"It’s a wicked world for pubs that offer a quiet pint"
There was a great article in yesterday's FT about pubs. Here's a link. Those who moan about the price of pint should note the comment about pubs being a service industry and staff costs being key. Likewise, it might help those who blame all the industry's woes on a couple of pubcos to apply a bit more perspective to the issue.
6 comments:
But there is a factor not mentioned in the article: the increased competition for the leisure spend. Once upon a time there was only the pub and cinema, now there's a lot more to do blah blah blah (I'm bored of this argument).....
Pressure on the pub co's has lead them to take more out the business, leading to a lower standard of licensee, making the pub less competitive to other leisure options, leading to over supply, leading to closure.
But a very good article anyway.
Oh, and my local, where I visit for a quiet pint, is thriving. Quietly, that is.
I can't see how a truly quiet pub could do well. If you find a pub's frequented only by a few old blokes when others around it are rammo, it's clearly not long for this world.
That's why I find beer bores who love quiet locals so bizarre - they claim to support pubs but don't like to see them doing well. They'd rather be alone with their beer, and miss the principal point of the pub: socialising, not beer.
Quiet does not have to mean library quiet, just not pumping music out much that make your eardrum bleed. I think they can be busy enough places, just not where the beverage of choice is WKD!
Oblivious, your comment prompts to make this observation: I honestly don't know where these pubs that play loud music and specialise in alcopops are. Do they really exist? Or are they just a dystopian fantasy? And if they do exist, why don't people simply avoid them rather than obsessing about them and making out they're killing off good pubs, which they manifestly aren't?
There's no legislating for people's choice in music - loud or soft, pop or classical - and that's why we need a variety of pubs, catering for varying tastes. I know, for instance, a couple of local pubs where I can go for a quiet pint if I'm in a morbid mood. I also know one or two where I can go if I want a black eye.
Post a Comment