Prescriptions to treat alcohol dependency reach record level

What we read into this increase in the numbers of prescriptions written for medication linked to alcohol dependency can vary; either more people are becoming alcohol dependent or more people are trying to address their alcohol dependency.


Undoubtedly with 6769 deaths linked to alcohol in 2008, there are still serious problems with alcohol abuse which we need to continue to fight against.


However it is not all doom and gloom, figures for alcohol related deaths are far too high, but these figures do not reflect what is happening now. Many of the deaths related to alcohol come after long term consumption, so the deaths we are seeing today are actually related to alcohol consumption over the last five, ten or twenty years.


To identify today’s alcohol related issues and those of tomorrow we have to look at a different set of figures and examine the source of the problem more closely.


For example I think many people would be surprised to know that manual workers (men - 64%; women - 46%) were less likely to have consumed alcohol in the previous week than ‘middle class professionals’ (men – 79%; women - 67%).


It is also great news that the percentage of young people (11 - 15 years of age) who have tried alcohol has decreased; 39% in 2003 compared with 48% in this latest survey. The fact that many more young people in the North-east have tired alcohol as opposed to London, I would suspect has as much to do with the ethnic break-down of the two regions, as the so-called North-South divide.


Binge drinking is still a problem with the definition of 3 times or more the recommended daily allowance in a single day (i.e. 9 units for men; 6 units for women) meaning that 1 in 5 men binge at least once a week and 1 in 10 women do the same.


Damaging levels of alcohol consumption are still a problem, everyone involved in the sale of alcohol and the regulation of the sale of alcohol have to continue to work together to combat. The way forward is education and training; education of our young people in particular so that the next generation don’t fall into the traps of this generation and training for alcohol retailers so they play their part and Retail Alcohol Responsibly.


Sometimes the messages we send out should be positive ones, there is progress being made. As much as we have to warn people of the dangers of alcohol, we also have to shout about the successes from the rooftops. People don’t want to be preached at 24/7 it is not always effective, sometimes they want to be part of a success story.


At Beyond The Blue we deliver a number of different courses, which 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;
• The National Certificate for Designated Premises Supervisors (NCDPS) which provides relevant information for anyone assuming the position of DPS in licensed premises.
• Conflict Management and Resolution training compliments personal development and helps employees deal proactively with Workplace Violence.
• Our Personal Safety for Lone Workers course teaches the core skills to help employees deal effectively with alcohol and drug related personal safety issues.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


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


To view the original article please Click Here
Source – Independent
Date – 27th May 2010
Submitted by – Peter Mayhew

Met: England shirt pub ban is just a myth

Some licensing authorities and the police have imposed restriction in the face of possible disorder surrounding the World Cup, with restrictions on capacity and curbs on tournament linked promotion. However these have largely been a response to local issues with crime and disorder rather than national policies.


The licensed trade has been looking forward to this injection of business for 2 years since the sudden down-turn devastated parts of the industry.


Many pubs and clubs will be promoting the games which are all on terrestrial television, advertising which are being shown at their premises. You can rest easy that the reports that a ban on England shirts, flags etc. in pubs and clubs was going to put into place are just a myth; spread in a social networking world where false information sometimes seems to travel at a speed, which we all wish our marketing could follow.


Remember that the new mandatory conditions which came into place in April ban the linking of alcohol promotions to the outcome of sports activities. So no promotions linked to goals scored, individual players achievements or any match related activity please.


Enjoy the world cup, enjoy the ‘bounty’ it should bring, be sensible with your promotions, but don’t hold back from promoting the country; adorn your premises with flags, bunting, posters, chalkboards and make it well known that the world cup can be watched in a safe and friendly environment; and in your countries national team shirt.


Let’s hope the team do well and go a long way in the competition. Come on England!… and Brazil, Spain, North Korea, South Africa, Australia etc… (remember there is valuable income to be made from the many different communities throughout the UK, don’t let your allegiance limit your business)


At Beyond The Blue we run a number of different courses, which 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;
• The National Certificate for Designated Premises Supervisors (NCDPS) which provides relevant information for anyone assuming the position of DPS in licensed premises.
• Conflict Management and Resolution training compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


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


To view the original article please Click Here
Source – Metro
Date – 25th May 2010

Parents in pubs ‘must drink’

Signs, signs, signs… in some places there are so many signs telling you what you can’t do you start to wonder how you ever managed on your own.


There are a number of signs you need to display, the law ensures that licences, health & safety, smoke-free law, cctv, security, price-lists and other signage must be displayed. What you add to this already crowded field, can make the difference between your sales message getting through and patronising your customers.


Think about the wording on your signs, the best and most effective signs I have ever seen tend to use humour to get their message across. If a smile comes to your face when you are being told not to do something, you are likely to abide by the sign and take it in good humour.


Above all make sure the message cannot be misinterpreted. We have written about Wetherspoon’s policy (click here) regarding adults who are accompanied by minors not consuming more than 2 alcoholic drinks before. It is now pretty well known, but the sign at the Prince of Wales in Cardiff reads ‘We welcome you and your children in our pub as long as you have one or two alcoholic drinks’… the sort of sign you would expect to see in a foreign country where they have used an on-line translation to write a sign in English…


Patronising can be even more destructive to your business; it amazes me the number of places I go and see signs saying ‘Please do not stand in front of the fire exit. Keep Clear!!’; as if somehow when the alarm goes off you are going to stop people leaving… I like being stood in front of the fire exit, it means I am the first one out.


‘Please do not place furniture in front of this exit’ at least makes sense, but is it really necessary?


