With reportedly nearly four pubs closing down every day is there now a need for the traditional pub to redefine itself? How can a pub maximise its sales opportunities? Does it even know what they are?
The factors behind the current problems are well documented. Cheap supermarket booze, the smoking ban, an ageing population, drink drive awareness campaigns, all now combined with the current economic environment. In these conditions pub operators probably need to think beyond cost reduction initiatives and explore initiatives that will both keep those customers they already have happy and find ways to tempt others back into their locals. With a raft of restaurant deals out there of which 2-for-1 offers are becoming the norm one local pub has gone even further and introduced the £1 meal. Apparently customers have been queuing up to try the home-cooked pub grub at The Piltdown Man near Uckfield in East Sussex. I hope they have done their sums on this one since it seems like a fantastic offer which I must surely try myself.
There are other ideas around, but not necessarily linked with pubs but that seem to make some sense include a dropping off point for goods bought on the internet or a place to recharge electronic equipment such as laptops, ipods and phones. Whatever the solution might be, the pub along with the post office, and even the church, now more than ever needs to define its place in our lives. According to The Guardian there are now 350 village pubs that are also shops, or post offices, cook school meals, or provide IT training.
