CLUB REPORT Sound business advice for club professionals
2017
Positive perspectives for 2017 Club Mirror’s annual guide with expert advice for the year ahead
CONTENTS
Contents
CONTRIBUTORS
________________________________________________
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10 Welcome to the Club Report 2017 Mike Ashley Braidwood CCM Cairns
Club Awards – call for entries
8 Legal eagle – reviews and predictions ________________________________________________ SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT 10 Gaming –opportunities and advice
Haley Cox
Bruce Cuthbert
Chris Haley
Lawrence Hardcastle
Rob Hill
David Lucas
Mark Newton
Victoria Romero-Trigo
28
14 BT Sport – an action-packed calendar for 2017 18 Sky Sports – what’s in store for the year ahead ________________________________________________
CLUB BUSINESS
________________________________________________
22 Contractors – protect your club with these safety
CLUB MIRROR BRANDS REPORT 2017
measures
23 Membership management – top tips for a happy membership
26 Competition – win tickets to Rugby Tonight live 28 Club offering – keeping it fresh
60 Top 10 club spirits brands 62 Top 10 club packaged beers, ciders and RTDs 64 Top 10 club keg and cask beer brands ________________________________________________ ON BEHALF OF CLUB MIRROR
FOOD AND BEVERAGE 30 Junior members – attracting them and keeping them
66 Wine – premiumisation and polarisation
32 Social media – best practice rules
68 Real ale – making it work for you
33 Hospitality Social Media Awards – time to shine
71 Club kitchen – trends for 2017
43 Strategic planning – its role and significance
74 Fridges – how to buy them and maintain them
46 HQ Building the Business – FREE membership
75 Kitchen equipment – starting from scratch ________________________________________________
51 Staff management – how to be an HR star 55 Websites – making them count
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58 Sponsorships – top tips on securing relationships ________________________________________________
Sean Ferris
Caroline Scoular
Karen Foreman
Jonathan Hardy
Justin O’Regan
Nick Sellens
Jill Slingsby
David Foster
55
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Contact the team on 01753 272022 or email info@clubmirror.com CLUB REPORT 3
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Committed to clubs Our commitment as owners and publishers of club magazines, awards and events is to help all types of clubs to build their business still further, through the provision of timely targeted information, help and advice. And 2017 will be no exception.
T
his will be an interesting year. As we go to press the repercussions of the Brexit vote are still being much debated, Donald Trump is in the Whitehouse and Theresa May is offering up her services as a bridge between Europe and the United States. On a closer-to-home and more club-orientated level, there will be business rates to deal with, rising beer prices and an uncertain economy for some. But whatever the outcome, one thing we can all be sure of is that clubs will come out fighting. And we’ll be there right alongside you. How can we help? Well this Club Report isn’t a bad start. In it you’ll find expert advice on everything from club management to the launch of a new advisory group, where clubs can make savings on everything from utilities to equipment. HQ Building the Business is free, involves no contracts and no obligations, so make the most of it. Also make the most of the Club Awards and, our latest launch, the Hospitality Social Media Awards (HoSMA). As our finalists and winners consistently prove, letting the world know of such successes is a huge boost to the membership and the perfect excuse to shout out about the club. Press releases, tweets, Facebook shout-outs and local media all provide the opportunity to turn up the volume on the club. You’ll
4 CLUB REPORT
find entry details on both Awards in this issue. Your supporters and members should be encouraging you to join in the annual celebrations and helping you to promote the club. As, of course, should your suppliers. Take a look at the exclusive 2017 Club Brands Report to see which brands are remaining at the top of the club tree. These club stalwarts form the backbone of the club bar, and a springboard for suppliers to help you build ever more contemporary offerings to help pull in the next generation of club members. (We have one club reporting a family now on their fifth generation of members – all around one table; can you beat that? Let us know.) We’ll be announcing yet more networking opportunities this year – from face-to-face trade shows to online engagement. And watch this space for latest under-wraps launches. One hot-off-the-press announcement is thatClub Mirror and sister magazine Club Rugby are teaming up with BT Sport to take over an episode of Rugby Tonight in April. (For your chance to join in, turn to pages 26-27 of this issue.) Sport of all disciplines remain a unifying bond for clubs throughout the UK – whether playing it or screening it. Club Mirror’s readership includes clubs from all walks of sporting life – from rugby clubs and
football clubs to tennis clubs and bowls clubs. In recognition of the pivotal role sports play, we launched Sports4Bars.com three years ago, as well as electronic magazines Club Rugby, Sports Club Management and Clubhouse Europe. Sports4Bars.com This is the definitive online guide to all the live sport available to all types of licensed premises in the UK. This was launched in recognition that the number of channels broadcasting live sport has grown, and finding out when and on what channel the big match is on could sometimes be challenging. That’s where Sports4Bars.com comes in, providing a one-stop destination for the up-to-date and accurate broadcast information you need to keep your members happy and excited about live action – whatever team or sport they follow. Sports4Bars.com has gone from strength to strength with many free trade pubs and pub group managers now also using it as a business tool. Club Rugby Club Rugby continues expand and build its following. As an electronic magazine, we go to the inbox of every rugby union club in England. Through tie-ups with