If your staff training in Fire Safety is up to scratch a member of your team will notice if the exit is blocked and go over and politely explain the situation. This is a double whammy it makes the customer realise that you take their safety seriously and allows your staff to give a quick explanation of the reason rather than ‘barking’ at your customers from a sign (usually with a tacky clip art symbol included…).


At Beyond The Blue we run a number of different courses, which 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;
• The National Certificate for Designated Premises Supervisors (NCDPS) which provides relevant information for anyone assuming the position of DPS in licensed premises.
• Conflict Management and Resolution training compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


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


To view the original article please Click Here
Source – www.walesonline.co.uk
Date – 21st May 2010

Coalition policy: Alcohol loss leaders ban proposed / Tesco backs minimum price for alcohol sales

So we are in a new era of consensus politics… maybe, maybe not, but that is not the point here, I try and avoid political comment in this blog, but politics and licensing are intrinsically linked and with any new government comes new ideas and a new mandate to govern; this tends to mean ‘change’.


We await the ‘big ideas’ on licensing, but even within a couple of weeks we can already see the start of this process. The new government has promised to ‘overhaul the licensing act to give police and local authorities more powers to deal with premises which are causing problems’.


Dealing with problem premises will be welcome in most quarters; they do the sector irreparable harm and are the ones who bring on restrictive expensive legislation to the vast majority of responsible retailers. I take some comfort from the statement that they will “review pricing to tackle binge drinking without unfairly penalising responsible drinkers, pubs and local industries”.


They have also promised to target supermarkets selling alcohol as a ‘loss-leader’.


Tesco have leapt on this statement with the speed of a leopard pouncing on its pray; or in this case a large retailer desperate to secure price fixing by the front door.


There is a common misconception that minimum pricing is linked to taxation, this has never been the case; taxation, as obscenely high on alcohol as it is, would not be affected. The minimum price would only increase the profits of the retailers and Tesco with its vast and very successful business would reap the rewards of increased profitability without loss of its competitive edge.


How significant the sale of alcohol as a ‘loss-leader’ is, we will never quite know. Tesco, Waitrose, Asda etc. are never going to reveal their competitive pricing structures with suppliers, who would? But that is not really the important aspect of this story; I just went into my local Tesco and there was a buy-one-get-one-free on cases of brand name beer for £16.


The importance alcohol has in attracting customers is significant, the very fact that the beer is sold in cases of 18 bottles should tell us something about the importance of the perception that a case of beer can cost £8 (and yes you will find it cheaper elsewhere). If you go to any supermarket, where are the alcohol deals on display? Pride of place in the entrance where you can’t possibly miss them.


So who are the winners and losers?


Supermarkets – stand to increase profit margins considerably, even with lower volumes, I would guess that their net profit on alcohol will be higher.


Off-licences / small licensed shops – They may see an increase in sales as a result of a slightly more level playing field, but they will still find it difficult to compete. Many small retailers buy their stock directly from the supermarket promotions, because they can’t get these competitive prices from their own suppliers, they will lose out; so a mixed bag for them.


Pub / clubs – This is an area where these developments should be welcomed. Any minimum price is unlikely to affect them. If ‘pre-loading’ is reduced in the longer term, it should lead to more alcohol being consumed in these controlled establishments and less trouble (and therefore cost) to deal with as a result of customers arriving drunk.


The drinks industry – The big losers will be the drinks manufacturers. Any dip in consumption naturally affects them.


The government – They have a duty to tackle alcohol related crime and disorder and we have always said this is not a one solution problem. Minimum pricing will have an effect, but excessive alcohol consumption is a cultural problem and price is just one part of that culture. The impact of licensing act proves that there is no magic wand. Don’t get me wrong I think the act was a good step and properly enforced could work; but it is not going to happen over 5 years, cultural changes take a generation. In the 20 years I have been in the industry there has been massive change and in another 20 year there will again have been massive change, you need to stick with things and see them through to effect cultural change.


Oh… and the government will lose tax revenue…


The consumer - At the lowest end of the alcohol market minimum pricing will mean more cost, I don’t however think the responsible drinker will feel too much difference. Those who primarily drink out will not be hit and if you look at the proposed minimum pricing, it is low end high alcohol volume products which will be affected. There must be an issue when a can of beer and a can of coke cost the same….


I’m not saying that I am an advocate of minimum pricing. In an ideal world, I would like to think that responsible drinkers can continue to drink responsibly and those who misuse alcohol and commit alcohol related crime can be dealt with effectively within existing laws. But alcohol misuse is a problem and it is a problem which costs the tax payer billions of pounds. I would love to think that we could reduce the impact of alcohol and pass on a little of that tax money back to tax-payers to afford the slightly more expensive alcohol… in an ideal world…


I could write a 20 page essay about the pros and cons. The lobbies for each group will argue in a one dimensional format. With everything that has gone on in the last few years you would have thought that it was time for people to wake up to consensus and compromise. It has not yet worked when one side or the other can’t see past their own specific interest. Everyone has to acknowledge the problems and give a little so we can reach a compromise which deals with the problem without anyone claiming victory; if we maintain the status quo, everyone will end up losing.


At Beyond The Blue we run a number of different courses, which 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;
• The National Certificate for Designated Premises Supervisors (NCDPS) which provides relevant information for anyone assuming the position of DPS in licensed premises.
• Conflict Management and Resolution training compliments these courses to help employees deal with Workplace Violence and alcohol related disorder.


Please visit our website at http://www.btbl.co.uk/.


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


To view the original articles please Click Here and Click Here
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 20th May 2010