Pub feed back.

[Ashley]

Over the last few years I have watched pubs and bars being used less and less. This was the reason I stated HFUK to try and help publicans and hoteliers, I never for a moment when I started it considered that the bulk of the membership would be people thinking of entering the trade. But I happy to keep going, and have had a few wonderful emails saying thanks.

It truly is hard times for the pub trade, PubCo's are buying their beer for around 50p per pint and selling onto their customers (tenants) for circa £1 + VAT per pint. The breweries are holding discounts to the independent free trade (anything under 100 pubs is independent free trade) when prices rise, and it the same time their main customers PubCo's encourage wholesale price rises as this is how they charge their tenants. Anyone interested in the full story can have a read of this http://www.hfuk.org.uk/pubcos-pub-companies/26393-fsb-report-on-pubcos.html

The purpose of this thread is to get a view of people view of pubs in 2006 and what people like and dislike about pubs and where they think the trade is going wrong or right.

 

[Brian WH]

My first impression is that there are too many of them. In the town near me every time a shop closes they open another Bl**dy pub. I know it is a University town, but other people do live there. If you want a night out in town it is a nightmare trying to find a decent pub without themes and blaring music.The town pubs no longer have any character, I prefer the country pubs for this reason. A nice quiet drink with good surroundings, comfortable seats and decent quality beer.

 

[Ashley]

You have hit on a topic that is hot in trade. Around 20% of pubs need to close and be converted into housing. Unforantly every time a pub closes for the last time we get the local campaign to the local council to not re class the usage of the building. There is always someone ready to throw their lives saving (away) into a PubCo tenancy. As to the misguided councils/courts who allow new liquor licensees, they (mainly councils) think that it will increase trade in towns what they forget is all it does is spread trade.

 

[DieselE]

The purpose of this thread is to get a view of people view of pubs in 2006 and what people like and dislike about pubs and where they think the trade is going wrong or right.

I visit pubs every three to four weeks. I might drink a few pints or a few glasses of wine. My view is not far from Brian's a few responses up the thread. I like a pub with very little background music and with a selection of real ales. If the trade only catered for people like me pubs would close on an almost daily basis.

My son prefers pubs with loads of music and drinks vodka based drinks (except when he's out with the old man when he drinks lager) in large quantities.

It seems to me that the money is spent by the youth community but because everything goes in trends they all seem to change their favourite type of pub as often as their underwear.

Probably not too helpful a response but you did ask for views.

 

[BonzoDog]

Where's the money? In this case mainly with young people and the sort of pub they want is not the sort of pub that neither I nor my family want.
Living on the conntinent I am getting more and more used to the friendly bar that also does food and kids are welcome. I get irritated in the UK when I see a pub advertising home made food that is pre- made food heated in a microwave. Just about everywhere I know in Belgium, France and Germany when you order food it is usually something simple but invariably freshly cooked and most of the time quite cheap. It is hard to see why this cannot be done in the UK.
Most foreigners that I know hold British pubs in high regard and they have in mind the stereotype country pub but nearly always it is followed by a thumbs down on the food. I keep seeing a lot of self congratulatory stuff on British TV about British food, maybe in overpriced restaurants, but certainly not in 95% of most cafes and pubs. My advice is, keep it simple, keep it fresh and cook it fresh. Boy, I fancy a pint now.

 

[andy_k]

There's no such thing as "our type of pub", somedays we pop into the local for a pint on the way home, the landlord knows our names and what we are interested in and is happy to "make polite" in order to relieve us of our £10-£15 worth of drinks, crisps etc, other days we go to a pub on the seafront, it's lovely to sit outside and have a few drinks in the evening sitting almost on the beach and in the summer we'll do that 2 or three times a week.

If we want to go out for a meal, then we go to a different pub, becasue one or two around here have made a name for themselves serving excellent food, neither of them are on the seafront or on our way home so we never just pop in there for a pint.

If we want to see a band, then there are plenty of pubs around here with great live entertainment, the food in them is rubbish, the landlord doesn't know your name and if it wasn't for the band the pubs would be empty (sometimes they are empty even when the bands are playing).

Country pubs around here are totally over rated, they are either "proper" country pubs filled with miserable, pipe smoking, soggy wet spaniel owning moaning about everything country people and where nobody except locals dare to venture or they are pseudo country pubs where everything has been sanitised and even the "authentic country smell" comes in canisters which fit in the air conditioning.

We enjoy our free time and a large proportion of our "entertainment budget" gets spent in the locals with both friends and family so the choice of pub is important and if we enjoy ourselves we'll be back to spend more money. Neither of us approve of kids in pubs - it's an adult environment and many people must go to the pub to escpe their kids so why should they have to have other peoples foisted on them. Passsive parenting is almost as bad for your health as passive smoking

I think the idea is that the landlord should decide what sort of pub he/she wants and then strive to make it the absolute best for miles around. You can never be all things to all men so you should do your best to provide the service and atmosphere you would expect if you were to visit your pub and hope there are enough potential customers in your catchment area to fill your pub and tills who have similar expectations from their local.