strategic partners, we have been able to offer clubs and Awards entrants the chance to join BT Sport on set at acclaimed rugby programme Rugby Tonight, as well as the chance to win Aviva Premiership/Champions Cup tickets. Clubhouse Europe Clubhouse Europe continues to work with partners across Europe, predominantly in larger sports clubs and sports resorts. We are working ever more closely with the Club Managers Association of Europe to expand the membership-base still further. Watch this space. Sports Club Management Like Club Rugby and Sports4Bars.com, Sports Club Management launched online with content specifically related to sports clubs. In conjunction with a number of club-supporting suppliers, the magazine is sent straight to the inbox of our sports club readers. Club Mirror Having celebrated our 48th birthday in 2016, Club Mirror continues to work hard with and for the club sector. This year this work has broadened into even closer ties with the main Club Associations and has
seen the launch of a number of Club Association events â&#x20AC;&#x201C; drinks receptions, attendance at Association Conferences and AGMs, attendance at All Party Parliamentary Group meetings and the exclusive Club Associations Champagne Reception at the Club Awards. Club Journal We are also very proud to be the contract publisher of the very fine Club & Institute Unionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club Journal, a title which has been running for well over 100 years. The annual AGM and the Beer and Trades Exhibition sees hundreds of Union clubs travelling from all over the UK to congregate and circulate at Blackpool. In summary... Our titles, Awards and events are all geared up to providing all of the support that we possibly can to help our thriving industry continue to grow. Thank you for all of your input and we hope you enjoy reading the titles as much as we do creating them.
CLUB REPORT 5
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CLUB AWARDS 2017
Your industry NEEDS YOU The 2017 Club Awards have launched. And we want you to enter! The Club Awards recognise the commitment of clubs, committees and individuals who work to ensure a healthy future for their clubs. IT COULD BE YOU Do you think you could be a finalist? Do you have what it takes to beat the best and stand out from the rest? WHY ENTER? Clubs use their success to: • Raise the club’s profile • Gain coverage in the local press and media • Encourage new members • Thank existing members for their support • Demonstrate that the club is spending members’ money wisely
HOW TO ENTER ON LINE: www.clubmirror.com/awards BY POST: Club Awards, Club Mirror, Gainsborough House, 59-60 Thames Street, Windsor SL4 1TX BY EMAIL: Email your details to info@clubmirror.com BY PHONE: Call in your details to 01753 272022 BY FAX: Fax the entry form (opposite) to 01753 272021
DEADLINE: JUNE 30, 2017 – Tel: 01753 272022 6 CLUB REPORT
EXPRESS ENTRY FORM
IS THIS YOU?
THE CLUB AWARDS Are you proud of your teamwork?
THREE QUESTIONS AND YOU COULD BE ON YOUR WAY TO THE CLUB AWARDS 2017 1. Number of members: ___________________________________________
Are you proud of your bar team?
2. Year founded: _______________________________________________ 3. Club Turnover (if known / approximate) ___________________________________ (NB: This information is strictly confidential and for judging purposes only – not for publication.)
Just fill in your club details and we'll get in touch – simple as that Are you proud of your catering?
Your Name: ___________________________________________ Job title/role: __________________________________________ Club Name: ___________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________
Are you proud of your club?
______________________________ Post code: _____________ CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Daytime: ____________________________________________ Evening: ____________________________________________
Are you proud of your entertainment?
Mobile: _____________________________________________ Email address: _________________________________________
Are you proud of your management?
Then you should enter the Awards
SEND IN YOUR ENTRY NOW. HERE’S HOW: BY POST:
Club Awards, Club Mirror, Gainsborough House, 59-60 Thames Street, Windsor SL4 1TX
ONLINE:
www.clubmirror.com/Awards
BY EMAIL:
Email your details to info@clubmirror.com
BY PHONE:
Call in your details to 01753 272022
BY FAX:
Fax this page to 01753 272021
STOP P DEAD RESS: LINE FOR ENTR IES –
JUNE
30
Fax: 01753 272021; Email: info@clubmirror.com CLUB REPORT 7
LEGISLATION – REVIEWS AND PREVIEWS
Club Mirror’s annual review Legal Eagle David Lucas reviews some of the more significant events that affected clubs (and pubs) in 2016 and those that are likely to be of interest during the coming months. Notable legislation and actions in 2016 Greene King v Gambling Commission – 2016 Greene King would like to provide commercial bingo in some of their licensed premises. The Gambling Commission refused to grant them an operating licence. Greene King appealed that decision. At the beginning of the year Greene King heard that they had lost the latest round of the appeal in the Upper Tribunal. Brexit Following the result of the Referendum held on 23 June the pound dropped from £1.50 against
8 CLUB REPORT
the dollar to £1.21. Good for tourism in Great Britain but not so good for businesses wanting to buy products from abroad. Temporary Event Notices The number of temporary event notices that may be given in respect of the same premises during a calendar year increased from 12 to 15 on 1 January. Immigration Act 2016 The Immigration Act received Royal Assent on 12 May, 2016. The sections relating to licensed premises are not yet in force.
Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) The LCCP relate to operating licences including commercial bingo clubs. Each operator must now provide a money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment in respect of their business and a local risk assessment in respect of every gambling venue. Perspectives on 2017 Greene King v Gambling Commission In April the Court of Appeal will hear an appeal by Greene King against the decision of the Upper Tribunal.
Brexit Food companies are reported to have issued a record number of price rise notifications over the past four months with the exit from the European Union being given as a major cause. Brewers are reported to be afraid that Brexit will result in a rise in the cost of raw materials such as hops which will lead to an increase in the price of beer. The Wine and Spirit Trade Association has warned that the price of imported wine could increase by an average of 29 pence as a result of Brexit. Permit Renewals Any club gaming permits or club machine permits granted in 2007 will expire in 2017 unless renewed. A renewal application must be made during the period beginning three months before the permit expires and ending six weeks before it expires. [Editor’s note – please see pages 10-11] Licensing authority fees There is growing pressure from licensing author-
“
Brewers are reported to be afraid that Brexit will result in a rise in the cost of raw materials such as hops which will lead to an increase in the price of beer.
”
ities for an increase in the fees which they receive under the Licensing Act 2003. This year could see the Government bow to that pressure. Triennial Review The Government is currently undergoing a process of reviewing maximum stakes and prizes of gaming machines made available under the Gambling Act 2005, the number and location of gaming machines allowed in premises and social responsibility measures to protect players and communities from gambling-related harm. The outcome of the review is due to be published this year.
Policing and Crime Act 2017 The Policing and Crime Act received Royal Assent on 31 January. Amendments to the Licensing Act 2003 are likely to come into effect in spring and include: • A power for licensing authorities to revoke or suspend personal licences. • The list of relevant offences to be updated. • Remove the ambiguity on the procedure for summary reviews. • Amend the definition of alcohol to include powdered and vaporised alcohol. • Remove the requirement for guidance to be laid before Parliament when it is updated. • Amend the provisions relating to late night levies to provide more flexibility and transparency. • Place cumulative impact policies on a statutory footing and introduce additional requirements on licensing authorities regarding evidence on which such policies are based. Statutory Guidance As a result of the passing of the Immigration Act and the Policing and Crime Act the statutory guidance issued to licensing authorities will require amendment. Officials at the Home Office are currently working on the revised edition which is due to be published in the near future. In conclusion Although 2016 was relatively quiet from a licensing point of view it can be seen that 2017 will be busier in terms of the number of matters which have implications for premises involved in the provision of licensable activities under the Licensing Act 2003. As always we’ll keep you in touch through our Legal Eagle pages in Club Mirror; watch this space.
House of Lords Select Committee Last year the House of Lords appointed a select committee to consider the Licensing Act 2003. The committee is considering the effectiveness of the Licensing Act 2003 and has received oral and written evidence relating to a number of specific areas of interest. The committee was appointed with a reporting deadline of 31 March, 2017. It is anticipated that the report will make a number of significant recommendations which may have implications for all premises involved in the sale or supply of alcohol. Immigration Act 2016 The provisions affecting the Licensing Act 2003 are likely to become effective in spring and relate to: • Premises licence applications. • Lapse of premises licences. • Transfer of premises licences. • Personal licences. • Rights of entry.
CONTACT DETAILS Fraser Brown Solicitors 84 Friar Lane, Nottingham NG1 6ED e. dlucas@fraserbrown.com t. 0115 959 7139 mob. 07973 899398
CLUB REPORT 9
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ENTERTAINMENT – GAMING
It’s going to be a busy year! From new coins and bank notes to expiring permits, club managers will need to keep up to speed on all things gaming in 2017. Dransfields MD Chris Haley offers his insights and advice on how to keep at the top of your game. Club Gaming and Club Machine Permits – will yours expire this year? Club Gaming Permits (CGP) and Club Machine Permits (CMP) last for 10 years. Permits that were granted under the Gambling Act 2005 in 2007 will therefore expire during 2017. However, this does not apply to all Permits; those that were granted under the Fast Track Procedure do not expire and only cease if they were surrendered, forfeited, cancelled or because a Club Premises Certificate (CPC) is not in place. Clubs which applied using the Fast Track Procedure with a CPC in place under the Licensing Act 2003 will not need to renew their CGP or CMP. Be warned... Do be aware that there have been some instances where a Local Authority issued a Permit for 10 years even though it had been correctly applied for under the Fast Track Procedure. Clubs are therefore advised to check their Permit to see whether an expiry date was included. And a note for Scottish readers; as there is not a Fast Track Procedure in Scotland all CGPs and CMPs need to be renewed after 10 years.
