getting out

[gazgriff]

left a sams pub last week for a different company after the hump gave me the boot after just ten months. sat in my new pub full of people with england flags draped all over and selling any drinks and food i like earning good money. if you are in a sams pub i have one thing to say to you. GET OUT NOW and take any money owed to tou like bond or wages with you because he wont pay when u leave. come on england.

[ant]

good luck to you mate,think ill be a month or 2 behind you and i know of 3 other managers thinking same

[sovsuppa]

yeah, good luck to you.  Like you ant , we wont be long out of it. Pity really cos when we started it was a brill company to work for. Cant understand for the life in me what this crap is all about

[bigjim]

Are there others like me that feel we might be witnessing the 'end game' where Humphrey is concerned? No regional managers - surely its barking mad............? 

[ant]

jim your right,and its so sad really

[sovsuppa]

I think your right bigjim except I think maybe the end was beginning a while ago. No area or regional managers...Humph will probably only look at that as being a fantastic saving.  Could it be only a matter of time before he kills himself.  Some 300+pubs and he is the only area manager.  There is only himself that thinks he can do it all on his own.....crazy!

[ant]

cant blame anyone but hrw smith for decline in trade,its hitting home now with thisworld cup,alot of money don than on a normal fri/sat.............alot..............
we are trying the best we can with no tools ,but cheap ale,even thats going down the panwith all the competition getting cheaper and they got music,tv,s etc etc ............sat up early hours now thinking about my next move for my family ,myself and our futures,because its not going to get any better while he,s around,and if thats the only person we got to deal with,thers no point,anyone else feel same

[bigjim]

ant - I sympathise with you a great deal - I guess you and other managers knew in your hearts that once the World Cup kicked off, trade would be hit badly - and  I suppose it has duly come to pass.

You mention having no 'tools' to fight with, apart from cheap (and many would say good) beer - it seems to me that despite all his experience gained from inheriting a brewery, Humphrey is incapable of understanding what makes a good pub and one that people would want to drink in. Many years experience has taught me that the person behind the bar is without doubt the most important element - I've witnessed pubs literally die overnight when a landlord has left - pubs come back from the grave with a new manager and loyal customers driven away in droves by a difficult or unhappy host.

Pubs are not just about beer - they are about atmosphere in every sense of the word - drinking beer, no matter how good or cheap in a miserable environment gives no pleasure to anyone other than possibly diehard loners - I would have thought this should be obvious to anyone, Humphrey particularly. Sadly, with the actions currently being implemented by him, I can only see the situation getting worse and there will be no discernable recovery in trade after the World Cup ends. Many former customers will have discovered that price is not everything - having a good time in a pleasant atmosphere is more important.

I guess the message for managers is - your fears were right - maybe it's time to start scanning those adverts in earnest.       

[larry]

ant - I sympathise with you a great deal - I guess you and other managers knew in your hearts that once the World Cup kicked off, trade would be hit badly - and  I suppose it has duly come to pass.

You mention having no 'tools' to fight with, apart from cheap (and many would say good) beer - it seems to me that despite all his experience gained from inheriting a brewery, Humphrey is incapable of understanding what makes a good pub and one that people would want to drink in. Many years experience has taught me that the person behind the bar is without doubt the most important element - I've witnessed pubs literally die overnight when a landlord has left - pubs come back from the grave with a new manager and loyal customers driven away in droves by a difficult or unhappy host.

Pubs are not just about beer - they are about atmosphere in every sense of the word - drinking beer, no matter how good or cheap in a miserable environment gives no pleasure to anyone other than possibly diehard loners - I would have thought this should be obvious to anyone, Humphrey particularly. Sadly, with the actions currently being implemented by him, I can only see the situation getting worse and there will be no discernable recovery in trade after the World Cup ends. Many former customers will have discovered that price is not everything - having a good time in a pleasant atmosphere is more important.

I guess the message for managers is - your fears were right - maybe it's time to start scanning those adverts in earnest.       

Good well thought out post bigjim

[sovsuppa]

Our takings on Fri&Sat have gone down by a massive amount. What we have lost would have paid for the T.V licence and music licence and had a lot of change left and would have kept the goodwill of all our regular customers.  But Humph doesn't care about goodwill, I doubt he believes in it anyway.  I once had a conversation with him about customers and his attitude was that they are all the same, "they come in, buy a drink and drink it.  They are all the same are they not?".  Says it all really.

[ant]

NICELY PUT JIM, our pub does have a great atmosphere,just our neighbouring pubs are turning up the heat,and its hard to compete,when i had a lease i could do alsorts,now its groundhog day, and i cantblame my customers(freinds) chasing fun elsewhere,when sams wont even tidy there pubs up,