Dear Santa...The Publican's Christmas list

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. An end to restrictive covenants So you can buy a pub just as long as you don't use it as a pub, ok? Surely that should be the decision of the...

1. An end to restrictive covenants

So you can buy a pub just as long as you don't use it as a pub, ok? Surely that should be the decision of the person buying the business and not the company selling it. Pub companies have been heavily criticised for using restrictive covenants. Their argument is that by ensuring the pub they sell can not be used for that purpose any more it will help others in the local area (or their estates) gain more market share. But surely the emphasis should be placed on making sure their pubs are the best in the area and are staying ahead of the competition, that way what others do should not matter. Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns have both vowed to stop using restrictive covenants but we probably haven't seen the last of them, with Daniel Thwaites recently defending their use…still it's a start.

2. An enormous umbrella

Just when we thought things couldn't get any wetter, five months' rainfall fell in two especially damp November days and capped it all. In 2010 what the pub trade could really do with is a massive country-sized umbrella to shield us from the interminable downpours and give us a chance to use all those fantastic pub gardens again. Either that or some sun....but that might be asking a bit too much....

3. England to go all the way at the World Cup

"We still believe, we still believe, we still believe… football's coming home!" Yes, despite 44 years of failing to reach the giddy heights that Moore, Charlton and Hurst hit, once again blind faith will take over come next June. Licensees up and down the country will be praying that Fabio Capello can eclipse his modern age predecessors and take England all the way. A relatively easy group draw has also raised expectations to fever pitch level. And with pub-friendly kick-off times due to a one-hour time with South Africa, licensees are well placed to take full advantage. Come on England!

4. The Daily Mail to be shut down

If there is one thing that can unite all sides of our squabbling industry it might well be our collective loathing of the Daily Mail and all it stands for. Ever since it launched its ill-thought-out and downright misleading "Say No to 24-hour Pubs" campaign in the run-up to licensing reform the Mail has been right up there at the front of the pub trade's Bus of Death, and it shows no signs of slacking in the constant barrage of abuse it throws at the UK's pubs. "Binge-Britain" was created by the Mail and lives on in its tiny mind despite all arguements to the contrary. Just imagine the sunshine-birds-singing-children-laughingness of a Daily-Mail free world....

5. World peace

…or pub world peace at the very least. 2009 was the year when it all kicked off, as beer writer Pete Brown has already put it very eloquently on page 10 of this issue of The Publican. No-one is expecting any swift or easy solutions to the beer tie saga, but a little less pettiness from certain parties and a little more willingness to work towards a successful conclusion would help. Too many people seem to lose sight of the fact that vibrant, successful pubs are in the best interests of everybody involved in the trade, from publican to brewer to, yes, even the big pubcos. A more positive looking pub trade would also, by proxy, attract more people back into their local. Can we please all start getting on?

6. For the politicians to stop using the trade as a political punchbag

Too often in 2009 it seemed that when a politician - and very often a Tory politician - wanted to appear to be tough, the pub trade was the closest and easiest thing to hand to take a swing out. It was a surprise though, even to seasoned veterans of politics and the pub trade, to see shadow licensing minister Tobias Ellwood lash the trade at one of its very own events, the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers' Birmingham conference in September. Ellwood's criticism of disreputable pubs, reference to the need for a national database to weed out iffy licensees, and complaints about dodgy Liverpudlians opening bars in his constituency stunned the audience - although we are told he now has a more chastened view of the trade following the event. Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has at least offered up a little hope that there is some degree of understanding of the trade among the Tories with a more considered performance at the Business in Sport & Leisure Conference in November.
As well an end to those politicians using the trade as a punchbag in 2010, it would also be good too to see less of those who see the trade as a platform for their own self-aggrandising next year. You know who you are…

7. More pubs to get wake up to the internet

We are still amazed at the number of licensees who don't regularly use the internet, who don't have a valid email address, that can't send us a digital photo because their Uncle Charlie took their camera away on holiday. Etc.

You are very busy people. But anyone who says they haven't got the time to get into the internet, or Twitter, Facebook or any other online tools, has their head in the sand. Using the internet as a business tool will SAVE you money and time, not to mention open up free marketing through social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook - marketing which has the potential to bring you much closer to your customers and potential customers. What are you waiting for?

8. For a fork-lift truck driver to lose control in a supermarket's warehouse

Stay with us. This actually happened, in a Russian vodka depot, where a driver accidentally nudged a shelf with his truck - which started a chain reaction throughout the depot, causing damage to vodka and cognac stocks worth a reported £250,000 in the process. It's worth a look on You Tube when you get a chance - watch the video here
Now The Publican wouldn't want to wish any ill on anybody…but wouldn't it be a shame if a driver at one of Tesco's big depots - you know the ones stocking up all that bargain booze that make pubs look expensive - was to do the same thing?

What's on your Christmas list? Do you disagree with The Publican's? Tell us at news@thepublican.com

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