10 CLUB REPORT
How to renew your Permit An application to renew a CGP or CMP must be made during the period beginning three months before expiry and ending six weeks before expiry. For example, a permit issued 1 October, 2007 must be renewed in the period 1 July 2017 to 20 August 2017. The process to renew a CGP or CMP is exactly the same as for a new application and the renewal fee is £200. However, if a club holds a CPC and wishes to renew under the Fast Track procedure the cost is only £100 and it will not then expire after 10 years. There is a statutory application/renewal form which is available as a download on Local Authority and Gambling Commission websites. The application must be sent to the Local Authority and copied to the Police for the area in which the club is located and to the Gambling Commission. Commercial clubs Commercial clubs can only apply for a CMP whereas bona fide private members clubs and miners welfare institutes (meeting the necessary requirements to be recognised as such) can apply for either a CMP or a CGP. What is the difference between a Club Gaming
Permit and a Club Machine Permit? Club Gaming Permits mean... • Clubs can offer equal chance gaming such as poker and bingo. • There are no limits on stakes and prizes, except bingo where there is a stakes and prizes limit of £2,000 in any seven day period. • Clubs can offer games of chance (pontoon and chemin de fer only). • There is a limit on participation fees per person per day – £20 for bridge/whist (if played on a day on which no facilities of any kind of gaming, other than bridge or whist, are provided); £3 for other gaming, including poker in any other circumstances.
• Clubs can offer up to three gaming machines in total of categories B3A, B4, C or D (but only one can be category B3A). Club Machine Permits mean... • Clubs can offer equal chance gaming such as poker and bingo. • For bingo – limits on stakes and prizes is £2,000 in any seven day period. • For poker – limits on stakes are £10 per person per game, within a premises limit of £250 in stakes per day and £1,000 per week. Limits on prizes £250 per game. • There is a limit on participation fees per person per day – £18 for bridge/whist (if played on a day on which no facilities of any kind of gaming, other than bridge or whist, are provided); £1 for other gaming, including poker (£3 where it’s a commercial club). • Members clubs/miners welfare institutes can offer up to three gaming machines in total of categories B3A, B4, C or D (but only one of which can be B3A). • Commercial Clubs can offer up to three gaming machines in total of categories B4, C or D. Further information is available at www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk Fraudulent activity There are organised criminals that specifically target gaming machines. This is more of an issue for pubs, as in clubs only members and their bona fide guests may use gaming machines. Clubs should nevertheless remain vigilant for unknown machine players attempting to access their machines. They usually operate in groups of three to five people and typically work together to block sight of the machine whilst the theft is performed. They will use a person to distract the bar staff/door staff whilst the theft is occurring and a club may not even be aware that they have been robbed until long after they have left the premises. Clubs that have CCTV systems should ensure the machines are actively monitored. However, this will
not necessarily deter thieves as they will often block the view to any camera recording their activities. The best way to deter thieves from attacking machines is by ensuring they cannot crowd around them to block the view of staff and any CCTV. The proximity of the machine to the bar does not necessarily deter them but active engagement from staff/members does. If in doubt simply explain that only members and their bona fide guests are allowed to play the gaming machine, then ask that they play existing credits off and switch the machine off until they have moved on. If the machine alarm sounds, this is a strong indicator that something is amiss and needs to be urgently investigated. Also, clubs should always check suppliers’ ID badges before allowing anyone to collect, repair or remove a machine. There have been further cases this year whereby thieves have walked into a club and said that the committee have organised a machine change. They have then removed the old machine and simply driven off with it complete with its contents. If in doubt telephone the machine supplier to check. Introduction of new polymer banknotes New banknotes are being introduced by the Bank of England. They will have new designs, printed on polymer, a thin and flexible plastic material which will be cleaner, more secure and more durable than paper notes. The new £5 note has already entered circulation (to a mixed reaction from the public); the £10 will be introduced in Autumn 2017 and the £20 note by 2020. Staff should be extra vigilant for forgeries of the existing notes as criminals will try to pass off their ‘stock’ before the notes they resemble cease to be legal tender (the old £5 note ceases to be legal tender on 5 May, 2017). Further information on bank note security checks can be found at: www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/Pages/educational
Introduction of a new £1 Coin As Club Report goes to press, the industry is preparing for March’s introduction of the new £1 coin. The Royal Mint is claiming that the new coin will be the most secure in the world and it is being introduced because the current coin is vulnerable to counterfeiting. It is estimated that one in 30 £1 coins in circulation today is a counterfeit. The new £1 coin will have a number of new features including: 1. An instantly recognisable distinctive 12-sided shape 2. A bi-metallic make up (like the current £2 coin) 3. An image like a hologram that changes from a ‘£’ symbol to the number 1 when seen from different angles 4. Micro lettering on the lower inside rim on both sides of the coin 5. Milled edges creating groves on alternative sides 6. A hidden high security feature to protect it from counterfeiting in the future The coin will be introduced into circulation at the end of March 2017 and will be in cocirculation with the existing £1 coin until October 2017. At this point the old coin will cease to be legal tender. The new £1 coin presents a challenge to the gaming and amusement machine industry because it is the primary machine coin. It will require the upgrading of coin acceptors in all types of equipment, including those in pool tables, quiz machines, kids’ rides, juke boxes, cranes and vending machines in addition to all those in gaming machines. It is a mammoth task to upgrade all these coin mechanisms, but a crucial one – if machines cannot accept the new coins it will reduce machine income and be a direct hit to the club’s bottom line. Machine operators should be well prepared for this task so if your equipment hasn’t been upgraded by April 2017 you should contact your supplier.
