UK Pubs – A Great Institution, but…

August 30 2016

Pubs have to be worked at, operators can’t rest easy:

Should be taken as read. Only sometimes, it isn’t…
Operators have limited control over weather, football, smoking bans, supermarket prices etc.
But they can determine their own behaviour – because if you can’t fill your beer gardens now?

Langton in the Lakes. On the ground findings. A few humble don’ts:

…stop serving food at 2pm if you say you’ll serve till three
…let your website get out of date / give incorrect information
…leave your two Belgian Shepherds guarding the beer garden (and keeping it empty)
…have workmen drilling skirting boards (and creating clouds of dust) over lunchtime
…let the grass grow to thigh-height whilst advertising ‘beer garden to rear’
…burn trash (cardboard & worse) in beer garden incinerators August lunchtimes

But do:

…remember you’re serving drinks that can be had at a fraction of the price in the off-trade
…acknowledge that punters need a reason to visit
…remember that, even in tourist destinations, it’d be nice to see customers more than once

Conclusion:

Langton loves pubs
Really, it does but, and it’s a big but, they need to work for their money