A-board picture gallery: Good, bad and builder's belly

Improving A-boards is one way staff at all levels can strive to raise the bar in the industry. 

Managing director of Inn-Dispensable, Martin Read, runs courses to improve publicans’ boards, inspired by seeing some terrible examples of marketing.

He said half the battle in the pub trade is to get one customer to enter, after which, the benefits can quickly multiply.

“The purpose of boards outside a pub is to entice customers to come in,” he explained.“Once they are encouraged to come in, they could come back again, and tell others to try you. That shows the sort of financial impact good boards can have.”

The courses do not claim to turn licensees into artists, but offers advice on content, board placement and how to use “power and sizzle words”.

“Silent selling is the most cost-effective way of growing turnover. Fail to do it, fail to prosper,” Read added.

Pub boards can also cause controversy.

Last month, a licensee was visited by police after promoting the pub with a board advertising "German porn"​.

But an Isle of White licensee's trade was boosted thanks to his controversial boards​.

Send your best and worst pub A-boards to oli.gross@wrbm.com