As the licensed trade continues to grapple with issues like minimum pricing, rising beer duty and possible changes in legislation governing relationships between pub companies and their tenants, one South Wales-based entrepreneur is launching a new venture that aims to help pubs to manage their finances and maximise profits.
The Pub Hub will bring together experts in accountancy and stocktaking, HR and employment law, and business consultancy – all with experience of working with the licensed trade. Managing director Marsha Ward, a former HR director at a global law practice, has seen the industry undergo significant changes in the last few years with lots of new entrants into the market;
“The sheer diversity of people coming into the licensed trade, many with great ideas and enthusiasm but little experience at running pubs, has created a niche for specialist advisers that can help during the early planning phases and pass on their experience in areas like pricing strategies, managing staff and long-term business planning in the sector.”
Levels of pub closures regularly hit the headlines, with bodies like CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) and the British Beer & Pub Association arguing that government needs to do more to support an industry that employs around 1m people in the UK. Although the number of pubs having to close their doors has slowed in recent months, a lot of the pressures remain and competition from supermarkets continues to threaten licensed businesses that struggle to manage their finances.
Together with her partner, Michael Shallish, who has 25 years experience in the licensed trade, Ms Ward started a small accountancy practice called Clear Door two years ago and worked with a number of individual clients in the licensed trade, as well as securing call-off contracts with two of the UK’s largest pub management companies. The business doubled its staff and turnover in two years and laid the groundwork for the launch of The Pub Hub.
“When we visited clients and talked about their business, we found that many of them just needed someone to take away the burden of back office tasks like stocktaking and payroll and free them up to focus on providing a quality service to their customers,” said Ms Ward. “This experience prompted the decision to bring together these additional services and focus on the licensed trade.”
Mark Tuck and partner James Barnsley recently worked with Clear Door to develop a detailed business plan for the purchase of a pub called The Six Bells in Penmark, Vale of Glamorgan, from pub company Enterprise Inns PLC. The move had the backing of the local community as it secured the future of their much-loved local pub, which had previously been under threat of closure. Having successfully completed the purchase, the new owners of The Six Bells are now looking forward to taking the business forward on a firm footing.
“I was fortunate to have experience in the pub trade but it was fantastic to have the support of the team at Clear Door from day one,” said Mr Tuck. “In these uncertain times, every business plan comes under intense scrutiny from management companies and the banks and being able to give evidence of strong financial management and processes is absolutely essential.”
During these difficult economic times, pub owners and landlords increasingly have to look at ways to innovate and diversify their operations as consumers are forced to tighten their belts. Many communities in Wales and the UK have even got together to buy out and operate their local pubs and this “right to bid” was recently given legal backing through the UK government’s Localism Act 2012.
The Pub Hub will play a vital role in supporting community groups that consider these ventures and Ms Ward hopes that the new legislation will halt the trend that has seen more than 130 UK pubs bought up by major supermarket chains over the last two years and turned into convenience stores.
“Pubs, especially in rural and semi-rural locations, can often play a really important role in the well-being of a community. They are places where local people meet and socialise but can also have a positive impact on tourism and local trade, so it is always disappointing to see them having to close,” added Ms Ward. “On the positive side, however, there is some recent evidence that consumers are starting to vote with their feet and visit more pubs and bars. Revenues are also moving in the right direction and we are confident that good quality, well-run pubs can flourish.”