Make it a green Christmas in your pub
The festive spirit can help you ensure this is a merry Christmas in your pub - but you could be in for an unhappy new year if you don't take every step to manage your costs.
There are so many things to think about over the period, yet it's vital that you don't use it as an excuse to let your good energy housekeeping slip. It would be silly for the extra profits coming into the pub this month to go straight out again in the form of increased energy bills.
Follow some straightforward energy advice this Christmas and New Year and it will help ensure you have a sound platform on which to build as you face up to the challenges of 2009.
Rachel King, carbon manager for Punch Taverns, has been advising pubs to take note of their energy consumption over the festive period.
At Christmas, she says, energy can be saved in various ways, some obvious and some less so.
The season is a time when many pubs are tempted to have their Christmas lights on 24 hours a day, as they take every opportunity to grab the attention of passers-by. But Rachel wonders why.
"If you have your Christmas lights on all the time you are likely to be wasting a lot of money, with very little return," she says.
"Put them on timers, and time them to come on just before opening time, and off at closing time - are you really going to pull in extra customers in the middle of the night?"
With lots of glasses in use over the period, Rachel also advises publicans to ensure their glasswashers are full when they are on. And she asks them to think about whether they really need the heating so high during peak times. "People generate heat - maybe you don't need your heating on so high when you get a lot of them in!" she suggests.
For the kitchen, Rachel offers some advice that is worth remembering all year round."One of the most obvious ways pubs preparing Christmas lunches can save energy is by only turning on their equipment when they need it," she says."Chefs used to turn it all on straight away when they came in. It's really unnecessary when you are not trading. Fryers, for example, only take about 10 minutes to heat up. Leave the kitchen equipment as late as possible and it really will reduce costs."
Finally, she says the first days of 2009 will be an ideal time to make some significant green changes to your day-to-day trading.
"Make going green a key pledge in 2009 and it will save you money in the year ahead," says Rachel. "Make it the way you do business in the new year - and get staff involved."
The billion-pound question
The Carbon Trust is the government-backed company set up to help businesses and consumers reduce carbon emissions. It points out that annual energy costs for the whole hospitality sector are in excess of £1bn - with an increasing slice of these being spent over the Christmas period.
Hugh Jones, director of solutions at the trust, says lighting can represent around 25 per cent of energy use in a typical pub at Christmas - but costs can be cut by as much as 15 per cent simply by making sure you turn lights off in rooms and corridors that aren't being used.
"If you're installing Christmas lights, then make sure they're energy efficient," he says.
"Replacing high-wattage filament lamps or tungsten halogen lamps with compact fluorescent lamps or metal halide lamps will give energy savings of 65 to 75 per cent."
And Hugh also advises pubs to take a close look at their heating costs - which also represent around a quarter of a pub's energy usage at Christmas.
"You may find your pub opening for longer over the Christmas period - but do check that your heating system is operating only during hours when staff and customers actually need heat," he says.
"Pubs with set working hours can benefit from the installation of a seven-day electronic time switch to permit different settings for each day. This will enable unnecessary usage to be cut dramatically and yield significant energy and cost savings."
And the Carbon Trust's advice for the new year? Get your boiler serviced - the resulting efficiencies should see you saving money each and every week over the year ahead.
WATER TIPS
From Neil Pendle, managing director of water specialist Waterscan
1. Are we in for a white Christmas? While your customers are dreaming of a roaring fire and a pint in their local, don't forget that this is the time of year when freezing temperatures can cause water leaks. Check your water meter. If everyone has gone home and it is still turning, you have a leak.
2. Even when you're rushed off your feet with Christmas punters, remember to turn off taps in the kitchens and bar areas. Don't leave them running for hours on end as many pubs do to defrost food or because a washer has broken! Turning off kitchen taps, which generally run at eight litres per minute, after each use can save over £250 per month!
3. While it's great to have green grass and beautiful blooms in pub gardens during the summer months, do remember to check you haven't left your irrigation on over the winter. It's surprising how many people are watering their gardens unknowingly.
LIGHTING TIPS
From Stewart Oliver, managing director of Oliver Lamps
1. By putting as many lights on timers as possible, you can save a good deal of money and energy. There is no point in having lights on all night, especially all those extra interior and exterior Christmas lights.
2. With a lot of people coming and going this Christmas, think about putting lights on sensors. To save people leaving lights on wherever they go, it is really worth investing in sensors, so lights are only turned on when they are needed.
3. Most people now know that by switching to low energy you can achieve savings of approximately 76 per cent compared with standard lightbulbs. But if you require a bright, crisp, fully dimmable light for areas where festive ambience is key, then think about using a halogen energy saver, which gives savings of 26.5 per cent over a standard bulb.
For more information on how to Go Green and save money in your pub visit the Go Green area of thePublican.com.
