Pub guide: Good riddance to 'bad pubs'

[morethanworts]

IME Pubs need to be clear on having a clear, competitive & in demand offering - if they don't then they are sc***ed.
I live in a village of ~2000 with 7 pubs and the rules for success seem to play out clearly.

We moved to a lovely village 9 months ago, population around 2600. There are 2 pubs, both of which have very distinctive attributes. Unfortunately, those attributes are not attractive ones. The first knocks out the cheapest meals possible for the nearby caravan park, despite a recent 1-star food hygiene rating, and is bereft of any character or good ales. The second is better, and has a few decent ales, but its main selling point is just that it is not the other one.

They just don't seem bothered,getting by without too much effort. 7 pubs for a similar population competing for business would be a great thing!

 

[Vossy1]

I can't believe no one's mentioned MONEY. There are some pubs round my way that still serve a pint for £2.20 but they are few and far between, the majority range between £3.50 to £5, and hotels £7. We are a double income no kiddie family with a higher disposable income than most (according to banks ) and we don't smoke, which means we should be in the strongest position to afford a pint but the crux of the matter is I simply won't pay the price. 3 cans of coke for £1 in Tesco's yet the big pubco's can't sell a glass for less than £1.80...pull the other one :nah: I haven't been for a pint in a pub for about 4 months and now see it as a 'special occasion' or 'holiday treat' rather than the several times weekly that it used to be . I'm understand you're paying for services/environment etc etc when going into a pub, but I do think there's an element of "we can get away with charging it so we will" still going on and whilst folk are prepared to pay it fair do's.

With prices outstripping salary increments is it just me, but how do the binge drinkers of now with their 10+ £3 alcopops twice a weekend afford it when they're just on the job ladder, that must be about a 1/4 of their salary and if they smoke too...good luck to them ...I'm only :mrgreen:

 

[PD]

simple economics V, something else in the houehold has to suffer.

In my job I visit lots of households....youd be amazed at how some folks live and eat behind that closed front door.

 

[oldjiver]

I usually only go to a pub to watch footy, so I get my moneysworth if its a good match. I do go down to the bar at the country park where I spend the summer as you can have a few and still drive back to the lodge as its a gated community not a public road. I normally drink Stella but this Friday I tried a pint of Green King IPA as its lower alcohol and I was going out after. WHATA DISAPPOINTMENT :sick: I remember it as a half decent pint but this was served ice cold and the head was one of those "smooth" things I cant stand. Taste was awful. Couldn't wait to get home and have a decent pint of my own.

 

[Vossy1]

On a tangent I can't believe more pubs aren't opening as brew pubs, such a successful format in Europe, so underused in the U.K...however as another example of 'getting away with it', the ones that do could charge less for their brewed beers, but usually only do by a few pence ...maybe a tie in with a supplier...bring on fully independent brew pubs

 

[Darcey]

I worked for several years for a big 'pub co' as a manager not tenant.

85+ hours a week, crap pay, no investment, hard work & always under the threat of being moved or fired.

Only thing I could really get my teeth in to was the cellar as kitchen and entertainment was all strictly controlled in budget and menu. Managed to get in good pub guide 3 years in a row, 2x CAMRA awards 3 years of Cask Marque 15-25% growth per year on cask sales over a 4 year period. I decided to leave when I was told due to a contract with Green King my 6 ale lines were being replaced and I would be forced to have Green King IPA as my main beer and only allowed two other lines which must me big nationals. **** them and their accountant ways.

PubCo's - Pubs run by accountants that never go to the pub and only read the Sun & Daily Mail for their 'market research'

Also Sky. What a rip. We were paying £34,000 a year for it on 3 tv's with no option of having it removed. If you work it out you have to make an extra £1500 during all the 'big matches' over the year to break even. We lost more food customers and regulars on those days than we made up selling crappy lager (Never mind the fights and general yobbery).

Grrr.. :evil:
D

 

[TRXnMe]

On a tangent I can't believe more pubs aren't opening as brew pubs, such a successful format in Europe, so underused in the U.K...however as another example of 'getting away with it', the ones that do could charge less for their brewed beers, but usually only do by a few pence ...maybe a tie in with a supplier...bring on fully independent brew pubs

There are a few, happily :)

A little place I visit a few times a year in Oldgates on the Gower peninsula in South Wales, it brews it's own ales and usually has 4 on tap on the bar, you smell the malt boiling most days if you're in the beer garden.

Last time I was there the owner had just recruited a new brewer to run the brewery and let him focus on the pub and restaraunt, reason being he now had 40+ customers for his ales in the area :)

However, yes, it wouuld be nice to have a few more of them, it's one of my lottery winner dreams to buy a pub that's gonr bust and put a mini brewer in the cellar, a decent chef in the kitchen, good security on the door (no fosters* drinkers in here Sir) and sit back to chat with the (hopefully) regular punters.

 

[Bluezephyr]

Norwich has 3 real ale pubs owned by one person, the The Fat Cat, Fat Cat Brewery tap and the newly acquired Fat Cat and the Canary (near the footy ground) I've only been to the fat cat and was amazed by the selection,I think they brew their own too.
At weekends they run a bus between them for a fiver all day.
The chap who owns these pubs certainly has built up a decent business by giving people what they want.

I hardly go into pubs these days, I have two locals about a mile away. One is more a restaurant, the bar is now a bit of an afterthought as they concentrate on food rather than drink.
I worked in that pub about 15 years ago, I know which side of the bar I'd rather be!
There was a regular punter at this place, every night he'd be there same time, his own glass hanging up, bit of a miserable old sod but he was quite interesting. One year I heard he turned up at the pub on Boxing Day and the landlord had decided not to open, he never turned up again as he felt let down!

 

[anthonyUK]

For me, a pub will always be judged on its product which is beer and food which limits my choice in our small town.
We have about a dozen pubs left open and having visited them all with CAMRA I would normally only go in 4 of these.
For those who want sport or the social aspect then their requirements may be different and tap beers are pretty much the same wherever.

I'm pleasantly surprised at how busy country pubs are in rural Hampshire.
I don't think the good ones have anything to worry about.

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

I am chairman of CAMRA here in Dronfield and can confidently say that none of the pubs around me would be shutting due to being "bad pubs". The Derbyshire Pub of the year was won by a Dronfield pub, The Derbyshire Club of the year won by a Dronfield Social club.

Real nails in coffins in my book for ***** pubs have been not moving with the times has been cheapo decent booze from supermarkets (remember some of the ***** sold by supermarkets in the past, Party 7s, boddingtons etc). The smoking ban...plus...big plus...complacent Pubcos and complacent landlords...

Real ale here in Dronfield has surged in popularity, most pubs have at least 3 handpulls on at all times, some up to 12. The quality of the beer in pubs now is far superior to the stuff in bottles, that plus the banter in the pubs etc make Dronfield quite a good destination for good real ale....Recently on 3rd August there were over 110 different hand pulled beers available on that day alone