CONTACT DETAILS Dransfields Ltd Dransfield House, Mill Street, Leeds LS9 8BP t. 0345 6449414 f. 01132 343948 www.dransfields.com
CLUB REPORT 11
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ENTERTAINMENT – BT SPORT Gary Lineker hosting a UEFA Champions League match on BT Sport alongside Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard and Ian Wright.
BT Sport –perspectiveson2017 Whether it’s football from the Premier League, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, rugby union action from the Aviva Premiership and European Rugby Champions Cup, Ashes cricket from Down Under or world championship boxing, BT Sport has plenty of content to keep club members happy in 2017. Football As the Premier League title chase reaches its crucial stages with several contenders in hot pursuit of pacesetters Chelsea, BT Sport will continue to show some of the key games – mainly in the 5.30pm Saturday tea-time slot – from the competition with Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool all featuring in live matches on the channel during March. Meanwhile, aficionados of top-class European football will be eager to head down to their local club in midweek to witness the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League as the competition continues throughout the first half of 2017. This time around British hopes are being carried by Arsenal, Leicester City and Manchester City – all of whom have reached the Last 16 – but all three sides face a mighty challenge to reach the final, which takes place at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday, June 3, given the calibre of the teams left in the competition. Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and
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Real Madrid will feature on most pundits’ list of leading contenders for glory but no team can take anything for granted in the rarefied air of the Champions League. British teams are also involved in the latter stages of the UEFA Europa League with Spurs and Manchester United setting their sights on reaching the Stockholm final in May. Add in fixtures from the FA Cup, the Scottish Premiership, Italy’s Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and France’s La Ligue and there’s plenty to look forward to football-wise on BT Sport. Rugby Union The current Aviva Premiership season is turning out to be a real thriller with reigning champions Saracens being pushed all the way as they aim for their third successive title. With a squad that includes some of world rugby’s biggest stars, including Maro Itoje, Billy Vunipola and Owen Farrell, Saracens will be confident of hitting peak form at the business end of the season.
The key challengers for Sarries’ crown has been Wasps, the Coventry-based side playing some superb rugby to put themselves in a strong position in the Aviva Premiership table. Both Saracens and Wasps will also be competing for European honours in the Champions Cup competition which reaches the knockout stages in April. BT Sport will be broadcasting Wasps’ quarterfinal trip to the home of Irish rugby, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, on April 1, where they face Leinster, as well as action from the semi-finals and final. There will also be coverage of the second-tier European Challenge Cup which reaches its climax in May. Cricket The 2017/18 Ashes series will be shown exclusively live on BT Sport, after winning a five-year rights deal for Australia home internationals that includes England’s defence of the urn. Cricket fans will see England defend the Ashes they won this summer when they travel Down
The action-packed UEFA Champions League.
Under in 2017/18, as part of 210 days of international Australian cricket to be shown on BT Sport. What is sure to be a dramatic Ashes series gets underway in Melbourne on Boxing Day 2017 and continues in the New Year. The broadcaster will also be showing all Australian Test Matches, One Day Internationals and T20 Internationals played in Australia, including the five-match Ashes Test Series against England. The rights also include the KFC Big Bash League, which see a number of international stars playing in the Twenty20 form of the game on Australian soil. BT Sport will also show the women’s Ashes and the women’s T20 Big Bash League. Boxing BT Sport will broadcast its first ever World Title
boxing match live in April when Terry Flanagan headlines a blockbuster card at the Manchester Arena, with three further knockout fight nights agreed for 2017 so far. Terry Flanagan’s defence of his WBO World Lightweight Championship title against Russia’s Petr Petrov takes place on Saturday, April 8. The undercard will also feature former WBO World Light Middleweight Champion Liam Smith against his long-time rival Liam Williams, as well as Olympic hero Nicola Adams’ debut as a professional boxer. The second fight night on BT Sport will see the newly crowned British Middleweight Champion Tommy Langford defend his title for the first time against Birmingham rival Craig Cunningham following the latter’s victory over London 2012 Olympic medallist Anthony Ogogo. Taking place at the
Leicester Arena on Saturday, April 22, Tyrone Nurse against Joe Hughes is on the undercard. On Saturday, May 6, Bradley Skeete will make his mandatory British Welterweight title defence against Shayne Singleton and then on Saturday, May 13, WBC International Featherweight Champion Josh Warrington tops the bill alongside Nicola Adams’ home debut. Darts, MotoGP, NBA, Tennis and UFC There is plenty of other sporting action on BT Sport for members to enjoy throughout 2017, including MotoGP, American sport, tennis, Ultimate Fighting Championship and darts. The BDO World Professional Darts Championship will take place at Lakeside, Frimley Green, in January 2018 in front of the BT Sport cameras as Glen Durrant returns to defend his title. Other services BT Sport has also launched two new services for clubs in the past 12 months. Commercial premises can now offer free Wi-Fi to their customers with BT Sport Wi-Fi, while the BarBeats music streaming service includes more than 70 playlists covering many different genres of music.
