Mark Daniels: Pubs are still great
If you're a member of the general public not involved in the pub trade, there's every chance that you think pubs are no longer the place to hang out these days. Newspapers are full of bleak prophecies about the future of the "Great British Pub", landlords are going bankrupt left right and centre, pubcos are ladled with so much debt they're sinking faster than the Titanic, and every week there's yet another story about yet another pub closing.
If somebody were to draw a caricature of pubs today, they'd probably portray a drab looking building, with just one or two grey characters sitting miserably at a table while the landlord looks forlornly on.
Readers of this very website must sometimes think that landlords are down-in-the-dumps moaning-minnies, but who can blame them? The chances are, more people will be affected by pub closures this year than they will Swine Flu; we need a place to be able to air our grievances.
Equally, customer comments left on various stories on this website often erroneously decry publicans for voting in the smoking ban, and therefore signing our own death warrants, with some adamant that they simply won't set foot across the threshold of a pub again until the ban is repealed.
It all seems to generate a misnomer that, in order to have fun, you have to be a smoker. Or hang out with one.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Smokers are certainly not the social pariahs that the smoking ban has made them out to be, but the law didn't actually ban them from the premises. Just from smoking in it. Many landlords would welcome a change in the law to allow smoking, in some form, back in to pubs. Many people continue to fight for a change in the law. Equally, the majority of landlords I chat to are generally a happy bunch - they're just frustrated by an ever-increasing set of legislation, restrictions and contract covenants that make running their beloved businesses, and earning a living, harder by the day.
The belief, however, that pubs are now lifeless hulks because you can't smoke in them any more is wrong.
Any building will look drab on a grey, rainy day (and let's face it, we've had a few of those in recent years) and there's certainly no denying that pubs are quieter now than they were a couple of years ago, but the idea that they are populated by Sitting Image's version of John Major is a little harsh.
We are in the midst of one of the worst recessions in history and in every quarter of this industry, from managed-house to free-trade to the tied-tenant, there are small businesses beleaguered by the strain of high taxes, stifling legislation, restrictive contracts, the smoking ban and certain unfair price advantages, yet we're still fighting on as best we can.
Other industries struggling under the weight of their own over-production, greed and ineptitude (banking, automotive anyone?) are getting billions chucked at them to help sort themselves out. All we asked for was a reprieve from further tax rises and a change in certain laws to help us get ourselves back on an even keel. What we keep getting is a poke in the eye.
Britain's pubs are still great. They aren't all gloomy, colourless places waiting to be sold off for housing projects. Pubs still have their characters, they're still the hub of the community, they're still the place to go to meet old friends and new, and they can still be vibrant and fun. Even on the quieter nights.
In fact, sometimes, the quietest nights are the ones when you can have the most fun...
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Business Development Managers
You have to love your brewery regional manager, don't you? They never miss a trick, whether it's product bought out-of-tie or a special offer you're doing that they might be able to make a bit more money out of.
Or even when your wife has had her hair cut and coloured.
Unfortunately, I'd failed to notice that one, which explains why I've been in trouble for the past week.
Thanks, John.
