Question For Pub Owners, Where Do I Start?

[BadVlad]

My Father and I are looking to buying a pub and I would like to know what courses and test we need to take to legally own a pub.

 

[Scalloway]

There is a lot of information here from the UK Government website

https://www.gov.uk/alcohol-licensing

 

[Sacha]

Either you or your dad will need a Personal Alcohol License which is a day course and around £150. The pub also needs a premises license which will need to be transferred into you or your dad's name. If it is already a pub it will have a premises license already and upon sale you will send the necessary paperwork for it to be transferred over to you.

If you plan on selling food you will need a Food Hygiene Certificate and notify the Environmental Health Office who will come and inspect it, tell you what needs to improve and give you a rating (depending on where you are, some regions don't have the star ratings yet I think).

You will need to get a Fire Safety Certificate from the local fire station and also you will need a Commercial Gas Certificate if you have gas appliances.

You will also need Public Liability Insurance.

If you do a simple search on Google you will find plenty of stuff I am sure. Search terms such as 'starting a new pub business' then if you don't understand anything you find one of us on here will try and explain it to you.

 

[Simply Business]

Hi @BadVlad,

Aside from the tests you'll need to take, there are some other responsibilities you'll need to consider such as health and safety, insurance etc.

We have some pretty useful, free guides on this sort of thing, if you'd like? Won't post in here, but if you'd like me to send you the links just let me know and I can send them to you

What sort of area are you looking to buy your pub?

 

[PaulThompson]

Have a at Nigel Wakefield's excellent blog at How To Run A Pub
Lots of help there, and the pitfalls to watch for.

 

[Talay]

You'll need a pair of good Nike running shoes, not to walk away but to run in the opposite direction.

Has there ever been a worse time to invest in a pub when thousands are going to the wall each year ?

 

[PaulThompson]

You could say that about any industry Talay, there are also many, many pubs (and publicans) doing very well indeed....

 

[Talay]

You could say that about any industry Talay, there are also many, many pubs (and publicans) doing very well indeed....

OP and his dad, with no previous experience the other side of the bar are contemplating a dream; a father and son pub.

Of course, I do not have to declare an interest or bias as I am not a "leading broker for business finance for pubs" which is your area of business ....

31 pubs closing every week http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/12/pubs-closing-rate-31-week

890 pubs close in last few months http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pub-numbers-new-low-890-3196591

27,626 pubs closed http://www.closedpubs.co.uk/

Perhaps you have comparable statistics to back up your "You could say that about any industry" claim ?

 

[PaulThompson]

Talay
I don't have the statistics for every sector and really I don't want to get into a pointless argument.
If we believed every statistic from every newspaper the last pub would have closed about 10 years ago.
Try not to confuse "news" with "facts".
The facts are;

1. Yes - many wannabe publicans fail because they go into the trade with their eyes closed and do not complete sufficient due diligence on the unit in question.
2. That happens in other sectors we just hear more about the pub sector because British people like their pubs.
3. There are something between 40,000 and 50,000 pubs still trading and many of them are trading well and making their owners a good living.
4. Everyone started somewhere and so long as they understand their own strengths and weaknesses, use training and/or mentors to bolster the application then who are we to say they will not succeed?

As a broker with more experience in funding pubs than most, I've seen every possible scenario, some are turned down from the beginning and some, even new entrants, can be funded (if the OP even needs it?). I do try to explain the pros and cons of a decision and prefer not to p*** on their bonfire.

 

[Talay]

OP - have a look here http://www.mccoyspub-brokers.co.uk/ and then go look at the various types of ownership as this is fundamental to the risk and profitability of the venture.

Some of the brewers have good sites which go through some of the basics of running / owning a place. Here are a couple of examples:

https://www.greenekingpubs.co.uk/

http://www.greenekingcareers.co.uk/

I've owned bars in the past and the best piece of advice I ever received was to understand very early on that you have 100s of expenses, many of which you will never know until you get into it but that (essentially) you have only 1 income stream. Thus, whilst you can concentrate on improving your income, you have a far better chance of cutting back on some of the expenses as there are many more ways to reduce waste.

 

[Scott_Cruz]

A lot of the pubs closing are ones who have failed to adapt to the market changes , there are LOTS of very profitable venues operating nationwide

 

[Scott_Cruz]

What I would say is go work behind a bar , ask someone who runs a pub allow you to shadow them as experience is priceless

 

[uksme]

It's worth looking at the BII website - the BII is an independent a trade organisation representing those in the licensed industry. They have a number of courses which could be well worth your time - have a look at http://www.bii.org/support/trainingforsuccess for more information.

 

[Zumiweb]

Expenses management is of course essential. But only one income stream? Three core activities - drink, food, accommodation (depending on the premises). Plus a range of other options within those - events, outside catering, functions etc etc. All with risks, regulations and challenges of course, but you are asking the right questions in the right place.

As suggested above, a few days, weeks or months work experience while picking the brains of your employer/host/mentor and observing everything would be invaluable.

Even if you ultimately want a Free House, the pubcos and breweries have lots of information on what they want from a manager/tenant as well - might as well build up that list of required skills as you plan your research and training...