CONTACT DETAILS BT Centre 81 Newgate Street London EC1A 7AJ
BT Sport is the home of Aviva Premiership rugby union.
t. 0800 678 1065 https://btsportbusiness.com/
CLUB REPORT 15
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ENTERTAINMENT – SKY SPORTS
Theyearaheadwith Sky Sports This year promises to be a sensational year in the sporting arena and clubs can look forward to filling their venues with sports fans throughout the whole year, says Sky Sports. Football, football, football In 2016, over a third of all Sky Sports domestic football viewing took place in an out-of-home venue. This is great news for clubs and they can look forward to Sky Sports bringing them action from both the domestic and international stages throughout 2017. The Premier League will reach its climax in May and with several teams in contention for the title, it promises to be a fascinating finale. The title race could feasibly be won by any of the top six teams, making it one of the most exciting seasons in recent history. Club members will look forward to enjoying the top Premier League picks live on Sky Sports as the season unfolds and builds towards its conclusion. International football features later on in the year in the shape of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers as the Home Nations all attempt to reach the 2018 Finals in Russia. Passions are never higher than when sports fans are cheering on their country and club members will look to soak up the atmosphere with like-minded fans in clubs up and down the country. The roar of the Lions For rugby fans, 2017 will be one to remember. The ever-popular Six Nations competition in February and March (on free-to-air TV) plays a big part in deciding who will be picked to represent the British and Irish Lions when they tour to New Zealand in June and July. Showing exclusively on Sky Sports, the Lions Tour offers must-see events for any rugby fan and is a great chance for clubs to drive trade. The first test of the British & Irish Lions tour in 2013 live on Sky Sports attracted almost 900,000 out of home viewers so clubs can look forward to encouraging members through their doors throughout the competition. Warren Gatland’s men will take part in three Test games as well as various other fixtures against local New Zealand sides. Can the Lions repeat their 2013 victory to overcome the All Blacks? The gloves are off 2017 is shaping up to be massive for boxing with two huge bouts lined up for March and April. March will see David Haye take on Tony Bellew and then in April, the showdown that everyone’s been waiting
18 CLUB REPORT
for between Anthony Joshua and Wladimir Klitschko. Boxing fans will look forward to catching the ringside action at their local club, courtesy of Sky Sports.
Every year, Sky Sports shows at least 20 live nights of boxing including pay-per-view events, Prizefighter and Fight Nights, featuring some of the biggest names in sport. Boxing events are a great chance for
clubs to extend their trading hours and keep members in for longer. Racing to success with F1 The 2017 Formula One season kicks off in March and will be a fascinating contest given the retirement of current champion Nico Rosberg. Showing all 20 races in Ultra HD for the first time, Sky Sports will be the only place for club members to watch every single Grand Prix live. F1 is a great way for clubs to encourage Sunday trade alongside Sky Sports’ Premier League Super Sundays, making the last day of the week a bumper sporting event. Scoring a ton with the best Test match action Cricket is the third most watched sport in out of home venues and 2017 will give clubs some great action to show members during the summer. Live on Sky Sports will be coverage of both of England’s home Tests against South Africa and the West Indies as well as One Day International action and T20
Bullesye! Darts continues to be a crowd pleaser and with the World Championships, Premier League action, World Matchplay and the World Cup, there are plenty of opportunities for clubs to attract darts fans into their venues.
matches. With the retirement of long-standing Test captain Alastair Cook, fans will be looking to see how England fare under a new leader. It’s tee time Golf also promises to help clubs to fill their venues. In 2016 day one and two of the Open Championship, broadcast for the first time on Sky Sports, each attracted over half a million viewers out of home and in 2017 there’s plenty of golf action to keep club members entertained. Live on Sky Sports will be all four golf majors as well as the US PGA Championship and European Tour golf.
And that’s not all... With nearly 65,000 hours of sport on Sky Sports throughout the year, 2017 will be an action-packed 12 months of exciting action and fascinating showdowns for clubs to enjoy across a massive range of sports including football, rugby, cricket, golf, darts, NFL and much more.
CONTACT DETAILS Sky Business Sky UK Ltd Grant Way, Isleworth, Middlesex TW7 5QD t. 08442 411490 https://business.sky.com/clubs/
CLUB REPORT 19
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CLUB BUSINESS – CONTRACTORS
Employing competent contractors Inappropriate management of contractors can result in costly accidents, delays to work, criminal prosecutions and claims for damages. Club Insure offers the following advice.
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o avoid the disasters which can occur when using poor standard contractors, it is important that you assess the competency of any contractors you intend to employ. The following list – while not definitive – will help act as a guide to assist you in selection of a competent contractor. What is the job? Identify the work required of the contractor and determine its level of risk. For example, work carried out at height will have an increased risk. Anticipating these risks will help you decide whether a contractor is competent to do the job.
should set out the contractor’s arrangements for health and safety. Accident reporting and enforcement action Consider the contractor’s recent safety performance. Ask for recent accident statistics and their arrangements for reporting accidents. A low accident rate may sound good but this may be due to under-reporting. Consider prosecutions or receipt of enforcement notices. Consult the HSE ‘Register of Prosecutions and Notices’ website.
Experience Identify the skills and experience of the contractor. Ask for references from similar, recent work to help you assess their performance.
