1
What business are you in?
Learning objectives
After working through this chapter, you should be able to:
highlight the key features of licensed retail service
identify different types of licensed service operations
explain the key drivers of licensed services types
contrast and compare service management techniques.
Bar and pub services management
In the past, many people thought that the key to successful pub business was ālocation, location, locationā ā in other words, the location of the pub or bar was the most important factor in determining its success. However, there are many successful bars and pubs that are in poor locations yet still manage to build sales and good profits. It's not so much where your pub or bar is located, but what goes on inside it ā in particular, how the landlord and staff deal with customers.
This chapter aims to show that although licensed retail services are different, customers expect the quality of product and services to match their expectations. Good unit management understands what customers want, and recognizes that employees ā their selection, training, motivation, reward and management ā are key to customer satisfaction.
Licensed retail services
Licensed retail organizations provide drink and/or food and/or accommodation in a service context. In most cases, these services are both produced and consumed on the premises. In the case of the āoff tradeā, the product is consumed away from the premises in a manner much closer to general retail services. Whilst reference will be made to the off-licence dimensions of the business, this book is largely concerned with the management of on-site licensed retailing because these businesses are more complex and involve a more detailed service transaction than simply retail. It is important to recognize that bars, pubs and restaurants offer services that have a deep-seated meaning to customers that touch on the domestic and cultural meanings of hospitality. These meanings will be briefly touched on later in the chapter, but the host and guest relationship, where the licensee/landlord is in effect inviting customers into his or her home, is an important element of the service being provided.
This book is aimed at licensed retail operations where bars or pubs are directly managed as part of a chain. Licensed retailing involves an increasing focus of bar and pub services on brands that make a clear offer to an identified profile or segment of customers and the occasions on which they use pub and bar services. Whilst much of the book applies to the management of all bars and pubs, and can be applied both in the free house and in the ātied tradeā, the book is specifically concerned with identifying issues associated with licensed retail units that are managed as part of a chain (Table 1.1).
Licensed retail organizations that operate through chains provide these services in a way that is increasingly:
1 Branded: services are usually sold under a brand name, traditionally a brewery or beer brand. Brands are chains of bar, cafƩ and pub outlets that trade under the same name. The brand may represent a cluster of attributes or benefits to customers, who have an idea of what to expect when entering the premises. Traditionally this was the brewery beer brand, although increasingly brands are trading names that shape customer expectations and cluster round similar service offers.
2 Customer focused: a consequence of branding is to shape the nature of the products and services that make up the brand to particular customer types, needs and experiences. Issues such as age, gender, social class, income, region, family and lifecycle, consumption patterns and service needs help retailers to focus the brand and the messages required by customers.
Brand name | Licensed retail service | Number of units | Owner corporation | Main service predominance |
J.D. Wetherspoons | Pubs with significant food offer | 500 | J.D. Wetherspoons | Wet led |
Chef & Brewer | Pub and restaurant service | 95 | Scottish & Newcastle Retail | Food led |
TGI Fridays (UK) | American restaurant and cocktail bar | 40 | Whitbread Restaurants | Food led |
Harvester Restaurants | Traditional restaurant and pub | 130 | Bass Leisure Retail | Food led |
John Barras | Community pub and restaurant | 155 | Scottish & Newcastle Retail | Wet led |
Brewers Fayre | Pub and restaurant services | 273 | Whitbread Restaurants | Food led |
Brewsters | Pub and restaurant services | 120 | Whitbread Restaurants | Food led |
All Bar One | Cosmopolitan bars serving food | 54 | Bass Leisure Retail | Wet let |
Table 1.1 A selection of major licensed retail brands as at May 2001 (source: Martin Information Guide to Pub, Bar & Nightclub Brands (2001)
3 Standardized: though this will vary according to the nature of the brand and business, standardization follows from the requirement of customers for consistency and predictability. Typically, the range of food and drink items, the prices charged, decor and building layout are standardized across all units.
4 Consistent in quality: management of the experience has to be concerned with ensuring that customers get the experience they expect. That is, not only the physical products but also the type of service they get from staff must be consistent and in line with customer expectations. Thus service quality, staff training and performance appraisal become important tools in unit management.
5 Managed via operating systems: consistency and standardization across hundreds of units frequently require that all operate to a centrally designed system that guides the way in which products are purchased, assembled and served. In many cases these systems also lay down how training, recruitment and other staff management issues are to be handled.
6 Sales driven: using techniques from the retail goods sector, licensed retail businesses are concerned to ensure that communication with customers is clear. The nature of the product and services on offer are stated in a way that allows minimal confusion and misunderstanding. Point-of-sale material and staff training in āup-sellingā techniques, together with an array of other techniques, attempt to maximize the sale to each customer.
7 Mass marketed: to generate customer identification and to shape clear communications with customers, licensed retailing organizations increasingly use mass advertising through television and newspapers, as well as other promotional techniques, to inform customers about the brand and services on offer.
8 Location defined: these managed pubs and bars have a distinct set of location characteristics that define their typical size and high street, suburban or trunk road locations, property types, age characteristics, parking facilities, or proximity to transport links, etc.
Table 1.2 illustrates some brand features of a sample of licensed brands.
Brand | Style/target customer | Ideal sites | Locations |
J.D. Wetherspoons | Traditional basic pub, no frills style, but food growing in importance | Empty buildings, not usually pubs, in good positions; 5 500 sq ft | Nationwide from London origins, most major cities |
Chef & Brewer | More up-market pub restaurants; a long established brand | Minimum 3 000 sq ft front house, 1 750 sq ft back | Suburban, country and ācity villageā sites |
TGI Fridays (UK) | Licensed from USA; smaller units (200 seats) being developed; some next to Travel Inn | 7 000 sq ft | Early, city centre sites; now more major roads and suburban |
Harvester Restaurants | Country farmhouse-style eating places; casual family dining | Off major motorways and roadside sites | Mostly located in South East and Midlands |
John Barras | Victorian-style community pubs | On main road and community sites | Most located in Northern England |
Brewers Fayre | Pub restaurant aimed at the adult market | Out of town, 1ā3 acre sites by towns with 50 000+ population | Suburban, within short distance of motorways |
Brewsters | Pub restaurant aimed at the family market; some re-branded from Brewers Fayre | Out of town, 1ā3 acre sites by towns with 50 000+ population | Suburban, within short distance of motorways |
All Bar One | Cosmopolitan bars, quality food and restaurant-style service | High street locations, vary in size | Affluent urban areas, major cities |
Table 1.2 Some brand features of a sample of licensed retail brands
Over the past few decades, branded licensed retail services have taken an increasing share of bar, cafƩ, restaurant and hotel business in the UK and other western countries. The consistency of service, lower costs through the scale of their operations, and appeal of a variety of brands to target markets have ensured wide success.
As a unit manager working in one of these branded businesses you are required to understand the nature of the brand in which you are working ā that is, what is it that customers are buying into? With this understanding you are able to focus on customer expectations and what has to be done to ensure that customer expectations are met.
Most importantly, as a unit manager in branded business you are required to understand and work within the disciplines of the brand. Customers who experience different facilities, prices, quality and service in different establishments in the same brand...