Chris Maclean: Lack of opportunities means new licensees are ill-prepared

It staggers me how many licensees are taking on pubs with absolutely no experience whatsoever. I'm astonished that people, who have never worked behind a bar, somehow come to the conclusion that their lives will not become complete until they take on a pub, with no understanding of what it entails.

I must admit an element of responsibility here, to a small degree, for encouraging a belief amongst some of my customers that running a pub is easy. I believe it is what many good landlords do. Like the proverbial duck paddling, everything they see appears to be serene and calm whilst, beneath the water, there is frantic paddling.

For my customers I am the genial host (well, perhaps only for some) standing at the bar drinking and chatting with people. All I need do is send people to change barrels, clean glasses and take food orders. How difficult can that be? And for many people leading busy, difficult and stressful lives, the picture can be very attractive. So I am not suprised people believe that the life of a licensee is easy.

So it is quite understandable that there are many people out there who fully believe the lifestyle of the licensee is one they want to embrace. How far can their image be from reality? How can they be wrong?

Unfortunately the harsh reality, when the paperwork is signed, when the loans are in place, when the furniture is moved into the squalid flat and the full realisation that the pub they have taken control of is scarcely more than a derelict shell doesn't hit them until the broker's shiny car drives out the car park.

Last week I visited a shabby run-down pub/hotel in Sussex. It was in a mess. It was clear no money had been spent for a long time. The licensee was struggling to make ends meet and there was nothing extra to spend on improving the place. The only new things I could see were an up-to-date fruit machine and some shiny new lager fonts. It was being run by members of the family and friends all trying to hold it together. It was clear it was starting to fall apart.

And now the pub company had hit them for a £200,000 delapidations bill. They were doomed. They knew it. The pub co knew it. But somehow, for reasons I've not ever fathomed, they continue to try to limp on; their vision of their dream pub slowly turning into the harsh nightmare before them.

I know why these people are attracted to such visions but, tragically, I am saddened that they are actually able do such things. The reality is that there is a desperate shortage of capable, competent new licensees coming into the industry. There is no effective mechanism to train and develop potential new candidates. Young people appear put off by the service industry sector.

Pressures on pub finances means that the minimum wage is, for many, the benchmark rather than the exception. When the old cash-in-hand "black economy" of pub employment finally finished many of the casual staffing opportunities ceased to be. How can people effectively prepare themselves for the lifestyle of a licensee adequately when the opportunities to work are so limited?

Certainly there are groups and organisations who strive to make some impact. But the reality appears to be that a greater proportion of ill-prepared people are getting pubs because there are too few candidates chasing the available pubs.

This also raises an important question. What are the pub owners expected to do? They need those pubs open and trading. Faced with a choice of just a few competent candidates can you blame them for picking the best of the bunch and hoping for the best? I fully understand the reality that, if an acceptable candidate presents themselves, with the appropriate amount of money, to run a particular pub and, in the absence of any other candidates more capable being available, the pub is theirs. Simple.

But it isn't just inexperience that is the problem. It's also the image of the industry. The horror stories of wicked landlords, crippling debts, harsh conditions and tragic conclusions continue to compound the damage. Not only are young people less able to gain experience but, perhaps rightly, they wonder if it is worth it.

One thing that fascinates me is how health and safety legislation makes it an offense to expose people to hazards likely to harm them; abrasive wheels, cutting machinery and noxious substances. Health and safety often calls for comprehensive guards, signs, warnings and protective gear. Such legislation is very proper.

So how come nothing is done to protect hapless people, like new licensees, from harming themselves?