A Punch licensee is telling his customers to bring their own booze to his nightclub.
Bip Wetherall, lessee at the 18-room Raven Hotel in Corby, Northamptonshire, begun his Bring Your Own Bottle offer in the adjoining 500-capacity nightclub last Saturday.
Customers pay £5 to enter the club, called the Venue, after 9pm and can bring their own drinks from the supermarkets. The Venue has a strict over-21s policy.
"We had to do something to get people in," said Wetherall, who has been lessee since 1995. "We have had a JD Wetherspoon open up in the town selling pints for 99p. I sell a pint for £2.85 and the supermarkets are selling it dirt cheap. I am taking advantage of their marketing.
"Trade has also suffered as a result of the smoking ban and the credit crunch."
Wetherall said the first Saturday was a "huge success". He said: "We limited numbers to around 250 and we had extra security on.
"I was actually surprised by how much alcohol people did not bring in. We have standards and we don't allow drunk people in the venue.
"If you had a 21-year-old son, where would you rather they were — at a mate's house drinking alcohol or in a supervised and controlled environment?"
Wetherall said that bar sales had also fared well despite the bring your own offer. "We still offer the full bar service. A lot of the lads were still drinking draught beer.
"If I close the club, I still have to pay the rent. As a nightclub you need to be hot and last week it was like a furnace."
Punch Taverns has visited Wetherall to discuss the offer as he is tied on beer. "I still sold plenty of Punch's beer," he said. "Plus I sell the beer in the hotel bar. I pay £1,000 a week in rent, if they dropped it by 10% for six months then I wouldn't have to run this offer."
The offer operates on a Saturday night and may be rolled out on a Friday following a trial period.