LETTERS

Battling against media misrepresentation

The national media has misrepresented many matters on the subjects of binge drinking and '24-hour drinking', as licensing reform has been dubbed.

A lot of the causes of the problems the trade has can be laid at the door of our industry leaders and trade press, who have not made it clear enough to the national media that there is no connectivity at all between binge drinking (and its resultant problems) and the 2003 Licensing Act. How can that have been allowed to happen?

The situation is quite straightforward in my mind. Binge drinking is a phenomenon with two causes:

1. Ultra-cheap alcohol on sale at supermarkets and some off licences (my letter on this subject was published in the MA on 15 July 2004).

2. Irresponsible cheap-drink pricing and promotions in some pubs, started by JD Wetherspoon and followed by all their high-street competitors, trying to be competitive. These have now largely been outlawed by the trade - quite rightly.

In fact, '24-hour drinking' hardly exists in the pub trade. Virtually all 24-hour licences are for - yes, you guessed it - supermarkets and off licences.

What pub owner is going to be stupid enough to stay open through the night? Hardly anyone, I reckon.

The trade has gone almost universally for one to three hours of extra time. In light of this situation, we should have been forcing the expression 'extended hours' on everyone - including the mainstream media, who are just out to cause trouble and get a story.

The new Licensing Act is not the cause of binge drinking and will not lead to any more binge drinking than there is now.

However, if you were to speak to any taxi driver bringing people into towns and cities on an evening to go drinking, they will tell you that many of their customers are already drunk.

They are buying ultra-cheap drink at supermarkets and off licences, getting drunk, then going into town to 'finish off'... and then they cause trouble. Pubs don't get their trade, but they do get the trouble and the reputation.

I think this is clear and straightforward - why has the national press been allowed to hijack the truth and turn the situation, unfairly, against us?

We need to get this message across. Pubs are not to blame for binge drinking (with the exception of those that serve booze very cheaply, like JD Wetherspoon, and those that have irresponsible promotions).

Tony Brookes

Managing Director

Head of Steam

Manesty

Leazes Lane

Hexham

Northumberland

Fancy a tepid pint of ale? Pull the other one

Last Saturday, I was in the Salisbury Arms, an Ember Inns pub in Hoppers Road, Winchmore Hill, north London. This is a pub that a group of friends and I have visited for almost 40 years for lunch while en route to Tottenham Hotspur's home matches.

The more discerning (and older) members of the group usually drink cask ale during lunch and I ordered a pint of London Pride.

It would be an exaggeration to say that you could have boiled an egg in the pint, but it was certainly far too warm. The temperature was such that it would have been ideal for a good bottle of claret.

Very politely, I pointed out the unpalatability of the beer's condition and asked if more beer could be pulled through the pump so that I could have a pint at an appropriate colder temperature. I also asked for my beer to be replaced. I added that I did not consider the request to be unreasonable as it was not uncommon to see notices in pubs offering to replace pints of cask ale that were not considered satisfactory.

My remarks were greeted with open-mouthed astonishment and a firm refusal to do what I had requested. It was made very clear to me that the matter was not open to discussion and that my pint of London Pride would not be replaced with another pint of the same beer. I was, however, offered a lager!

The Good Beer Guide states that 'Ember holds mini beer festivals in its pubs'. The mind boggles as the Salisbury Arms bar staff serving me last Saturday obviously had no knowledge whatsoever of the craft of serving cask ale.

Ember Inns appears to promote its mini beer festivals very strongly, and it is commendable that they are keen to push the cask-ale message in its eating-house pubs, but I would suggest that more effort is devoted to cask ale education at pub staff level.

Barry Bremner

Brewing industry PR consultant (retired)

via email

It Asda be wrong to offer cheap spirits in promo

I feel compelled to write to you after seeing an advertisement in the national press which, quite frankly, disgusts me.

There seems to be one rule for the on-trade and a completely different one for the powerful supermarket giants.

At a time when the on-trade is being slaughtered by legislation - smoking ban, binge drinking, drink promotion bans etc - and newspapers and television make daily swipes at publicans by blaming the on-trade for all the drink-related problems in the UK, how can Asda get away with offering two litres of selected spirits for £20?

Does this behaviour not encourage heavy drinking?

This activity will drive customers away from pubs and fuel binge drinking at home. The promotion is ridiculous. The price is ridiculous.

How can publicans and drinks wholesalers compete with this activity (the duty and VAT alone on two litres of Bells is £18.39)?

How could anyone dissuade their trade customers from buying these products from supermarkets? Very soon there will be no specialised wholesale businesses left and Asda and Tesco will have it all.

The drinks industry needs a strong on-trade. Please write to all of the relevant people in the Government, the media and the drinks trade to complain about this activity.

Brian Calder

Managing Director

Wallaces Express

Crompton Way

North Newmoor Industrial Estate

Irvine

Ayrshire

Brush up on law to stop alcohol sales confusion

I thought I would share a story with you in order to provide MA readers with some useful advice.

As most people have 'grandfathered' the right to a personal licence, they may not be fully aware of what the Licensing Act 2003 states.

I recently received a call from a client regarding the supply of alcohol at a Christmas market. I advised him that, as the event would be happening in under 10 working days, he would not be able to sell alcohol as a temporary event notice could not be served in time.

He then went on to say that a person he knew had said that, as he has a personal licence that permitted him to sell or authorise the sale of alcohol, that he would be able to sell it.

I stated that a personal licence only permitted the sale or authorisation of alcohol in accordance with a valid premises licence which permitted the sale of alcohol and, if he checked the paper part of his personal licence, it would have wording to that effect.

I wonder how many other personal licence holders there are in England and Wales who know that they need a premises licence to be able to sell alcohol and how many there are who think that, if they are at an outside function, they need do nothing else.

I also wonder if they know the maximum penalty is either a £20,000 fine and/or a six-month jail term and the possible loss of their personal licence.

Your publication of this message could help prevent any unauthorised sales and educate those who have not brushed up on the new Act.

You could at the same time stress the importance of understanding the legislation and also recommend the BIIAB NCPLH qualification.

Michael Kheng FBII

Kurnia Licensing Consultants

Spanish City

High Street

Mablethorpe

Lincolnshire