Café society will have to wait

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Title – Café society will have to wait
Source – The Independent on Sunday
Date – 24th February 2008

Shock horror!! An old colleague of mine recently returned to the UK after several years on contract in southern Europe, when asked how they thought it had changed they bluntly said… “It hasn’t”. They were expecting their local to be open late as had their local bars in Europe; they had expected to get a seat every time they went or to find somewhere else where they could get a seat, but the bar was full and their friends were happy to stand; they expected to be able to buy a good bottle of wine for just a few Euros and were horrified to see the cost; but most of all they expected to receive great service and found none!

Two years on from the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003 and as a nation we have not changed, binge drinking still happens, fighting once they bars stop serving still happens and we drink can’t drink 24 hours a day…

We should not be flippant; no one will argue that there is a problem with binge drinking in some areas and certainly in many city centres and most would happily support sensible measures to resolve these problems. But we have to be realistic.

The old licensing laws restricting the sale of alcohol were brought in during the first world war over 90 years ago. There was good reason at that time for the restriction, the fact is we left it far too late to relax those restrictions and we believed that closing pubs at 11pm was the solution to keeping alcohol consumption under control. Anyone who believed that the relaxation of these rules in 2006 would not have a short term negative effect is at best misguided; anyone who thought that the relaxation would create an immediate Southern European style 'café society' is delusional, we are not in southern Europe we share very little with their culture and more importantly their climate and have more in common with our Scandinavian neighbours (and if you look at alcohol consumption there, you will certainly see a more familiar scene), but most importantly those who seriously believed that this change would happen over a couple of years, brings a new meaning to the word naive.


So should we abandon it now? No it’s two years old, it needs to be refined and it needs to be given a chance. The Licensing Act 2003 was never the solution to the problem; it was a step in the right direction. Millions of people enjoy the freedom it brings and millions are more relaxed in the new environments the Act provided. It is flippant to compare licensing reform with other great changes in other countries, but when restrictions have been in place for generations and built into our way of life it takes time to benefit from changes and to accept them, two years is hardly comparable to the generations of people forced to down drinks at 11pm before being thrown out onto the streets. Cultural changes don’t happen over night they take years to develop and generations to change, they are borne of consistency and not of continuous change, going back and forth with legislative change makes a bad situation worse, not better. Looking for the positives rather than just examining the negatives would be a good place to start.



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All day drinking ‘a failure’

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Title – All day drinking ‘a failure’
Source – The Independent on Sunday
Date – 24th February 2008

Taking statistics and using them to present a predetermined conclusion is easy and the press and certain other agencies have championed this cause when it comes to reporting the Licensing Act 2003 and it’s so called effects.

To start with it is rarely referred to as the licensing act, the press prefer the dramatic '24-hour drinking law' as if somehow we all get up in the morning and spend the next 24 hours down the local. I for one would have to travel an hour or more to find somewhere to drink past midnight on a Friday let alone 24 hours a day. Only 1.5% of licensed premises actually applied for 24 hour licenses. The vast majority increased their hours by only a few each week and many more that applied for more have since retreated back or do not use their entire allocation because there is simply not the trade to sustain it.

Statistics can be manipulated, and here they have been, but anyone can do that. If violent crime has gone up by 25% and drink-related crime between 6pm and 6am has only gone up by only 1% then surely the new laws have been successful as a whole. If drink-related crime has gone up 1% between 6pm and 6am and 22% between 3am and 6am, then can we assume that drink-related crime has actually gone down between 6pm and 3am? The answer is no, the figures are far too simplistic and until all the factors are considered and not just those that suit the needs of the press or whoever commissioned the reports, then we cannot jump to the conclusions they do.

The argument always seems to centre around one key decision, to keep or scrap the licensing act 2003 and the changes it brought, it does sometimes seem that local authorities and government have only one way of dealing with issues that arise in the licensed retail sector. The stick or the stick, there never seems to be a carrot in sight.

Maybe that is the reason the industry feels under such pressure and the reason those people standing up against the licensed retail sector feel they have to shout so loudly. The answer seems to always be to stop, restrict, increase cost and punish the whole of the licensed retail sector for the faults of the few rouges within it and more importantly the problems of drinking in public and underage drinkers (incidentally reports suggest that 50% of underage drinkers get the alcohol from parent and family members, hardly something the industry can control). Not many people will argue that there are some bad apples within the licensed retail sector, but does that justify beating the majority with the same stick?


