If your dream is to give up your job to run a pub or country inn, you need to understand what is involved and be prepared - otherwise you could find yourself living a nightmare instead. First, ask yourself a few questions:
Why do I want to run a pub?
Interviewers of prospective managers or tenants are, with good reason, wary of certain motives. They often reject those who say:
- "I want to escape from the rat race"
- "We're retiring soon and I think it would be nice to run a pub"
- "It's a business and a roof over our heads as well"
- "My husband has always wanted to run a pub"
What are my objectives?
If you're determined to take the plunge, analyse the reasons for wanting to run a pub. Do you want to:
- Offer a service to the community?
- Primarily make money?
- Enjoy a certain lifestyle?
- Exploit your particular talents for hospitality?
- Be your own boss?
The best answer may be a mix of the above ... and a few more besides.
Do I have the right skills and qualifications?
To run a successful pub, you need a good mix of skills and talents, including:
- Personnel skills to help recruit, retain and inspire your staff
- The ability to create a welcoming environment for customers
- Financial skills to fully understand the way the pub operates and influence its profitability
- The ability to work hard and cope with long hours
- Marketing skills to attract new custom
- Technical skills to run a good cellar and a kitchen that produces quality food
- Customer service skills
You'll also need a basic understanding of:
- Storing and serving wine
- The law on hygiene, health and safety
- Licensing laws
- Employment laws, including paying VAT, PAYE and tax
All in all, this makes being a licensee a highly skilled profession. As qualifications have become more important in the pub trade, more training courses are now on offer from colleges, universities and various organisations. Some of the larger pubs and breweries have in-house training, too. For further information, log on to BIIAB.
Have I got the right experience?
A salaried manager with a brewery or pub operator will have completed not only a training course of perhaps 12 weeks or more, but also many months as a relief manager in several pubs.
You need this type of experience. Get work in a similar pub to the one you want to run? You may have to work for free, but this is surely better than investing your money in a business and finding out you don't like it.
Do I understand the Licensing laws?
Justices licences are no longer valid. The good news is that the Licensing Act 2003 swept away much of the unnecessary red tape in applying for licences. It amalgamates six licensing areas covering the sale and supply of alcohol, the provision of regulated entertainment and the provision of late night refreshment, replacing them with a single system of
premises licences.
Here are some upsides:
- The premises licence is not time-limited nor subject to renewal every three years (as was previously the case for liquor licences)
- The fees are the same no matter what or how many licensable activities you have on your premises (eg entertainment, late-nigh refreshment)
- Standard drinking hours have been dropped, which means you have more options in developing late-night business. It aims to end crowds of drinkers on the streets at a fixed closing time, which can lead to disorder
- There is also a new system of personal licences, which permits an individual to sell alcohol at the venue that holds the premises licence. This means you are no longer tied to the pub that holds the licence and can move to another licensed premises
And the downsides:
- It gives more power to local residents who can ask for reviews of existing licences - or challenge new ones
- The crack-down on under-age drinking puts more onus on you through increased penalties for selling to under 18s
- The police can take action against an individual holding the personal licence
How do I apply for a licence?
Obviously you have to be over the age of 18. If you are, you need to apply to your local authority
- To make an application you must submit:
- A completed application form, including an operating schedule
- A plan of the premises in the prescribed form
- If the application requests authorisation to supply alcohol, a form containing consent from the premises supervisor
- The fee
You can get a licensing application forms to print out, or fill in online. Or you can get one from your licensing authority or possibly your local authority's website.
For more information on completing a premises license form, log onto the government website.
Other legislation
The smoking ban is now in place throughout all public places in the UK, so you will need to be up to speed on what is expected from you:
- You'll need to have adequate signage and possibly an outside area that is sheltered but not enclosed for smokers
- You and your staff will need training in how to deal with customers who flout the ban
Am I healthy and energetic?
You need to be fit and healthy to run a pub. The long hours, seven-day opening and physical nature of the work make it tough. And there's work to do before and after you open. A 12-hour working day is quite normal.
Plus, now that pubs increasingly serve food, you might be tempted to eat too much. Of course, the same applies to alcohol.
Have I got the right temperament?
It helps to be able to keep calm in a crisis, remain even-tempered with awkward customers, keep a clear head when making financial judgements and be patient when listening to the woes of regular customers.
For pubs run by a couple, the stress on their relationship is often extreme. Rows need to be kept private as an atmosphere can be bad for trade. Often, children can feel neglected, too, with parents torn between the needs of the family and the needs of the business.
Do I understand the potential rewards?
Now we've looked at what skills and talents you need to run a pub, let's look at what you can get out of it. First, there are the non-material rewards. Running a pub, you may:
- Enjoy making customers happy and gaining regular patrons
- Gain satisfaction from running a professional business in which you are the driving force
- Provide employment - in a rural area you may well be the biggest employer
- Enjoy a certain standing in the community
- Gain friends
And then there are the material rewards. Running a pub there is no guarantee of making a profit. However, given the right pub in a good area, with skilled management, the business should be profitable. Before allowing for loan repayments or rent, an efficient pub can make a net profit of more than 20% and even as much as 30% of VAT-exclusive turnover.
Source: Some information has been taken from "So you want to run a pub?", the first chapter of Michael Sargent and Tony Lyle's book: Successful Pubs & Inns (Butterworth-Heinemann).