Police call time on alcohol shots

Portsmouth is certainly not alone in introducing these types of ‘voluntary’ restrictions in order to curb alcohol related violence.


Effectively banning the sale of shots and asking premises to invest in personal head or shoulder mounted cameras for Door Supervisors is a methodology, I think, we should all start getting used to.


The proposed government reforms will make this sort of action much easier and make the potential punishments for non-compliance more significant.


That individual premises conduct a thorough risk assessment in relation to their activities is nothing new and should be encouraged. We would like to see more responsibility falling to individual alcohol retailers, rather then blanket bans / conditions being imposed.


It is perfectly possible to sell shots without significant consequence if alcohol retailers take sensible responsible measures in their day-to-day activities. Those premises which don’t control the quantity they sell to individuals should face sanction available under the current Licensing Act.


One question I ask is what would be classified as a shot?


Tequila is after all traditional drunk as a shot and has been since inception, is tequila effectively being banned?


What about whiskey? A significant of whiskey is drunk without mixer, many claim that adding a mixer to Whiskey is sinful… Is this a shot, or because most people sip it would it be viewed differently? Is it really possible for licence holders to make sure people sip their whiskey and don’t drink it as a shot?


Other countries where legislators have banned the sale of shots have defined them as ‘single measures without addition’. In parts of Australia where this is the case, people wishing to drink shots buy them as singles with ice fish out and discard the ice and drink the remaining ‘shot’… does the discarded ice on the floor constitute a ‘Public Safety’ issue and undermine the licensing objective… I am as you can imagine playing devil’s advocate here…


I imagine the reason why this is being encouraged rather than enforced is just for these reasons, it is currently unenforceable; hence why the threat of the police coming down on them ‘like a ton of bricks’ is the threat used to enforce the unenforceable.


There are other potential problems. If such a policy is to be expanded will it not just encourage pre-loading; buying cheap supermarket alcohol and drinking heavily in and uncontrolled environment prior to going out to the pubs and clubs.


If there can be an assumption that pre-loading will increase, then this policy goes against the concept that minimum pricing will have a positive effect on the levels people consume alcohol in.


It is generally accepted that when people drink at home the size of drink they pour will be at least twice the standard size they will buy in a pub or club.


If people drink shots to get drunk (there is the cultural problem), will they not just do this at home before they come out? If they would usually have 2 or 3 shots once out, will they not effectively be having the equivalent of 4 – 6 shots at home before they go out.


This squeezes the income of licensed premises and yet potentially increases their costs in additional security costs in order to deal with the consequences of pre-loading.


As I said, I am playing devil’s advocate here, local problems require local solutions. My point is that solutions which ‘squeeze the balloon’ (squeeze one area and another expands) are not a comprehensive solution.


I understand the individual frustrations, especially those of the police and local authorities, but I also see the problems these solutions cause licensed retailers, the constraint it puts on their business and the strains it puts on them. The less income they are able to make the more corners they have to cut; it can be a real catch 22.


We always emphasise on our courses that licensing is a partnership approach, not an ‘us against them’ situation. The partnership is between all the authorities and the licensed retailers, they have to work together to find the solutions which promote the licensing objectives, protect the public interest and protect and encourage responsible alcohol retailers.


If the authorities want the licensed retailers to become partners in responsible retailing they also have to realise that there has to be give and take. Prohibition never worked in the past and I doubt it will work in the future. Retailers need the opportunity to make a reasonable income and in return need to demonstrate they can act responsibly and deserve the privilege of holding a licence to sell alcohol.


To view the original article Click Here
To view the article on the Beyond The Blue website Click Here
Source – www.portsmouth.co.uk
Date – 10th August 2010
Submitted by – Peter Mayhew


At Beyond The Blue we deliver a number of different courses and services, which include;


• Consultancy Service – helps clients develop or re-focus their business and guide them towards success.
• 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.


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.

Stampede at German Love Parade festival kills 19

The dangers surrounding free to attend events has been highlighted again by this tragedy in Duisburg; the need for meticulous planning and risk reduction measures to be effective in dealing with crowds of any size, must be better recognised.


It shouldn’t mean the end of large or free events, after all ‘events’ the Hajj in Saudi Arabia attracts the largest crowd in the world and this important religious ceremony must go on.


Recriminations about what happened and who was to blame for what happened at the ‘love parade’ will go on and if culpability is found to be attributable to individuals or organisations, no doubt appropriate action will be taken.


