Price discounts out of control' in Birmingham
by Claire Hu Licensees in Birmingham believe price discounting is spiralling out of control and leading to a "dumbing down" of the city's pub scene. Two of the last remaining private licensees on Broad Street, where millions have been spent regenerating the leisure economy in the past few years, say ludicrous booze offers are giving the trade a bad name and sucking the lifeblood from the industry. They say efforts by the Licensees on Broad Street Traders Association (Lobsta) to talk to the chains about responsiblepricing have been met with a wall of indifference. This comes as ambulance chiefs in Birmingham this week blamed binge drinking during the heatwave for a surge in emergency call-outs. Paramedics dealt with 35,000 emergency cases in July the highest since records began and also witnessed a dramatic increase in alcohol-related assaults. Clive Ritchie, licensee of the Brasshouse in Broad Street and chairman of Lobsta, said: "We don't want £1-a-pint customers. If you sell it for that, you get everything you deserve." Allan Sartori, vice-chairman of Lobsta and operator of a table-dancing club, said: "There are only three privately-owned venues left down Broad Street. "The ridiculous price discounting has got out of control and skims the fat off for everyone. "The trade is being dumbed down and mediocrity rules. "They are selling shots of tequila for 50p and this inevitably causes fighting on the streets. "We have tried to talk to police and licensees, but these corporations have too many lawyers and you can never get anywhere." He said the high street chains were run by "accountants" who had very little understanding of the business, and hired inexperienced managers who were pressurised into lowering prices to increase turnover, rather than improving their offer.