Andy

 

[imadoofus]

Very apposite thread, zooman.

I heard today that the pub I did most of my growing up in, my sanctuary, the haunt to which I could return, with years between visits, and always be welcomed as a regular, has gone into administration.

It always represented everything I want in a pub, and nothing I don't. Lately, they'd built letting rooms, and a restaurant, but I think that's considered a necessity for a rural pub. As long as the basic character doesn't change (and I fear it did), then I consider it an evil with which I can reconcile.

There has never been a juke box, or a slot machine in the place, except one for fags. The only pub game was Ring The Bull (which, if you've not been there, I guarantee you've never played). For umpteen years, you had to go outside to go to the gents.

Most important, however, no matter when I went there, day or night, weeek or weekend, 1986 or 2006, I'd always know somebody in there, and always enjoy good company over a pint. Given that I haven't actually lived within 90 miles of the pub for fifteen years, I think that says a great deal about what makes a pub special to me. It's intrinsically bound to the community, and if the Bull dies this time (as it's threatened to do in the past), then the Old Boot has a big responsibility on its shoulders.

I digress. I believe pubs should be kid-free, music-free, and beer-drunk-from-the-bottle-free. To me a pub is about the people you go with, or meet there. It's about relaxing, and taking a back seat from life for a while. If you want a party, go to a party. If you want cheap drink, stay at home. If you want to watch football/tennis/golf/strippers, get a satellite dish.

Whilst I agree in part with Andy's final point, I think it's important that a landlord makes the decision on what kind of pub he wants in the context of what kind of pub it already is. To me, what makes a pub (I'm talking specifically of the 'traditional' pub, here) is the people in it, and if the landlord alienates them, he's got a problem.

PJ

 

[Flash]

I like pubs/bars with a bit of good/cool background music that have modern interior/furniture etc. I also like trendy bars that have 2/3 piece sofas with coffee tables.

A pub that I often visit every lunch time during the week (becasue its the nearest one) has rubbish background music and tatty old furniture so I just take my IPOD along and listen to that whilst having a pint or two. Also, this particular pub does not have a non smoking area which I find very annoying. There should always be smoking and non smoking areas.

Ohh... it also helps when there is a bit of eye candy to look at as well...

 

[Benzowner]

A view of pubs in general. Hmmmmm. Where to start. To me the whole local pubs scene has shifted dramatically over the years. When I started drinking in the later 60's, there were no theme type pubs, in fact, the government of the day said that the north and south had monopolies on their loacl areas. 95% of Bristol pubs for instance, were owned and sold only Courage, no punt jokes please The pubs were actively used, darts, cribbage, whist, skittles etc etc Plus the groups like the Buffs, and other "clubs" The participation in pub games have declined sharply, the numbers attanding the Buffs, Masons etc etc have declined sharpley also. There has also been a noticible increase in the same time span of political clubs and village hall "pubs" Where I live, within a mile, I have the choice of 4 community clubs and within 3 miles all of the political clubs. Now, I drink Fosters, I know someone has to, but never the less, my local pub £2.45 per pint, my local community club £1.75 per pint, even worse, one of the local political party clubs is around £1.50. This is where the decline in the pub trade has come from. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, Weatherspoons do really well, or appear to. One local pub still has 8 skittle teams, 3 dart teams and a crib team. The numbers are high 12 in a skittle team plus supporters, 9 in a darts team plus supporters, so each night there are large numbers of people using the pub. It is not the sort of pub I would use, I must say, a bit spit and sawdust My normal drinking house is my local community hall, comfortable, pleasant atmosphere and generally well behaved people who all live in the same area.

Any ways thats my thoughts.

 

[SportsCoupeRich]

my local is a great pub.

Expensive, but i live in zone 1 in London so cant really moan about that.

Its a gastropub, student, art gallery type affair. Good food, quiet, board games, quiz night, good quiet rock music and a really nice atmosphere. Candles and dimmed lights. Original artwork for sale on the walls and sport is shown in a totally different room so you can rtake your pick.

Pubs generally only mirror the clientele in my experience - and in London this is such a wide berth that you really need to play hide and seek!

 

[Rose Chap]

I find myself in the slightly unusual position of agreeing with Andy_K!

Better a pub run with passion and finesse by a landlord strongly motivated and keen to succeed than anywhere which feels tired and tatty, whether that place has stipped wooden floors and ambient grooves or pattered red carpet and heavily varnished tables.

 

[grasmere]

I'm not a pub regular but last Sat night went to our 'local' pub down on the corner and it had 9 people in inc me and Sue. We were amazed at how empty it was and actually discussed what we would do to get more people in from say a mile radius around - get rid of the 20stone barmaid with foul jeans that didnt fit, clear out the tap room, clean it, and more . . . :bannana:

Regarding music/vodka type pubs and pubs with kids running around - I hate them

About a mile down the road nearer town centre is a non smokin non music pub, a variety of ales etc, uniformed staff (the Bell Tavern in Harrogate) which is almost always packed - people love it - a real friendly traditional pub!