Big drive to boost Britain's pubs
Added: Tuesday, April 2nd 2013
Community Pubs Month celebrates the road to recovery for Britain’s pubs
CAMRA launches month-long celebration following the first cut in beer duty since 1959 and end of the Beer Duty Escalator
CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, today launches a month-long celebration of British community pubs following the scrapping of the beer duty escalator and the first cut in beer duty in a generation announced in last month’s Budget. The consumer group is hailing the tax cut as a new beginning for British pubs and brewing.
Community Pubs Month, which starts on 1st April, encourages pubs to organise and promote a variety of events throughout the month that will appeal to the public. CAMRA has produced and distributed over 6,000 promotional pub packs across Britain to help pubs market what activities they have planned.
The campaign follows independent research from CAMRA that shows that 42%* of people are using pubs less than they did a year ago.
Mike Benner, CAMRA's Chief Executive, said, “The Chancellor has become the toast of Britain’s cash-strapped beer drinkers and we should now be paying around 10p less per pub pint than they would have been had the escalator remained in place in last week’s Budget. This is a massive victory for Britain’s 15 million beer drinkers and we are urging people to celebrate in their local throughout Community Pubs Month.
“The research shows that many people are using pubs less in these difficult times and this tax cut is an important step in the right direction to support this great British industry and get people back into an essential community amenity, the pub.”
CAMRA’s Community Pubs Month kick-starts four national pub campaigns that will run over the next 10 months. The aim of these campaigns is to raise the profile of pub-going and increase the number of people using pubs regularly.
CAMRA is using Community Pubs Month to call for the industry, government, local councils and consumers to back its campaign for British pubs by:
· * Asking local councils to include pubs protection and promotion policies in their local plans
· *Urging the government to build a package of support for community pubs including reform of planning law to protect viable pubs from change of use and delivering legislation to re-balance the relationship between large pub companies and their licensees
· *Asking brewers and pub companies to back CAMRA’s Community Pubs Campaign initiatives throughout the year
· *Asking consumers to celebrate the end of the beer duty escalator in their local throughout April
Mike. Benner said, “There is now a need for everyone to work together to help reverse the decline in pub-going and put this great British industry firmly back on the map.”
Community Pubs Month provides pubs with a national campaign to hook their promotions around and CAMRA will use the four pub campaigns during the year to work with government and councils to bring in more measures to support the future of pubs. CAMRA is also urging the media to come on board and talk about the positive things pubs are doing for communities, highlighting the important role pubs play in improving community life.
In the research pub-goers were also asked what types of pubs would encourage them to visit the pub more often. The findings were as follows:
Pubs that offer quality food and drink – 43% (40% male, 45% female)
Pubs that offer live music – 27% (24% male, 30% female)
More family orientated pubs – 24% (19% male, 29% female)
· Pubs that offer more traditional pub games like darts, pool, skittles – 15% (18% male, 11% female)
· Pubs that offer promotions – 15% (13% male, 16% female)
· Free wifi and lap tops / PCs – 9% (10% male, 7% female)
· Social networking pubs where you can socialise in a pub with a friend who is in a different town using video technology – 5% (7% male, 4% female)
· Range of board games – 4% (2% male, 6% female)
Other pub research findings included:
· 37% of pub-goers stressed they would be more likely to visit local pubs more often if the local pubs organised more events and informed them on a more regular basis what was planned.
· 31% of pub-goers wanted to see more local music, live bands / DJs in their pubs
· 24% pub-goers wanted more pub quizzes
· 18% pub-goers wanted more themed food and drink evenings
· 17% of pub-goers wanted to see beer tastings from local breweries
· 16% pub-goers wanted to see more Family Orientated Events
Mike Benner concluded, “Our research shows that, building on the success of the campaign to scrap the beer duty escalator, there is plenty pubs can do to attract more people through their doors in these tough times. We hope pubs will consider some of the findings for their own businesses.”
