ISSUE 12 - PUB AND BAR The team


Paul Wootton Contributing Editor paul@pubandbar.com


WHY THE PUB INDUSTRY


Sarah Gain Features Editor sarah@pubandbar.com


Philip Devine Assistant Editor philip@pubandbar.com


NEEDS FRANCHISES Being a lessee, rather than managing somebody else’s pub, holds obvious attractions: being your own boss and doing


things your way can allow you to run the pub of your dreams. If you’re a smart entrepreneur, attuned to the market and the increasingly rigorous demands of customers; if


you’re organised and understand fi gures, and have a fl air for creative marketing; and if you have the drive and talent to stay one step ahead of the competition, not just other pubs, but increasing numbers of slickly-run cafés, bars and value-for-money restaurants, then you stand a chance of making a very good living from your pub. The problem is that many people who ran pubs in the past, and some who still run them today, aren’t


Richard Piper Features and Property Editor richard@pubandbar.com


equipped with those skills and that expertise. A long time ago, that didn’t necessarily matter. Before the economy crashed, before the advent of smart coffee chains and the growth of casual dining, before the smoking ban, before the supermarkets sold booze quite so cheaply, the pub market was considerably more forgiving. But market conditions have changed. Seismically. Running a pub can no longer ever be described as a hobby


Charles Campion Contributor www.charlescampion.com


again, as something you might do in retirement. It’s a business, a challenging one, and pubs require business- minded people to run them. Even then, it can be very diffi cult to succeed if you’re trying to operate on your own. As the market has changed, so large swathes of tenanted pubs have failed. The franchise model is a direct


response to the new market conditions. It allows the pub company to bring its expertise to bear on its pubs, and allows the licensee to benefi t from the experience and marketing clout of a much larger organisation. Effectively, a franchise agreement should enable the licensee to compete in what is now a more challenging marketplace. The introduction of franchises is also an exercise in pub industry rebranding. For years, the diffi culties faced


Alan Dewberry CEO


alan@h2opublishing.co.uk


Andy Pybus Managing Director andy@h2opublishing.co.uk


by tenanted/leased pubs and the sometimes fractious relationships between licensee and pub owner have tarnished the pub industry’s image, discouraging new entrants to the market. The franchise model offers more reassurance to the new licensee and a more modern, innova- tive approach to retailing, suggestive of a dynamic, cutting- edge industry. Accreditation by the British Franchise Association (BFA)


Andy Gibb Commercial Director andy@pubandbar.com


gives these agreements further credibility and broadens their appeal to budding entrepreneurs from outside the industry. Indeed, both Marston’s and Greene King, whose agreements have the BFA’s blessing, have made it clear they are actively seeking tenants from outside the industry, as well as provid- ing opportunities for those within. In fact, Marston’s reports that already nearly 30% of its Retail Agreement licensees come from outside the industry. That’s good news – if the industry is to thrive and evolve in


Marc Sumner Business Director marc@pubandbar.com


the 21st century, it needs to attract new blood and fresh ideas. As Punch’s Andy Slee argues in his opinion piece inside these pages, the pub industry is stronger when people act together. The franchise model is born of similar thinking. Franchises offer a way to harness the


Daniel Hillman Business Director dan@h2opublishing.co.uk


pub&bar


collective experience and know-how of a much larger operation and distill it in such a way that individual pubs and licensees can benefi t. As fi gures from Marston’s demonstrate clearly, pubs that might otherwise have failed are getting a new lease of life. Vive la révolution!


Paul Wootton Contributing Editor TWENTIETH FEBRUARY 2012 03


WELCOME


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