Qualifications and skills Contractors’ employees should possess necessary skills and qualifications for the work. Ask to see evidence of relevant training records and qualifications and ensure that these relate to those who will actually be undertaking the work.
Evidence Obtain evidence that the contractor holds a current Public Liability (PL) Policy and that the policy limit is equivalent or higher than your own PL policy limit. This is likely to be a requirement of your own Insurance policy and failure to do so may mean that you do not have any cover in the event of a claim.
Sub-contractor procedures Check whether the contractor intends to sub-contract any of the work and if so, what procedures they have in place to ensure their own contractors are competent.
Health and safety Request the contractor’s health and safety policy, signed by a responsible senior person. The policy
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Ensure contractors’ employees have the necessary information, instruction and training. Ask for training records and certificates.
22 CLUB REPORT
Management and supervision Consider what health and safety implications the work could have for your own operations, your employees and others, such as the general public. Consider whether you have a better understanding of the health and safety implications of the proposed work than the contractor. This may clarify your own level of management and supervisory responsibilities. Safe systems of work Request safety method statements and risk assessments to ensure the work will be carried out safely. The contractor should monitor their own health and safety performance. You should carry out periodic checks to ensure that this is being undertaken. Health and safety training Ensure contractors’ employees have the necessary information, instruction and training. Ask for training records, certificates, etc. For example, if the task involves working at height, ask to see evidence of suitable training.
Co-operation and co-ordination Establish clear lines of communication to promote co-operation with others and the co-ordination of work. Arrange regular meetings and provide relevant information that can contribute to a safe system of work. Close communication is important if sub-contractors are employed, or if there are changes to the project. Independent contractor accreditation membership Find out if the contractor is accredited to a health and safety accreditation scheme such as CHAS or Safe Contractor. This can signal that they have met acceptable standards in health and safety. However, as this may be just an early indication of competence you should still check that this is relevant for the proposed work. Advice and professional body membership Determine if there is access to competent health and safety advice. Such advice should preferably be internal; however it is not unusual for smaller contractors to employ external health and safety advisers. Consider looking for membership of relevant industry associations. These are a good way to keep up to date with health and safety legislation as well as industry best practice.
CONTACT DETAILS Club Insure covers all aspects of club insurance. Contact Victoria Romero-Trigo, Director at e. Victoria.romero-trigo@club-insure.co.uk t. 0844 488 9204 Club Insure Ltd Romero House, 8 Airport West, Lancaster Way, Yeadon, Leeds LS19 7ZA www.club-insure.co.uk HSE advice on selection of competent contractors: http://www.hse.gov.uk/ pUbns/priced/hsg159.pdf
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CLUB BUSINESS – MEMBERSHIP MANAGEMENT
Too much is never enough If you’re a Club Manager, Secretary or Committee Member, then you’ll no doubt have had those moments when you wonder if you can ever please your members. Well, it’s a tough job. But where there’s a will there’s a way, says Michael Braidwood. Here he offers up his Top 10 tips for a happy membership.
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embers are your key stake holders (without them you wouldn’t have a job) and they’re all entitled to an opinion. And boy what a varied opinion you often get! I do believe it’s impossible to have a 100 per cent satisfied membership (unless, of course, you have very few members!), so I look at the 80:20 principle. If you’re maintaining 80 per cent+ satisfaction, then you’re doing a great job. There is also the 2 per cent factor! These in general are the 2 per cent of people who, no matter what you do, will never be satisfied. One of my best memories of the 2 per cent was a comment from one of my members in Bahrain “Braidwood, this free beer isn’t cold enough!”. Yep. Honestly, someone actually said that to me and they weren’t joking! So here are my top 10 quick tips to keep your members happy and therefore keep them off your back, allowing you to do what you do best... run their golf club. 1. Be there. You have to be present and you have to vary your times of being present. Possibly the most common complaint about you is that you’re never there! Now you’re likely there 60+ hours a week, but when your golf club is open for, say, 126 hours a week it’s impossible to cover all the hours; so you need to vary when you’re there. Show your face at all the club functions, at every ladies’ morning and turn up to (or even play in) members’ competitions. Move your day off around and turn up at weekends, public holidays, etc. You don’t need to pull a full shift, just show your face, say hi to people and all of a sudden your members will be saying that you’re always around! 2. Know all of your members by name and learn something about each and every one of them. One of the primary reasons people join golf clubs is for recognition. Therefore, as a senior member of the management team, they
24 CLUB REPORT
expect you to recognise them. People love to be recognised and greeted by their name (especially when they’re with a guest), as it makes them feel important – and so they should feel that way! Nowadays it’s easier to learn your members’ names and something about them. Most likely you’ll have some form of golf management software to run your membership system and tee times; 90 per cent of these have the ability to have members’ photos on them and also some form of Customer Relationship Management system (CRM) where you can log information about them. If you don’t have a CRM system, then you can simply have a printed out guide with names and photos; flick through it as often as you can and you’ll soon remember their names. In one club I put members’ names and pictures on a rolling Power Point in the staff room, so whenever anyone was on a break they were still learning and remembering names of the members. As for remembering something about them, this just comes about from making conversation where do they work, what are their hobbies, who’s their favourite golfer and so on. People love it when you bring up what you remember from a previous conversation. All of this will become even easier if you follow tip number 3. 3. Personally induct every single member. Okay this might be time consuming, but it could be the most valuable one hour you spend with any member. A personal induction is a great opportunity to tell the new member all about the club, the club values and why you do things certain ways. You can find out more about the new member and even up-sell where appropriate. Introduce them to the Pro and tell them how great the lessons are; introduce them to the Club Steward and run through the great range of F&B. They may be high up in a corporation, so you can show them round your meeting space, talk about cor-