For once maybe an alternate approach might work, why don’t we try and be positive. Instead of just going on and on about those few bad apples and tainting the whole industry and making everyone have to go on the defensive to survive, why not for once look at the responsible alcohol retailers and reward them. When the excellent retailers perform responsibly and meet the many quality standards that the industry champions, reward them with extra hours, reduced rates, community awards, less restriction and champion them as examples to the community. Why not strive to make the whole industry better rather than suffocating it so improving is difficult and giving those bad apples that exist a way they feel they can justify their actions.



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Shops and supermarkets take strong drinks off shelves

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Title – Shops and supermarkets take strong drinks off shelves
Source – The Independent on Sunday
Date – 24th February 2008

Not many people will lament the loss of some of the brands mentioned in this report and being targeted in the trials. Cheap, high alcohol by volume drinks have been around for decades and being seen with a can of special brew is far from a status symbol, but we have to ask ourselves if this is really the answer to the problem or rather a step in the right direction or a worrying step in the direction of restrictions and prohibition.

Most people will agree that taking brands off the shelves will simply open the market to other brands and in an industry where branding is so important, brands come and go sometimes before even all the premises in the licensed retail sector have had a chance to stock them. But the message this sends can be a positive one if that is the intention. Most of us will agree that in reality the average Special Brew drinker will probably find an alternate drink to purchase rather than leaving Tesco empty handed and reformed.

Responsible Alcohol Retailing is an important part of the licensed retail sectors responsibility and one that if every retailer can strive for, will go some way to raising the positive profile of a sector that the government, local authorities and others seem to conveniently use to direct blame onto. Being seen to be responsible is just as important as actually being responsible and effective staff training in courses as wide ranging as the BIIAB National Certificate for Personal License Holders (NCPLH) or the BIIAB Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) can go a lot further then restricting brands will. How many pubs actually boast about stocking Tennent’s Extra as a marketing tool and how many of those that do are really reaching their true potential.


Responsible Alcohol Retailing is still seen by some within the licensed retail sector as a restriction rather than an opportunity, but the reality is that those who embrace it normally come out on top financially, as well as personally through a much more positive working environment they create.

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Cash for pubs to offer loo breaks

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Title – Cash for pubs to offer loo breaks
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 23rd February 2008

You learn something new every day they say and today is no exception, that there is even a British Toilet Association was a new piece of information I had not considered before. But I fear the members of this association probably spend their lives being mocked, so I will not add to it and why should I, it sounds like they may be instrumental in adding an income stream to many licensed premises throughout the country.

It has to be said that at Beyond The Blue we have no experts in the toilet sector, but we do specialise in generating income for our clients, through Training and Consultancy and we examine opportunities on their merit.

So when we heard about this scheme we felt others should know about it and depending on the operation they run and the location of their premises some stand to benefit from the payment councils seem willing to make and others should certainly consider not taking part.

In its simplest form the average restaurant will probably avoid this; hoards of shoppers marching in and out is probably not going to compliment the sea bass; whereas a pub may almost not notice the additional footfall and probably in many cases already provide this service unintentionally; so why should they not be compensated for providing it? Some may look at it as a way of getting people into the premises to see what it looks like on the inside or to use their facilities to advertise future events.

But each premises will have to consider the merits for their individual premises and these considerations should include the number and size of your toilets, their location, access and additional cost of toiletries, cleaning and the associated staff costs.
But an opportunity is an opportunity and should merit serious consideration; when for once the licensed retail sector is being offered an incentive rather than a restriction or additional cost, it should not be dismissed out of hand.

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Crystal meth usage ‘rival crack’

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Title – Crystal meth usage ‘rival crack’
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 15th February 2008

Methamphetamine which is known by many different names including ‘Crystal Meth’ and its popular name from the US of ‘Ice’, is still not ‘common’ in the UK, but this is more through luck rather than good judgement.

Crystal Meth is predominantly produced in Asia and Central America and hence why two of the ‘developed’ countries most affected are the USA and Australia, the reason the UK and much of Europe has so far avoided the epidemic rise in use and addiction to Crystal Meth is geography and nothing more.

For this reason, of most concern is the rise in the number of ‘factories’ discovered in the UK in the last few years. This is a drug which is highly addictive and very destructive. In both the USA and Australia whole communities have been devastated by the pandemic nature of the spread in the use of the drug and its devastating effect.

The important message to send out is that Crystal Meth is not something to be experimented with; it is not a drug you can take at the weekend and live a ‘normal’ life through the week. It catches up with people very quickly and destroys them physically and mentally. Crystal Meth users can look twice their age after just a short period of use, 20 year olds looking like 40 year olds and it’s a drug that spirals people out of control before they even realise it.

