It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.

Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.

Thank you.

 

Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.

 

Supermarket Beer Sales Overtake Pubs For the First Time in Britain

page: 2
4
<< 1   >>

log in

join
share:

posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 06:06 AM
link   

originally posted by: TheKnightofDoom
a reply to: reldra

It was great training for me being in care and mental health. We used to have a saying Diplomats before Bouncers (seeing I was bouncer/barman during the week) I can talk anyone down now a good skill to have.
You can tell a lot about folk by watching them drunk. I hate angry drunks and for years I hated selling Stella because it sent folk angry and all fighty (It was due to preservatives they used to put in now brewed without) tbh the worse thing was when the ladies had a fight, I have seen two mass brawls in pubs (everyone fighting) both started when two women started ripping lumps out of each other. Never get in between two ladies get their fellas to sort it out.
Glad I'm out tbh I was drinking 10 pints a day but I have never been addicted to the stuff I can drink or not but when running a pub it looks good when you are drinking your own stock.


LOL, my friend Carl hasn;t been a bouncer for years. Now he drives a cab weekends and weekdays he is an aide at the Buffalo General Psychiatriac Center.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 07:25 AM
link   
a reply to: reldra

I know here in the US, your first drinking & driving arrest will cost you ~$5000.

A few beers at a bar is not worth the ride home.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 07:28 AM
link   
a reply to: acackohfcc


Not to mention killing someone because you tied one on.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 07:32 AM
link   
They just up the price ,because they don't want to deal with paying cops to deal with the rowdy .

Saves them money shutting them down .



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 08:19 AM
link   
Part of the problem is also because people can no longer smoke in pubs/bars.

Since the anti-smoking laws kicked in, clientele has dropped as well as many people are spending a lot of their time going outside to have a smoke which cuts down on how many drinks they're purchasing during their time there.

So the pubs/bars up their prices to make up for the lost revenues.

Add on top of that the neverending increase of sin taxes on alcohol and smokes... and the cost of going out for a few drinks with friends gets to be too expensive and just not worth it anymore. People's homes are now becoming the new social gathering places.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 08:31 AM
link   
a reply to: TheKnightofDoom

I noticed this too , as a club manager I quit the industry after the UK smoking ban .
This and cheap supermarket booze has killed it.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 08:36 AM
link   
Sad really, my fiancé works at a pub restaurant in a village and it wont be open for much longer. They've refurbished and promoted the place yet still aren't meeting their weekly target. Shame really as it's a great pub with some nice ale.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 09:15 AM
link   
I've ran my own pubs over the years and have worked doors on and off for donkey's - at one time had my own 'security' company.

I still do a few hours a week behind the bar and on the door at a good mate's pub.

Only way to make money nowadays is as a Free House - but that costs a lot of money and few people have that sort of money - the banks certainly won't lend you any money and not many people fancy taking the risk with their own money.

My mates pub does alright - but he keeps costs to a minimum and has zero tolerance with drugs and drunks etc - it helps that he, his father-in-law and myself are all reasonably 'well known'.

The pub is ran as a traditional English local sort of pub but is located right in the town centre so it has a good solid core of local drinkers and also gets good trade on a weekend as part of the town centre pub circuit.

As pointed out government taxation on alcohol has seen the price of a pint of beer spiral upwards far in excess of other commodities etc.
And it doesn't help with the do-gooders constantly moralising and preaching about the evils and health implications of the demon drink. Another example of the nanny state crippling businesses.
And the PubCo's that own the majority of pubs charge extortionate amounts to their landlords with little incentive to improve sales - the greater turnover the greater rent etc they charge.

When Thatcher forced the breweries to relinquish the pubs they owned it brought about the PubCo - companies that owned pubs and then leased them out to tenants - all with caveats that they had to buy their beer / spirits etc from them, obviously contributing to increased costs for the landlord who then had to pass that cost on to the customer.

All this has contributed to the more or less demise of the traditional British local that was at the heart of the local community.
This has played a significant role in the collapse of the traditional community spirit that was evident the length and breadth of the whole of the UK.

Breweries don't care.
It is far cheaper and cost effective for them to run canning lines and ship vast quantities to large supermarket chains than it is to put in kegs and transport to individual pubs.
For obvious reasons supermarkets can then sell beer vastly cheaper than in pubs.
Everyone goes to the supermarkets - no-one goes to pubs.
People don't meet and laugh and joke - and talk about governments amongst other things.

People still get pissed - but they do it on their own or with a very limited social circle.
Very little interaction, social skills slide - resulting increased number of dickheads on the streets with attitude problems.

I could go on and on - some may say I already have done.

The decline in the traditional British pub culture merely reflects the decline in UK society and the increased control government / big business has over us.