This due process has to happen and we are not in a position to pre-empt the outcome; what we can discuss however is the need for effective crowd dynamics to be put into place where a crowd of any size is anticipated.


Free-to-attend events are becoming more and more difficult to marshal as the marketing for such events changes. The era of social networking and viral marketing means that even small events can suddenly turn large on the back of a successful campaign; often without the organisers ever realising the scale.


We all strive to be successful with this type of campaign, they are cost effective and cannot be matched by traditional marketing strategies; however in certain circumstances we have seen how they can be too successful.


Planning for an event where an audience could be any size from 400 to 4000 is a difficult task. The costs involved in preparing for the worst / best case scenario can be prohibitive if only the lower end numbers show up; the fact is the possible complications when the potential variance is 400,000 to 1,400,000 is not that different, with the exception of scale.


No one should be fooled into thinking that small crowds are any less dangerous than big ones. Even in crowds of a few hundred a sudden panic can be devastating; crush injuries can seem minor on the surface, yet the internal injuries can easily be fatal.


I remember one incident at an event I was running where a can of CS-spray was released on a dance floor. There were no more that 300 people at the event, but the dance floor was busy. This type of unseen danger means that people quickly panic, their brains cannot compute what is happening and the ‘fight or flight’ instinct kicks in. In this scenario the instinct is flight, to get away from the in-comprehendible effects of the CS-spray; the fight instinct would have kicked-in if any of those inside were unable to escape.


Fortunately in our case the staff were extremely well trained and drilled in emergency evacuation procedures and their training kicked-in on command.


How effective are commands given to a panicking the public in an emergency?


‘Fight or Flight’ is not a rational response it is an emotional one, this means that instinct takes over the rational thought process and that the way people respond and interpret instructions changes as well.


In the scenario we had with the CS-spray there was little immediate sense in trying to calm people down or to explain to them that they should not panic because the effects would dissipate as quickly as it arrived; they would not have responded to this. They had already reacted with the flight reaction and the only viable thing was to assist them in achieving their instinctive objective.


Our natural instinctive reaction when we need to escape a building is to go out the way we came in. Studies have shown clearly that in the case of real emergencies people instinctively head for the entrance to leave; I have carried out hundreds of fire drills and watched as people standing right next to a fire exit, on hearing a fire alarm, head for the front door.


Fortunately in the UK many people have the knowledge ingrained in them to look for and head for an exit; but to achieve this they have to fight the natural instinct to head for the entrance and go out the way they came in. Even under pressure we can recognise the signs; the exit lights, the green ‘running-man’ signs, the difference between darker interiors and well lit exteriors and yet the vast majority of people will in a panic, look for and follow the crowd.


This knowledge should determine our strategy for training staff in how to deal with people who are panicking (even mildly) and therefore reacting rather than responding.


One of the key solutions is to get staff to provide very simple messages and for their actions to speak much loader than words (which when people are in ‘fight or flight’ mode are almost useless). The first thing our staff did when the CS-spray went off and the command was given to initiate and evacuation, was to open all the fire doors; this action removes the mental barrier about which way to go out and is a very visual sign that this is an alternative way out.


Staff should be easily identifiable (even when under stress we naturally recognise and respond to the authority we associate with for example high-visibility jackets or distinct uniforms) and get into a position where they are at eye level with customers and in a suitable lit area. Directional hand signals can be easily identified and will help move some people in the direction where the least crowded exit.


This is naturally a simplified version of all the strategies used in a successful evacuation, but emergency evacuation strategies must be simple and straight forward for customers and staff alike.


Never forget the pressure your employees are under during an evacuation and how their brains will suffer a similar change from rational to emotional; this can only be addressed by effective training and suitable practice, preferably drilled into them on a regular basis so that actions become partly instinctive.


In our scenario once people were outside they quickly calmed down naturally, as the rational part of the brain re-engages; it is at this point where a crowd becomes more controllable through more traditional communication.


What took place at the ‘love parade’ will not emerge until after a lengthy investigation, yet it seems clear from some of the pictures that a few of the channels which people took to get into the event did not provide the possibility of escape if anything sparked even a mild panic; and panic we must remember is catching and spreads like wild-fire.


This will not be the last such tragedy and we must learn from each of these events. We must teach others about what we learn; for those of us who work in event management and security it could make the difference at our next job.


