Visiting Your Shortlisted Pubs
Mark S. Elliott has spent 25 years working in various management roles within the tenanted and leased divisions of the UK's largest breweries and pub companies. His extensive knowledge and day-to-day involvement with pubs and publicans make him well qualified to know what is required to run a successful pub. He shares his knowledge and many 'insider tips' with you in this book. Mark is based in Cockermouth, Cumbria.
VISITING YOUR SHORTLISTED PUBS
This is often the most time-consuming part of finding your ideal pub. Locating pubs can sometimes be difficult and may involve lots of travelling. A map or directions to the pub will be invaluable.
When visiting a pub it is best to be inconspicuous. You should respect the privacy of the existing licensee and allow them to run their business without interruption. They are likely to have other people interested in their pub too. Many licensees will not have told their customers or staff that they are leaving. Prospective licensees asking questions or obviously assessing the pub will be very unsettling. It is best to be discreet and make all approaches through the proper channels.
You may quickly reject a pub once you have seen it, while you will need to visit others several times before you make a decision. The aim of visiting a pub is to gather more information on which to base a decision. It is helpful to make notes as you visit each pub so that you can refer to them later. You should assess the customer and the location profiles and then prepare a ‘SWOT analysis’. (For information on preparing a SWOT analysis, see later in this chapter.) Many people also consider a ‘gut feeling’ to be crucial in deciding whether a pub is suitable for them. It is worth making a note about your ‘gut feeling’ on each of the pubs you look at.
