd had this stuff before but it goes down better than a thirsty toothless hooker and he had to have it again.
It's bitter, almost as bitter as the footballer in the newspaper headlines yesterday who'd wrecked his life on some binge or other.
It's a bit darker than the tango man but not nearly as irritatingly slap-able and our hero could neck this stuff all day long. He'd done it so enough times, it was just a matter of keeping himself under control so that he didn't turn into a jibbering wreck like so many others in so many different bars all over the world, drinking to drown their sorrows for lost love or the unrequited type, drinking to forget the mundanity of their lives as they wander from place to place doing menial tasks given to them by people who were just as bored with it all as they are.
Where would it all end? Not at the bottom of this bottle sister, there's plenty more booze where this came from from, you wouldn't find it in some shitty little dive either, there would be no-one slumped over the bar sleeping in their own vomit, not here, not yet, here there was our hero, here there was the beer.

Good News Anyone?

I'm not in a unique position, there are thousands of people like me. Bar and pub managers with thriving businesses. There have been lots of doom stories in the national press about the amount of pubs that are closing every week, last I read somewhere it was approximately 5 a week.
What about us? what about the success stories in the industry? I'm not asking to be singled out, what I am saying is that the general public don't want to hear doom and gloom stories about the industry every day.
I recently went to a meeting with a few other pub and bar managers and owners in Southwark, we were meeting with the local MP who wanted to hear our views on the state of the industry in his area. The meeting did not seem to me to be particularly productive, why? Well lets look at this shall we? There were landlords and owners who wanted to place blame on other people and not look closely enough at themselves. Some of the gripes mentioned at the meeting are mentioned here, in face, most of them are.
Street drinkers, and lets not confuse genuine pub customers with aggressive beggars and tramps here. The local council has community wardens that help to make the streets a safer place, or do they? At the meeting there were several stories of landlords and managers dealing with agressive beggars whilst these wardens did nothing to help them, indeed the wardens seemed more interested in handing out £5 fines for people throwing cigarette butts on the floor! I attended a pubwatch meeting the very next day and the person who runs the community wardens tried to defend these actions! Surely they should be using their new powers to help the local businessmen and women keep their venues safe rather than taking the easier option of fining someone a fiver for being a litterbug! Yes I can see their point, the streets must be kept clean but come on, don't use that as an excuse not to help out the people who are trying to run sucessful businesses and therefore help the local economy.
There are lots of reasons why pubs and bars are closing, not just in Southwark but all over the UK , here are a few of them...
Firstly there are complaints about the duty increases on beer, the Axe The Tax campaign is very high profile and the local MP I mentioned earlier is a strong supporter of this. Pubs are having to push their prices up because of large duty rises. Our little company, Utobeer, whilst not being happy about the hikes, recognises that people are still prepared to pay money for their beers as long as they feel they are getting value for their money.
Whilst we're talking about prices lets not forget the supermarkets and off licenses who are selling cheap beer, wines and spirits, some of them irresponsibly. There have always been people selling cheap booze, there always will be and frankly they do need more regulation, I for one have seen local 'corner shop' off licenses selling booze to young people without even asking for proof of age. More needs to be done by the authorities to clamp down on irresponsible retailers because they do harm the local economies by selling to tramps and youngsters.
The smoking ban? come on guys and girls, we all knew this was coming and only those who were too stupid and or lazy not to prepare their pubs and their customers for this are using it as an excuse. There has been stories in the national press about lobbyists looking for a relaxation of this law, do they really think that the government will go back on a law that made pubs and bars nicer places to go into? The Rake has always been non-smoking, it has been open for a little over three years and my bosses knew the ban was coming. Preparation was the key here and it usually is with any sort of new legislation that may force changes on our industry.
Residents? Pubs have always had people living around them so to use this as an excuse is just lazy, manage your customers and your residents, no it's not always that easy, there are NIMBYs everywhere and there always will be but if you're a responsible retailer you shouldn't have a huge problem with this.
The Recession? Hmm.. tough one, I will never ever claim to know a whole hell of a lot on the global economic crisis that has hit the world in the last couple of years but to me it seems that customers are feeling the pinch, they want more for their money, value for money as I mentioned earlier so why not give it to them? Every pub is different but it doesn't mean that they shouldn't prosper. In other economic crises the pub industry has thrived, why not this one?
Pubcos, big compaines that own lots of pubs and bars who, with the supermarkets can sell beers cheaper than the independent pub owners to get people into their pubs. It would be easy to place the blame on the big guys and demand they have more regulation on pricing but the industry in general needs more of this so that the responsible guys can continue to prosper in these precarious financial times.
So as I said at the top of the piece, what about the success stories? Lets hear about them, I know plenty of pubs and bars whose managers and teams work hard to be a success. Perhaps the answer is simple, maybe it is just taking responsibility for your operation and working hard to help not only survive the tough times but thrive in the good times. I'd love to hear from other pub operators and customers so let's have your opinions, until then...
Beer Me