Our condolences go to the family of those who tragically lost their lives in Germany.


At Beyond The Blue we deliver a number of different courses and services, which include;


• Consultancy Service (Event Management) – assists clients with the planning and execution of successful events.
• Consultancy Service (Event Security) – provides the specific skills and knowledge required to deliver safe and secure events through effective security planning.
• The National Certificate for Door Supervisors (NCDS) which provides relevant information for anyone assuming the position of DPS in licensed premises.
• Conflict Management and Resolution training provides the knowledge to help employees understand and deal proactively with Workplace Violence.


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 Click Here
To view the article on the Safe Gap Year website Click Here
Source – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 25th July 2010
Submitted by – Peter Mayhew

Are you prepared for the two new Mandatory Conditions?

On the 1st October 2010 a further two mandatory conditions will come into force under the Licensing Act 2003 in England & Wales through an amendment by the Police and Crime Act 2009.


These come in after the three New Mandatory Conditions which came into force in April 2010.


A Mandatory Condition is one which applies to any premises licence or club premises certificate in England or Wales. The condition will not necessarily appear on your licence, but it will still apply.

 Age Verification Policy - Every premises licence holder must ensure that an ‘age verification policy’ applies to the premises in relation to the sale or supply of alcohol.


The ‘age verification policy’ will dictate the minimum age at which a person can purchase alcohol (this must be 18 years of age or above) and requires any person who appears to be under the specified age to produce a valid identification document which shows their date of birth.


The validity of identification documents should also highlighted in your policy, which should determine the nature of acceptable documents; our advice is to stick with Drivers Licence, Passport or Proof of Age Card with a PASS hologram.


We would recommend that premises continue to use either the Challenge 21 or Challenge 25 policy they already have in place and absorb this into their new ‘age verification policy’. As a general rule we have long recommended Challenge 21 for the on-trade and Challenge 25 for the off-trade.


An ‘age verification policy’ does not need to be overly complicated to be effective, the simpler the better. Our 4 step process is the cornerstone of our existing Underage Sales Policy (21) and Underage Sales Policy (25)

 Smaller Measures – The last of the mandatory conditions concerns the provision of smaller measures being offered and providing notice of their availability.


In its simplest terms this means that all alcoholic drinks must be available for purchase in single /small sizes:


• Still Wine 125ml
• Spirits (Gin, Whisky, Vodka, Rum) either 25ml or 35ml
• Beer & Cider in half pints


You not only have a duty to make these drinks available in these sizes, but to give notice that they are. This can reasonably be done through your price lists and other existing marketing tools. It is also a good idea to make sure you staff are trained and aware of all mandatory conditions so they can act within the guidelines and make customers aware of the measures in which drink are available.


A slightly extended version of the old Weights & Measures Act sign indicating what size drink are served in might also be a good idea.


Smaller sizes do not apply to sealed containers.


As with all new conditions we are still waiting for further clarification from the Home Office & DCMS as well as test cases from the courts, which will undoubtedly follow; for now we are able to offer you our guidance based on our experience and advice from other sector experts.


We expect (hope) that common sense will apply and for example wine will only need to be served in smaller sizes where it is served by the glass; i.e. if you have an extensive wine list and serve five different wines by the glass and the rest only by the bottle, it is these five which will have to be available in 125ml glasses.


However I would expect that if you only sell wine by the bottle for consumption on the premises, you will have to start making wine available by the 125ml glass.


Although these smaller measures apply you can still sell in larger measures as well, the smaller ones just have to be available; make sure you go out before the 1st October and buy suitable glassware.


We will keep you updated with further details on both these mandatory conditions as further guidance is published.


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.


Source – Beyond The Blue
Date – 20th July 2010
Submitted by – Peter Mayhew

Lights go out at clubs

It has been a bad few years for nightclubs, who have been struggling on many different fronts and this latest report which suggests that 13% of late night clubs have closed in the last year should come as little surprise.


The recession, smoking ban, higher costs, cheap supermarket alcohol, pre-loading and late night pubs are just some of the reasons given.


That 355 nightclubs closed in a year (13 a week) alongside the well reported higher number of pub closures, paints a sad picture for the industry.


The fact is, the late-night economy is struggling with even some big names closing their doors. It is not about to get any easier, with a renewed assault on the late-night economy by the government’s latest proposals (more information will be published shortly on this blog) to reform the Licensing Act.


