Alcohol guide is ‘unclear’

Title – Alcohol guide is ‘unclear’
Source – The London Paper
Date – 30th July 2009

This is a story we have covered before, the outdated ‘unit system’ and its ineffectiveness. That 77% of people do not know the number of units in a specific drink is one thing; that 40% of people do not know the recommended daily limit was actually a bit of a surprise to me, I would actually have guessed the number to be higher.

Certainly for the people we encounter on the many courses we run for candidates working in the Licensed Retail Sector, the knowledge regarding the recommended number of units is hazy at best.

The problem with all this is for either fact to make any sense, you have to know both the recommended daily limit and the number of units in a drink… Do the 23% of people who do know the number of units in a particular drink, know their recommended daily limit? The prospect is that actually very few people know both, thus making the system unfit for purpose.

I can’t really see any way round a change in legislation on packaging, advertising and sale of alcohol to resolve this issue, as recent government campaigns have clearly not made any significant impact.

I also strongly believe that everyone selling alcohol should at the very least have this knowledge so that they are able to Retail Alcohol Responsibly. During our National Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (NCPLH) course and our Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR) course, we help candidates to understand both these scales and to be able to accept their significance. We provide them with resources they can take away, so they can always calculate the units in any drink when they need to.

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.

Cocaine use is on the increase

To view the original article Click Here

Title – Cocaine use is on the increaseSource – The London Paper
Date – 24th July 2009

That cocaine use is on the increase amongst young people is not the news story; after all this is relatively well recognised by anyone working with young people.

However these new figures are interesting when taken in conjunction with the recent figures demonstrating that regular cocaine use had surpassed 1 million in the UK. The 1 million figure demonstrated the seriousness of the problem overall; these figures highlight the concentration of cocaine use in young people. This means that people working in environments which are frequented by young people or working directly with young people, have even more reason to be aware of the effects of cocaine use.

The increased use of Ketamine has been something we have long been warning of, primarily because of the cost of ‘special K’ generally being cheaper than cocaine.

Ketamine originally (and still) used as a horse tranquiliser by vets gained notoriety as a drug used in drink spiking to facilitate the act of drug assisted rape (aka ‘date rape’). It has over the last few years been widely used as a drug of choice, especially for younger people where the ‘price point’ is all important.

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.

Doctors tell of 8-year-old drunks they see in A&E /Childhood Addiction

To view the original article Click Here

Title – Doctors tell of 8-year-old drunks they see in A&E /Childhood AddictionSource – The Times
Date – 3rd July / 7th July 2009

I think that anyone would be shocked by the sight of an 8 year old being brought into hospital unconscious; so how we address this particular problem.

What worries me is the tendency that in these extreme cases, it is suggested that the way they obtain the alcohol is the key to preventing this type of incident. It is very easy for the blame to be laid squarely at the feet of the alcohol retailers.

The problem with these extreme cases, is that looking for a simple solution is very short-sighted. There are undoubtedly rogue retailers out there selling alcohol to underage children and the industry would welcome proactive and constructive measures to deal with those few individuals, because they are in the minority and taint everyone’s reputation.

The fact is an 8 year old addicted to alcohol, cannabis, cigarettes, glue, who carries a knife or any of the other extremes we read about, is not a problem caused even by rogue retailers (and at no stage do I defend them) it is a much deeper problem of our society generally and it must be tackled in that way.

To simplify it or to use it in any way to justify further legislation on alcohol retailer will not only undermine that argument, but also undermine the legitimate arguments which call for ‘tweaks’ in current alcohol legislation.

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.

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

To view the original article Click Here / Click Here

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’

To view the original article Click Here / Click Here

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

To view the original article Click Here

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.

Move to outlaw two ‘Party’ drugs

To view the original article Click Here

Title – Move to outlaw two ‘Party’ drugsSource – www.bbc.co.uk
Date 21st May 2009

The illegal drug scene is one which changes constantly; it is difficult enough for the police and authorities to keep up with let alone employers and employees who may never or only sporadically have come into contact with drug use.

The scope of substance abuse stretches further than ever; from the bizarre to the truly horrific. The problem is that generally the ‘new trends’ tend to be proceeded by myth and hype almost always accompanied by untruths surrounding dangers and addictiveness.

It amazes me to this day the number of people I meet who still believe urban myths such as ‘cocaine not being addictive’ or that ‘ecstasy is safe’; yet the grapevine is often listened to more than the science almost always more than the government.

This is normally simple denial on behalf of those who are addicted or who want to use illegal drugs. Of more concern yet is that these untruths are generated by those sales people and marketing executives whose income and lifestyle relies on ever growing consumption of their products; we usually call them drug dealers.

Here we have another good example of ‘good marketing’. The use of the word ‘herbal’ automatically implies that somehow these drugs are not toxic and potentially even good for you. The use of the word herbal suggests a pure, non-chemical, non-toxic natural source. It certainly does not reflect the potentially lethal drug it refers to.

The government seems to be taking measures now to reclassify these drugs and close those loopholes which exist. This is a process which will continue as long a people are willing to believe those drug dealers who are always looking to push the boundaries of the law, in pursuit of profit at any cost.

Drug use and drug dealing can have dramatic effects on business; both in employee productivity and on the reduced number of customers who will be attracted to businesses which suffer the negative effects of drug use and drug dealing.

In any business there can only be one approach to illegal drugs and that is the adoption of a ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ and enforcement of that policy through Drug Awareness training. We can provide you with this training and using training aids such as our

Drugs Box our training provides realistic and client focussed training which your employees can relate to.

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.