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Stafford rural pubs - I reckon 12 months and they will all be gone
- Thread starter John Marwood
- Start date
Indeed. But when was the last time you drove home from the pub, sober or otherwise and passed a police car that could potentially have stopped and breathalised you. There seem to be precious few police about in the evenings outside the town centre.Gramaisc said:
John Marwood
I ♥ cryptic crosswords
I am led to believe the pub is still owned by us ( a bank )flossietoo said:
It put in a management company - a one trick pony
When the one trick didnt work, they repeated it
And now blame locals, the position, the economy, anything but a stuck record for failure
Not my observations but one of a former staff member
The Bell at Haughton ( two whole miles away ) was rammed
The Yew Tree lies dank and empty between the two
John Marwood
I ♥ cryptic crosswords
Yes of course Lehmann Bank and Fannie Mae were both due to non smoking labour people and not criminal fraud on a grand scaleMiss Red said:
Ponzi scheme round two anyone?
Why didnt we all think of that?
O*O
V
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Ben
Well-Known Forumite
I used to insure around 130 pubs, predominantly through management companies. That figure is now down to about 7 and we havent lost a client to another broker. The management company either went into liquidation or closed down.
Now then, I need to apologise for my ignorance for the remainder of my post as this is based purely on my opinion as someone who like to socialise but doesnt enjoy drinking as a hobby. I will never drink at home and would prefer
Peoples lives are busier and we are educated to the core that drinking makes you put on weight and isnt good for you. Teenagers dont really need to go to to the pub to soclialise, facebook and twitter has replaced this to a certain extent. As with every business there is a contracting customer base because we have less disposable income.
The merry go round of pub managers also means that we are less comfortable with a pubs reputation. The Bell at Haughton is a good example - great reputation ruined when it was sold and now I hear great things but it takes a while for this message to reach the right people. Unfortunately new pub owners have to hit the ground running. This is made easier in a good area like Haughton.
Typically Id expect a well run village pub to turn over £300k at a 60% gross profit margin. This doesnt leave a fortune to pay for utilities, wages, rent and all of the other running costs.
Community pubs will survive but they need to play an active role in the community and engage. Isolated pubs need to be exceptional of they wont. Town Centre pubs is very much a survival of the fittest.
Now then, I need to apologise for my ignorance for the remainder of my post as this is based purely on my opinion as someone who like to socialise but doesnt enjoy drinking as a hobby. I will never drink at home and would prefer
Peoples lives are busier and we are educated to the core that drinking makes you put on weight and isnt good for you. Teenagers dont really need to go to to the pub to soclialise, facebook and twitter has replaced this to a certain extent. As with every business there is a contracting customer base because we have less disposable income.
The merry go round of pub managers also means that we are less comfortable with a pubs reputation. The Bell at Haughton is a good example - great reputation ruined when it was sold and now I hear great things but it takes a while for this message to reach the right people. Unfortunately new pub owners have to hit the ground running. This is made easier in a good area like Haughton.
Typically Id expect a well run village pub to turn over £300k at a 60% gross profit margin. This doesnt leave a fortune to pay for utilities, wages, rent and all of the other running costs.
Community pubs will survive but they need to play an active role in the community and engage. Isolated pubs need to be exceptional of they wont. Town Centre pubs is very much a survival of the fittest.
kaleidoscope75
Active Member
We at the Hand and Cleaver are well and truly open, and not doing badly at all. As far as advertisig goes we're limited in the amount of funding we're allowed from the company but have managed to get adverts in the express and star over the last few weeks.
What hasnt helped matters is that our brown signs directing cars to the pub have been stolen (and we're well aware of who by) so we have had to direct customers over the phone.
We dont currently have a website (again funding issues) but we do have a facebook page.
Hope this helps clarify a few things, we are trying our very best to attract customers, and the manager will register on the forum soon to give updates and current promotions/events that we have going on.
Kind regards,
Adam
What hasnt helped matters is that our brown signs directing cars to the pub have been stolen (and we're well aware of who by) so we have had to direct customers over the phone.
We dont currently have a website (again funding issues) but we do have a facebook page.
Hope this helps clarify a few things, we are trying our very best to attract customers, and the manager will register on the forum soon to give updates and current promotions/events that we have going on.
Kind regards,
Adam
tek-monkey
wanna see my snake?
How much funding can you get for a website? The running costs are minimal, you just need a few pages knocking up to say something about you. I wouldn't be suprised if you came to some sort of arrangement with someone on the forum to design the site, maybe in return for a few free meals or something? I don't do crayons, my design skills are lacking, but I'm sure someone here could?
Ask your manager, and if its a goer I'll ask around for you.
Ask your manager, and if its a goer I'll ask around for you.
flossietoo
Well-Known Forumite
As someone who would always look first for a website but has no idea how these things work, I'd say that all I'd look for as a customer would be details of the opening hours, menu(s) with food policies (ie is the stuff made on the premises, are particular local food producers used etc) and a forthcoming events page. Maybe a "what we can do for you" section with info on things like disabled access, beer garden, children's play area, pensioners' deals, special diets etc. It's essential that the site is kept up-to-date. If I find somewhere advertising "Our new summer menu" in November, I tend to assume they are probably not up to much. Oh, and how about a huge big flash on the home page offering minibus transport to and from the town centre for big Christmas party groups or is it too late to nab the office party crowd? Free if the costs stack-up, half price if not.tek-monkey said:
can you believe someone would steal the direction signs? As if things aren't difficult enough without that kind of idiot! I understand that the previous owners lost a lot of Christmas bookings when people were too scared to drive on the un-gritted lanes in the bad weather - that might stop the same thing happening again and attract people who don't want to drive.
5
52.8N-2.1W
Guest
Kickstart said:
Running out of out of town places to take my parents now when they pop over for Sunday lunch!