But it is not all doom and gloom, there have been a number of very high profile openings this year in the hospitality sector and it is still very possible to launch and run a very successful business. However the days of complacency are well and truly behind us and only those businesses which can adapt, provide the very best service and reach out to their target market will succeed.


At Beyond The Blue we deliver a number of different courses and services, which include;


• Consultancy Service – helps clients develop or re-focus their business and guide them towards success.
• 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 Click Here
To view the article on the Safe Gap Year website Click Here
Source – Metro
Date – 18th July 2010
Submitted by – Peter Mayhew

NRG-1 'legal high' drug is banned

Naphyrone commonly sold under the ‘brand name’ NRG-1 has been added to a growing list of substances under the drugs misuse act and is now a Class B controlled drug alongside Cannabis and Mephedrone.


Class B drugs carry a maximum sentence for possession of 5 years imprisonment and 14 years imprisonment for supply.


At Beyond The Blue we deliver a number of different courses, which include;


• Drug Awareness – designed specifically for each individual client to help them address the problems of controlled drug use and drug dealing in their workplace.
• The National Certificate for Licensees (Drug Awareness) – designed specifically for the licensed retail sector
• 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 – www.bbc.co.uk
Date – 12th July 2010

Diageo gives ‘icing’ fad the cold shoulder

Branding is key to business success, from the world biggest companies to the individual business owner running a pub, restaurant, club… or a training & consultancy company.


We all want a strong brand and one which people automatically associate with our core business values. At Beyond The Blue we work tirelessly to associate our brand with the quality we provide, excellence in customer service we deliver and the effectiveness of our training and consultancy for our clients.


What companies like Diageo have to do is balance the quality and strength of their brands with responsible alcohol consumption messages; an uneasy balance.


In an ideal world where the individual was responsible for their own level of consumption this would be simple, Diageo could simply concentrate on promoting the strength of brand such as Smirnoff against the other brands in the market; unfortunately we don’t live in an ideal world…


Every brand manager’s dream in 2010 is to have a marketing campaign which goes viral, it’s very effective (especially with the younger generations) and costs associated are minimal. Even better is when such a campaign is generated by user content rather than by the company itself, it affirms the value of the brand as it is in effect a customer recommendation rather than a marketing campaign; a message from a much more believable source.


The problem with these campaigns is that you have no control over them and what starts out as a positive message can quickly be hijacked into a very detrimental one. Stopping viral campaigns can be even harder than starting them; they are after all successful partly because they don’t seem to be the work of the corporation itself, so often if the corporation is seen to be trying to stop them they effectively promote them…


With this particular campaign of ‘Icing’ in the USA (something we would probably refer to as ‘Strawpedo’ in the UK) it does rather promote ‘binge drinking’, irresponsible alcohol consumption and an element of drinking which a corporation such as Diageo must dissociate itself.


The rules surrounding alcohol advertising in the US and UK are very different. Certainly in the UK with the introduction of the New Mandatory Conditions in April 2010 any link between an alcohol retailer and the promotion of such an activity, could land them in very hot water.


We are still awaiting the first test cases on the new conditions, but as a hypothetical example, a student night with a ‘strawpedo’ promotion would certainly qualify as a contender to be the first…


We should point out that Diageo has distanced itself from the ‘icing’ phenomenon and taken steps to stop the misuse of it Smirnoff Ice brand; individual alcohol retailers should make sure they follow suit.


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.ft.com
Date – 21st June 2010

London pub ‘refused gay group drinks’

The Licensing Act 2003 contains provision for an authorised person (someone with the authority of the Premises Licence holder), to refuse entry to any person or ask them to leave without giving a reason.


Failure to leave a licensed premises when asked to do so is a criminal offence under the Act.


However it is very clear that you cannot refuse service, refuse entry or ask someone to leave based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, nationality or any other form of discrimination.


The provision to refuse entry is there to deal with people who are being disruptive, aggressive, drunk or who are involved in criminal activity, etc.


It is amazing that in 2010 there are still people running businesses which not only discriminate against sections of our communities, but have not realised the commercial advantage of going out of their way to make them feel welcome.


Whatever happened in this particular case I think any suggestion that Punch Taverns would do anything but condemn such behaviour is farfetched. However where discrimination rears its ugly head, nothing short of a full investigation and swift corrective action would be acceptable.


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.bbc.co.uk
Date – 6th June 2010