The UK has been given an advantage by tectonic plates taking us far away from the USA and Asia over hundreds of millions of years. Most drug plagues have reached our shores, Crystal Meth has not yet taken hold and now is the time to inform people of its dangers and for everyone to be vigilant of its devastating effects and the signs and symptoms of those already using the drug and the drug litter they leave behind.
Effective training of employees helps to identify these signs and courses like our BIIAB National Certificate for Licensees –Drug Awareness (NCLDA), our BIIAB National Certificate for Door Supervisors and our In-House Security Induction Course are the perfect way to train staff in effective management of drug problems within you working environment and in establishing zero tolerance policies and putting those policies into practice.

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Teenage Binge drinking ‘epidemic’

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Title – Teenage Binge drinking ‘epidemic’
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 13th February 2008

There is no place in the licensed retail sector to target or sell alcohol to children. That is simple fact and a fact that the vast majority of those working within the industry agree with a 100%. Many of those people are also exasperated at how they achieve this. In many outlets the solutions seem straight forward, but in others it is somewhat blurred.

When refusal to serve is met with abuse, harassment, threats of violence and actual violence and reports to the police seem to achieve nothing, you can if not understand at least have the smallest amount of sympathy for the retailers who find themselves in this position. But that they feel the answer is to give in, will only make the situation work. When there is a retailer who is willing to ‘bend’ the rules, their reputation will spread wildly and every teenager in the area will flock to try their luck.

The only way to resolve the situation is to stick to your guns, don’t sell to underage people or to people you suspect of supplying underage people, both are illegal and both can result in prosecution and ultimately revocations of licenses, leading to businesses failing.

The problems of underage drinking need to be passed back to the relevant authorities and if the licensed retail trade can eliminate these sales then there will no longer be the excuse to blame retailers for the behaviour or failure of others.

Parents who supply their kids with alcohol that they go out and drink in the street present the authorities with a particular problem and one that is more difficult to resolve. The very statement from the Home Secretary seems to indicate part of the problem and the double standard. While I agree whole heartedly that retailers who have contempt for the law and knowingly sell to children should be punished and face censure, the very fact that she suggests that “police will be given tougher powers to confiscate alcohol from under-age drinkers” seems to prove the double standards that exist. Surely if the situation with retailers selling alcohol to children is black and white then the powers police have (and for that matter should enforce) should be equally black and white. Why would they need more powers, if they are too young to buy and drink then confiscation should be obvious.

Maybe that is again one of the fundamental problems, it’s easy to blame the industry, but more difficult to put your own house in order.
For those retailers that want to do the right thing, but who face abuse, violence or who simply need to involve their whole team in the process or retailing responsibly there are solutions, the first is training and considering courses that will get your business and staff working together to combat the problems. Courses like the Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) set out the fundamentals, more advanced courses such as the National Certificate for Personal License Holders (NCPLH) provide and in depth knowledge and Conflict Management and Resolution Courses provide staff with the skills to deal more effectively when they enforce the law within their own business and find negative or aggressive reactions from teenagers and parents alike.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk

Tackling violence against fire fighters

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Title – Tackling violence against fire fighters
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 11th February 2008

When we discuss issues of conflict management and resolution with potential employees and freelance instructors on interview, one of the responses we hear regularly is the desire to help vulnerable sectors of our community and to help them make their place of work safer. Ask the average person to describe a fire fighter and the word 'vulnerable' will never be mentioned.

When we discuss conflict management with members of the public or with new clients and they ask what areas this training is appropriate for, most are amazed when you list doctors, nurses, religious leaders (of all denominations) and fire fighters among the list of most susceptible to facing workplace violence.

It is a tragedy for our society that any of these groups even have to consider their own safety past what their roles inherently have to face. Is it not enough that the dedicated people who work within the healthcare sector have to worry about infection on every level, that fire fighters have to consider the many dangers faced by fire itself, without them having to additionally worry about cowards and thugs. Thugs who are so depraved and have such contempt for the rules of society and who fear no consequence to their actions that they attack and harass these servants of our communities, who already put their own safety on the line every day to protect people they have never before met, for 'fun'.

These are problem for our society and government to deal with on a greater scale and the time has clearly come with these latest statistics for strong short term measures and longer term solutions to be provided, to ensure the situation does not get worse.

