How can pubs be more successful?

Back-of-envelope thoughts can often prove

inspirational. We ask winners from the wider

world to write down their tips for the trade

Max Clifford PR guru

Speaking as a PR I think the most important thing the trade can do for their businesses is to boost their image.

The trade bodies need to spend a lot of money on a bloody good publicist to guide them in the right directions.

Celebrities are the key, their endorsement of the trade in general or a specific venue would be incredibly beneficial.

People follow the lead of important people and the press will follow them, making the coverage essentially free.

Find out who's in the neighbourhood and use them to your pub's advantage.

Find out what charities a local celebrity supports and put on an event with that charity at your pub, chances are they'll show up.

They don't have to be A-list, consider making a local football team hero or MP one of your regulars. Look after them. What's their favourite kind of beer or wine? What crisps do they like? Talk to them - make them your friend.

Celebrity endorsements will attract customers and boost business more than anything else.

Simon Woodroffe Founder of YO!

If vision and passion were the last decade's words then this decade's word is "outrageous".

Just to survive in this world you have to be outrageously good at what you do. To be noticed you have to put your head above the parapet and wave an outrageous flag. And to feel really great you have to access inside yourself what the outrageous you would or could do.

My challenge to pub operators is to take the first step to the next step by writing a few pages from the heart about all the things to do with your business and, indeed, the dreams for your life that have already passed through your mind, however outrageous, with the aim only of getting those thoughts on a piece of paper.

The three-second rule: you are banned during this exercise from considering whether those ideas would work, whether you will do them and, indeed, any outcome whatsoever.

Read them back, keep writing them down, keep developing and keep resisting doing anything whatsoever about them.

Write, wait and watch.

Loyd Grossman TV presenter

Quality is the key to running a successful business. Licensees have to keep raising standards.

Complacency is the enemy when it comes to running any type of operation. It is also the enemy of quality.

I think complacency has also been led by lazy suppliers. This is all changing now as provenance has become more important and quality ingredients are more readily available. This also means they are more readily expected by customers.

Gordon Ramsay Celebrity chef

Simplicity is paramount. No one wants anything fancy in a pub. They are steeped in history and the customer is key.

I always say, I'm not interested in the compliments, give me the complaints. I went into a pub and the chef was churning his own butter and serving it as basil butter. You don't need basil in the butter, he was taking it too far.

[My pub] the Narrow has been a real eye opener. Maintaining three Michelin stars is about having the same consistency every night. Continuity is crucial.

Jilly Cooper Author

Any pub that emulates my local

won't go far wrong. Lovely people, lovely drink, lovely food in beautiful

surroundings - it's a great way to spend a day.

We have two great pubs near us,

in Bisley, near Stroud - the Stirrup

Cup Inn and the Bear. I have a

tremendous amount of respect for anyone that runs a successful pub - they just don't stop. It must be so difficult to be charming to everyone and listen to people that might be awfully boring all day. They really are saints.

Pubs are wonderful places. I've used them a few times in my books as places for lovers to meet. They're great for couples because you don't have to eat - and nobody really wants to eat when they're in love.

Richard Reed, Founder Innocent Drinks

Don't be afraid to think outside the box and do things differently at your business - it's being

different that will ultimately make you successful.

Stand by what you believe in and don't give up. We were turned away by

countless banks when we started - they simply didn't believe that our idea would work.

We were determined to make drinks from 100% pure fruit without using stabilisers, preservatives, colourings or additives and we were told that it just wasn't possible. But you know what? We persevered and look where we are.