Alcohol link to one in 25 deaths / Drink kills 10% of all Europeans

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Title – Alcohol link to one in 25 deaths / Drink kills 10% of all EuropeansSource – www.bbc.co.uk / Metro
Date – 26th June 2009

Another day and another report which demonstrates the harm caused by alcohol when it is abused and unsurprisingly the ‘western world’ comes out worst.

I have said before that the real problem is not that there is any doubt about the danger of abusing alcohol, but that the message is confused. Statistics are relatively easy to manipulate if you need to get a message across and all too often people manipulate statistics to emphasise their point when the simple truth would be more ‘powerful’.

The report suggests that the average weekly consumption in Europe is 21.5 units (the governments own recommendations for safe drinking levels are 14 units for women and 21 units for men). The report states that men are five times more likely to die from an alcohol related disease then women; that about half of the world’s population abstains from drinking alcohol (although we don’t have the figures to hand for Europe and with many very populous countries whose religions forbid the consumption of alcohol these figures are a little distorted).

So the whole picture is not exactly clear, but if the European ‘average’ is 21 units then we can assume that there are many people drinking past their recommended safe drinking levels.

The problem as always is the approach taken to this issue; how to avoid patronising, preaching and bullying people while addressing the problems which arise out of alcohol abuse.
My fear is that the solution is likely again to be prohibitive measures placed on alcohol retailers rather than positively and proactively engaging the general public as seems to have been successfully done (to a degree) with smoking and educating the retailers to ensure they play their part.

The role of the retailer is not to control or dictate to customers how live their lives, but to

Retail Alcohol Responsibly and to curb those excesses (and their consequences) which take place during any one trading session. This is an area where progress is being made but where current legislation has its failings.

Training standards vary considerably and current legislation is not specific enough or strictly enforced unilaterally across the country. The best training providers (of which Beyond The Blue as a BIIAB Grade 1 training centre is amongst the most respected) meet their legislative requirements and as a result very high pass rates, but also go above and beyond to provide candidates with effective and proactive training helping them not only meet their statutory requirements but also improve their businesses.

Our clients are very loyal for this very reason. Value for money is not about getting the cheapest, ticking the box and forgetting as soon as you leave the classroom; it is about providing a lasting legacy by which to run and manage a business in the licensed retail sector. This is what we provide our clients with and what we believe the government and training companies should be aiming for.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the Licensed Retail Sector to help them sell alcohol more responsibly. These include; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) designed for front-line staff to help them meet their statutory requirements; The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) which qualifies candidates to apply for their personal licence; Our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

UN shows scale of cocaine use / Million users make Briton ‘Coke Capital’

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Title – UN shows scale of cocaine use / Million users make Briton ‘Coke Capital’Source – www.bbc.co.uk / Metro
Date – 24th & 25th June 2009

It never fails to surprise me when I run courses in the

Licensed Retail Sector or in Conflict Management and ask the question ‘who thinks they have a drug problem in their premises / business’; my surprise is that not everyone put their hand up…

Now I know it’s a loaded question, because there is certainly a difference between having a ‘drug problem’ and having ‘problem drug users’ within your premises or business activity.

The point is that most businesses should be considering the impact which illegal drugs will be having on their business activities, because illegal drugs permeate almost every facet of our communities.

With a million cocaine users alone in the UK and a population of somewhere over 57 million people even a crude calculation suggests that 1 in every 50 people use cocaine. Transfer these figures into those demographics where drug use is heavier and we can see that within sectors such as the licensed retail and hospitality sector a premises of any size is going to have many users.

In the hot spots such as London, 1 in every 100 will be a ‘problem drug user’ who bring additional challenges to business operators.

Drug use generates problems for businesses along with the well documented health issues for individuals. Drug use attracts drug dealers and leads to crime and disorder which can have a very negative effect on your business. It leads to potentially serious first aid issues in drug users for which businesses have to make provisions; it leads to violence and violent behaviour both by users and those ‘protecting their drug trade’, this especially dangerous for vulnerable employees such as lone workers in roles as diverse as health workers and community housing officers. If unchecked can also lead to police intervention, legal action and prosecution of business owners who fail to tackle drug use and drug dealing on their premises.

The effect of illegal drug use and dealing is felt by every person in the country, the lucky few may not notice it directly, but their taxes will fund the fight against the drug traffickers. Employees on the front line require training to allow them to deal with problems which arise and to put into place proactive prevention strategies.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the Licensed Retail Sector including The National Certificate for Licensees Drug Awareness (NCLDA). For other sectors our bespoke Drug Awareness (DA) courses, which examine illegal drugs, their effects and the drug litter synonymous with their use, are specifically designed to reflect the nature of our clients working environment. Our Conflict Management and Resolution (CMR) course complements these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and drug related behaviour.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.

Britain losing its bottle: health fears drive consumers away from wine

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Title – Britain losing its bottle: health fears drive consumers away from wine
Source – The Independent
Date – 15th June 2009

It would seem that the good times are over… or are they?

When I started in the industry opening a bottle of red in a pub was always accompanied by a sense of doom that the rest of the bottle would ‘turn’ before it was sold… opening a bottle late on a Sunday night was a no-no.

Fortunately the world moved on and Britain moved along with it; before long Britain was not so much ‘moving along with it’ as ‘driving it’ and the veritable explosion in the UK wine market and the diversity of that market is one of the great growth stories in the Licensed Retail Sector over the last twenty years. We even went through a stage in the nineties of going a little too far with ‘wine bars’ popping up in the most unlikely locations; the twenty first century versions tend to be a little more balanced than their forbearers.

So where am I going with all of this? Well the fact is that we may now be seeing a decline in growth of wine or even a contraction. The role of duty and vat are certainly playing their part in this contraction as is the worst economic climate any of us have ever experienced; but doom and gloom it is certainly not, we are still very much riding the crest of the wave.

The key now is that wine drinkers are more demanding than ever and retailers have to keep up and provide exactly what customers demand. Those who became complacent and opted for the best deal from the suppliers under the assumption that grape variety was all the choice they had to provide have to think again; they have to think seriously what their customers demand today and what they will demand next month; what suits their environment and other offerings such as food served; what suits the time of year; and what suits the demographic they serve.

Consumers will continue to be split between those who ‘know’ about wine and demand a very specific product (and will pay the cost) and those who are intimidated by such ‘knowledge’ and who need subtle guidance (and who are very price sensitive). Trends will become increasingly important, the explosion of rose is an excellent demonstration of this and retailers need to pick up early on these trends.

The wine market may have plateaued, but at £9.6bn there is still plenty of scope for retailers to profit from this very significant market.

For the on-trade there is likely also to be further regulation to incorporate into their business strategy. The prospect of compulsory 125ml servings being available in all premises licensed for consumption on the premises and restrictions on free wine (in many forms including; promotions, wine tasting etc.) is a real possibility as early as the end of 2009. Some businesses will need to make adjustments to their approach to marketing to incorporate such changes should they occur.

At Beyond The Blue we run a number of courses for those working in the Licensed Retail Sector to help our clients sell alcohol more responsibly. These include; The Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) designed for front-line staff to help them meet their statutory requirements; The National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) which qualifies candidates to apply for their personal licence. Our Consultancy Service helps alcohol retailers meet statutory regulations and industry guidelines and standards to help businesses improve and prosper.

Please visit our website at www.btbl.co.uk. For a complete list of Blog entries visit our National Press Archive page.

For more information on any of our services, please call us on 0845 602 55 95 or Contact Us.