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Will Pubs Survive?


manxchatterbox

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"Will Pubs Survive"

 

I actually don't think so. Not in their present form as the brewery seems to be pricing itself out of the market and dictating a little on how we have a night out. Over the past decade or two things really have changed. These days pubs seem to be all about selling quick drinks to quick teenagers.

 

There are less 'local' type pubs, and pubs now seem to be quite unfriendly places.

 

I would like to see a change in the social scene. Perhaps there will be more house parties where you can have your own style of socialising rather than what the brewery think you want. For example, if you like live music, then invite some musicians to the party. Oh, and if you smoke/don't smoke/don't mind smoking then that is entirely up to you. And at home, bottled beer is just the same as it is in the pubs except it is often less than 1/3 of the price!!

 

People will always want to socialise and relax, I think it is about time that we stopped relying on the licensed public houses.

 

edited for a silly typo mistake. I would lose my job if my boss found out :(:D

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A friend off mine who lives in Dublin tells me that a few pubs in his area close the doors when a big game is on and have private prepaid paties just so the locals can have a smoke with their pint, now thats the way to go.

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H & B have no strategy or direction and think that the answer to dwindling customers and rising costs is to keep ramping the prices up. They are closing the Colby Glen in May for refurbishment - closing a country pub at the start of the summer season before TT and MGP for a £750K refit - quality.

 

Manx beer is cheaper in Liverpool than it is on the Island - what about the cost of transporting it? H & B simply charge what they think the market will stand, and at long last people are voting with their feet.

 

Why not have special offers aimed at your captive market? All that is needed is some imagination and fresh initiatives and the people will return.

 

H & B have had it too good for too long and they have effectively killed the pubs off by greed and ill thought refits that don't stand the test of time.

 

Tesco and Bushys get my vote.

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For example, if you like live music, then invite some musicians to the party.

 

Please promise me you wont move next door ..please :rolleyes:

 

Well, I see the point there. But maybe if I moved next door you would be at the party and all the other neighbours too!

 

The system, if you could call it a system, works extremely well in some parts of the Scottish Islands where they still have a good community spirit and to my mind have a far richer social life. My generalised observation of the Manx social life these days appears to be just a case of getting drunk to numb the mind away from reality and spending the next day in a daze/hangover.

 

The times I have been out on the town I see a lot of people drunk and drinking but very few actually appearing to enjoy themselves.

 

The Island seems to worship the brewery who although provide a basis for socialising, they exist to make money selling alcohol not entertainment. They have a very captive market.

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My generalised observation of the Manx social life these days appears to be just a case of getting drunk to numb the mind away from reality and spending the next day in a daze/hangover.

 

I dont know if you are Manx or not but I would say, with some exceptions, you are right. Manx pubs have changed and they have changed dramatically. The brewery seems hell bent on attracting a young client base and, as a result, pubs are no longer the focal point of Manx Social life. Anyone of a certain age will know what I am rattling on about. Its a matter of opinion as to whether the changes are an improvement or otherwise. I do know that quite large numbers of older people no longer go to pubs because of the way they have evolved.

However, this thread is about whether smoking bans and high prices will put the commercial viability of pubs at risk. I dont they will, not alone anyhow.

The smoking ban is driven by H&S at Work and we can expect the legislation to become progressively more severe as time goes on. Sorry guys, I like a smoke as well but the writing is on the wall. Even the "ashtrays of last resort" on the Spanich Costas are introducing smoking bans. People will accept it as they have in Ireland. Dont believe all the stories I have been to Cork and Dublin recently and as far as I could tell the ban is being respected.

High prices ? Booze prices will always be set at a level which reflects demand and supply. No different to any other commodity.

 

The Island seems to worship the brewery who although provide a basis for socialising, they exist to make money selling alcohol not entertainment. They have a very captive market.

 

Now there is an organisation which seems to have set its cap towards destroying what remnants of Manx Social life the large influx of people from England, Scotland, Ireland etc, have left us with.

I believe the brewery in tandem with the change to the balance of the population [ie far too many from the UK] are a far bigger threat to the viability of proper Manx pubs than either high prices or smoking bans.

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Even the "ashtrays of last resort" on the Spanich Costas are introducing smoking bans.

Not quite true...In Spain, bars and restaurants larger than 100 sq metres must have designated smoking areas which can only be a maximum of 30% of floor space. Smaller establishments can choose to either become smoke-free or if they allow it, they must exclude anyone under 18 years of age. An ultimately far more sensible approach!

 

This H&S stuff is propoganda, illustrated not only by this example, but by the initial willingness of the UK government to adopt a compromise.

 

Usted habla la basura...Viva libertad!

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Not quite true...In Spain, bars and restaurants larger than 100 sq metres must have designated smoking areas which can only be a maximum of 30% of floor space. Smaller establishments can choose to either become smoke-free or if they allow it, they must exclude anyone under 18 years of age. An ultimately far more sensible approach!

 

Just the first step my friend B)

Related, a good friend of ours lives in Alicante. He is a non smoker but had no strong views one way or the other regarding the no smoking legislation.

He is now complaining about the ban. His wife smokes and if they go for a meal they now choose the packed smoking areas so she can have a fag after her meal.

The upshot of it is that he finds himself in an area where there is a dense cloud of smoke where before the air was relatively clear. So maybe in Alicante the "sensible" approach hasnt worked quite as intended !

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destroying what remnants of Manx Social life the large influx of people from England, Scotland, Ireland etc, have left us with.

 

Why Lone Wolf, despite that miniscule brain of yours,I do believe you have a point.....But I would not say that all these incomers should be liquidated, nor am I opposed to imigration. Personally perhaps we should send them down the foxdale mines, to dig lead, and do all the other tasks that Manx people hate doing. Then we could tax them heavily, and live off the proceeds while not having to work ourselves. Just think, then we could form a thousand year empire, and annex the adjacent Islands.

 

mmm, Without English, Scottish and Irish people who would of found the Island?, Also there would be hardly any shops and Hardly any pubs.

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Has anyone heard if the Railway in Douglas is closing??

 

MR are saying they wil soon have some new stickers..done with their "partners/in assocaitaion with/or whatever" the 'new' place (what is it called?) that's opened diagonally across the road...

 

how does that add up?

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  • 3 weeks later...

with the Forresters coming down soon and IOM Breweries having permission to build a new pub and seven apartments the brewery's MD Grant Patterson has said "establishing a new venue for licensed premises would be a long term issue...."

 

....look out for a car park for some years then the submission of an amended application for either just offices or more apartmenmts but either way no pub.

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