Apologies for the rant but I for one still enjoy pub life to the full - I very, very rarely drink in the house - and its something I am quite passionate about.

edit on 26/9/16 by Freeborn because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 11:17 AM
link   
a reply to: FreebornI agree with everything you say. A free house is the only way forward and even better a free house with it's own brewery. Close to me there is 3 micro-brewers and they harp on about real ale and such then charge through the teeth for their product.
Ok, the startup cost is high but come on I know what goes into brewing beer. It always amazes me how they have the cheek to charge so much. It takes a minimum amount of taste ingredients, sugar and the majority is made up of water. Yes, yes there is yeast but good brewers keep their own yeast culture so that costs nothing. Boil, mix and it brews itself (ok all you pedantic people can rant on about filtering and cooling) that's it, bottle it or barrel it, money in the bank.
Tell me why beer is approx £24 a gallon yet petrol, which they have to transport half way round the world, refine it, transport it to petrol stations and only charge approx £5 a gallon.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 01:38 PM
link   
When we had a newsagent at the other end of the street to the pub we'd see loads of landlords who'd sign up as the brewery would give them 6-12 months at a very nice rate to settle in and then turn the screws up and suddenly they'd find they'd be having to pay triple the rent/barrel prices etc and they'd give up which would mean a few months of the relief manager coming in who didn't give a toss killing the business even more...its now been sold off as it was worth more for the land than it was worth as a pub and is a cafe which seems to be doing better business than the pub did under the breweries hands.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 01:40 PM
link   
a reply to: reldra

Its cause you guys don't serve good quality beer like coors light,ultra, bud light, or miller lite.






posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 02:09 PM
link   
Ironically here in US my oldest son,is a sales manager for a large liquor distributor,go by his house and he has at least 50 cases of newest beer,malt liquor etc,and all for free any kind you could want,.but alas I quit drinking like 22 yrs ago,and I
'm too old to start back up,.might get drunk and end up married again



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 02:09 PM
link   
a reply to: interupt42

All available over here.

All taste like dishwater.....and about as strong as it.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 02:24 PM
link   
a reply to: TheKnightofDoom

Good insights. People stopped going out for a lot of different reasons and the town centre pubs got took over by fricken 'Punch Taverns' at low costs to them. They shackle the poor landlords to excruciating mark-ups and don't care because every time one walks away another turns up.

The North West towns thing has been loads of very small pubs opening. Free houses, no obligations and 20 regulars a day will keep them in business. We've had them for 3-4 years and I haven't seen one go out of business yet...more opening every few months.

BTW have been to LIDL? They have quality micro-brewery varieties of proper beer at £1.25 a bottle.


a reply to: Freeborn

I think he was being sarcastic fella


Americans rate Bud lite as highly as Aussies rate XXXX. Or as highly as British rate Carling Black Label...bleaurgh...



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 02:30 PM
link   
a reply to: Kandinsky



I think he was being sarcastic fella


Yeah, you're probably right....I think I'm a bit rusty and out of practice.

E.T.A.

The thing about Free Houses is that you require quite a bit of money in the first place to start up.

If you've got that money why would you risk it buying a pub? There are other investment opportunities that are far less risky.
People who open Free Houses either have a passion for the industry, know nothing else....or are using it for slightly more nefarious reasons.

edit on 26/9/16 by Freeborn because: (no reason given)



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 02:41 PM
link   
a reply to: Freeborn

I haven't actually looked into the T&Cs of running these small pubs. They might not be free houses, but I think they are.

You know those rows of shops where some are shut down and unoccupied? Terraces and parades? They turn an empty shop into a bar. Not a bad selection of beers and they're quite cosy and relaxed. The enclosed back yards become the 'beer garden' and smoking areas.

The floor area isn't far off that of a standard northern 2 up/2 down terrace house.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 03:06 PM
link   
a reply to: Kandinsky

Great idea - unfortunately the local council is actively discouraging any new licensed premises in the town centre unless its in a specific area which they seem to be developing and promoting at the expense of other areas of the town.
Any application for a licence would be denied by either the council itself or the police.

I know one guy who currently has about 20 odd pubs.
Only three are on long term leases the others are tenancies at will.
These are pubs that are under threat of closure. He pays are nominal rent - with necessary insurance it comes to around £100 per week - and tends to be free of tie for spirits / bottles etc.
But he invests very little, if anything on the upkeep etc of the building.
After additional costs like staff, utilities etc he makes a small profit....but not too much.
If the pub starts making a decent amount the relevant PubCo seeks to tie him to a regular tenancy agreement at greatly increased rent thus making the pub unviable as a business proposition.

I could retell numerous tales of where PubCo's have screwed landlords over.

PubCo's are run by people who have absolutely no interest or experience of traditional British pub culture and are obsessed with generating obscene amounts of profit...a trait that seems to be prevalent in UK society as a whole.....much to out detriment.



posted on Sep, 26 2016 @ 03:39 PM
link   
a reply to: Freeborn

I'll see if I can find out what the score is. The ones I know are slightly outside of the main business district of towns.

You'll know more about it than me. It's like they skirt the boundary of the highest council tax bands, ground rents and so forth. Overheads must be minimal.

Some of the smaller towns have one or two on their high streets. It's not bad business because these are the areas where shops open and close all the time. The small bars open and seem to have more longevity.

Reldra's OP probably resonates with some of us more than others. It's always been pubs, bookies and churches and they're closing down. Don't need any of them, but the pubs are like landmarks and signposts and I sigh at all the derelict ones.



new topics

top topics



 
4
<< 1   >>

log in

join