Our concern is the fire fighters themselves, we don’t want them to be looking over their shoulders and we don’t want them to be concerned with anything other than tackling the fires they are called to, saving lives and protecting property. Until our society rolls back the years to a time when ‘respect’ was a word which structured society and not street slang that devalued its meaning, we have to provide solutions to allow them to fulfil the duties they are so highly dedicated to, in relative safety and confidence.
The fire service is embracing conflict management and resolution training and this offers a first layer of protection, while the authorities and government procrastinate on how to really deal with the problems they face. Beyond The Blue are one such supplier of Conflict Management and Resolution training and our courses can be tailored to meet the specific needs of our clients. The differences between religious leaders and the fire brigade could not be more defined, but some of the problems they face in their places of work are very similar.
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Late-night opening fails to halt violence

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Title – Late night opening fails to halt violence
Source – The Independent
Date – 5th February 2008

The fact that the average extension in licensing hours across the country is only 21 minutes speaks volumes about the overzealous media hype regarding the so called 24-hour drinking and is anyone really surprised that violence has gone up between 3am and 6am? Was that not one of the points of the Licensing Act 2003?

At the time of the debate police were asking for staggered closing times to allow them to deal with problems consistently throughout the night rather than all at the same time at 11pm. So if alcohol related crime as a whole is the same, but there has been a rise in crime between 3am and 6am then one of the objectives has surely been achieved as there must have been a reduction before 3am.

Obviously any level of crime is an issue that should be addressed and crime rising at any time is an issue, but let’s not change the goalposts half way through the game, but rather enforce the rules that already exist fairly.

The Licensing act 2003 introduced additional restrictions as well as additional freedoms on the licensed retail sector, they took power from magistrates and put it in the hands of local authorities and now the local authorities are the ones complaining that they have no control and that problems persist. It does seem they wanted the control and now don’t want to accept the blame for the lack of progress.

The licensed retail sector as a whole wants to eliminate alcohol related crime as much as anyone. The burden is not just on society, anyone who really understands the business realises that it puts a burden on the industry as well. Increased regulation, increased costs in relation to security and infrastructure and loss of trade all add to the problems the industry faces. If part of that process is to remove rogue traders then the responsible retailers will support that, if the solution is to support those that are trying to act responsibly but struggling through the burden of regulation or the lack of local support from authorities then there are ways to address that as well.

But ultimately the fact is that while it is easy to suggest that more powers would be given to “…shut bars if trouble persists”, most within the sector would say in return, the Licensing Act 2003 already provided the authorities with that opportunity and those powers, maybe they should be used effectively first, rather than asking for more.

I once again implore the government and local authorities to think more positively, stop the stick and stick approach and consider for once offering a carrot. There are effective training courses which help businesses and those working within them to better understand their responsibilities, they are proven to improve the standards that outlets have in regard to responsible alcohol retailing. It may just be that a government look at providing support for those who are burdened by the costs of improving, rewarding those who want to be more responsible but are suffering under the regulation to meet the cost of their obligation. Just for once look for a positive approach rather than just the red card, yellow card, restriction, prohibition, revocation approach. Reward alongside punishment might just turn an industry that feels under fire, to one that sees the benefit of adopting responsible alcohol retailing as its core.

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We need a cultural shift to change the way we drink

Title – We need a cultural shift to change the way we drink
Source – The Independent
Date – 5th February 2008

It is very rare that we hear a balanced view in the media, generally there is a point to reporting a story a message that someone somewhere either in the media itself or the government is trying to impose on us, but the Independent seems to have stuck firmly to its name in this case and provided a serious and balanced editorial on the recent licensing review. It is a position we have been advocating and one we wish that the authorities would consider rather than using the headlines to score political points.


When finally a balanced view is presented, for once I don’t feel the need to comment further on it, but simply to allow visitors to our website to read for themselves.





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Killed by drink contest

Title – Killed by drink contest
Source – Unknown
Date – February 2008

Stories like this tragic case should be a warning to all, not just those working in the licensed retail sector, but everyone in our society.

On any night of the week there will be groups of young and old across the country indulging in 'drinking competition', some will take the form of literal drinking competitions such as in this case. More often than not it is simply peer pressure that result in one person feeling pressure to keep up with another or a group in the quantities being drunk. If they fall behind the perception is that they are somehow inferior or less of a 'man'.

It takes more courage to lead, it takes more courage to stand up for yourself and if you want to be seen as a 'man' then make your own choices and decisions.

Alcohol consumption is something we do to have fun, to relax and to enjoy the company of those we are socialising with; it is often referred to as part of leisure activities. This means it should be an activity we partake in when we are trying to de-stress, if there is any peer pressure, then it becomes a stressful activity and one to be avoided. If there has to be stress in life, then save it for work, if stress materialises in our own time then we should avoid it and choose our 'friends' better.

This is easier said then done sometimes and it is for those working in the licensed retail trade to help create environments where these pressures are easily avoided.



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