porate golf days and so on. Best of all you can find out when they like to play and then make an effort to fix them up with like-minded people (they’ll love you for that). This one hour is an ideal time to bond - they may become friends for life and you certainly get them “on side” instantly. 4. Excite them! When joining a club, members expect to be entertained, so what better way to entertain them by organising trips, outings and social gatherings? Ideally you’ll accompany members on these trips where club camaraderie really builds (but remember “what happens on tour stays on tour!”). An action-packed social calendar could include easy-to-organise events such as curry clubs (at the club or a local restaurant), wine/whisky/beer tasting, quiz nights, golf outings to other clubs, a trip to a Tour event and so on. Members will always pay their own way and if you’re clever you might even make some extra revenue for the club. 5. Communicate regularly and honestly. The key to a successful golf club is strong communication. There are so many mediums of communication these days so use them all – notice board, e-blasts, signage in the golf shop, bar, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and your own web site. Also remember face to face is best, so get all of your staff well briefed and trained up on communicating with the members. Consider a “message of the week”, where every member of staff tells or recommends to every member something that is going on at the club; the message will soon spread. Now onto the part about being honest. If there’s a problem, it’s best to get it out there in an honest and open fashion. “Yes we do have a disease issue on the 6th green, it was caused by XYZ and we are doing ABC to fix it.” The sooner you come out with a message the better, because if you don’t then the members will make stuff up!
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work just by spreading bad news and rumours around the club. So it’s your job to keep these “enemies” close - manage them, keep communicating with them, better inform them, educate them (take them for a course tour one morning with the green keeper to better inform them of what is actually going on out on the course) and eventually you’ll get them on side. However, sometimes there’s no pleasing some folk, so from time to time you’ll find someone that you cannot please, so what do you do? You move onto point 8...
Braidwood, this free beer isn’t cold enough!
8. Fire the bad member! They’re now taking up way too much of your valuable time, they’re ruining the club atmosphere, they’re de-motivating your staff and they’re dragging other members down with them (and some members may have already left the club because of them). A written letter is sufficient, where you state that you have exhausted all of your resources and still cannot find a way of meeting that member’s high expectations. It’s time to say goodbye as your club is simply not for them and you’re now removing them from the pain and anguish! 9. Take your members’ pictures and get their names in print. Keep a camera or smart phone handy and take pictures of tournament days, social outings, etc and get the pictures up there on social media and your website. This also drives traffic to your Facebook account or website, so members are seeing your offers more often. Take pictures of visitors on the first tee and give them a link to download them from your website. Hold a press day and invite the local and regional press for a golf day, where you can strike up key relationships. Follow this up with well written press releases and quality photos; they have many pages to fill and will welcome your contribution.
A classic story I heard recently was from one very proactive club. During the winter months they were utilising greens staff to thin out trees and bushes around the course. On one particular hole the green was having problems due to being in the shade for too long and also during frosty mornings the sun could not get to it to thaw it out, therefore keeping the course closed for longer. The committee decided to remove some trees from behind that green to allow more air to circulate and to allow the low winter sun to reach it, this in turn would improve the quality of the putting surface and get the course open earlier on frost days. A very sensible move I am sure you would agree. However, they never fully informed the membership as to why and because this was not communicated to the membership, the
rumour was that the club was in financial difficulty and were systematically removing trees to sell the wood to make some extra cash! 6. Spread yourself around. Don’t get into a habit of playing golf and socialising with the same members all the time. There will always be clubs within clubs (or cliques) but it’s vitally important that you spend time with all of them. Spread yourself around and spend quality time with everyone. 7. “Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer”. This might slightly contradict tip 6 above, but invariably there are trouble makers at every club, people who think their opinion is the most important (the 2 per cent I mentioned earlier). These people can systematically undo all your hard
10. Survey your members. What do they like? What more could you be doing? Keep the survey to a reasonable length – they’re busy people – and use, for example, Survey Monkey. (Indeed just undertaking the survey sends out a positive message and encourages member satisfaction.) The results will reveal some common trend which you can act upon. Follow up with a letter providing details of the results – “a majority of the membership would like to have a Sunday brunch”, “a majority of the members would like more Texas scrambles” and so on. Then carry out some of the preferences, putting the onus back on the members to support what that they asked for, and showing that you listen to your members and act accordingly. Finally, remember the words of the great Pet Shop Boys song You Need Love, “too much of everything is never enough!” This is true; the more you give the more they will want. It’s in the words of great service guru Ron Kauffman that there is an “escalator of expectation” out there! Make sure you don’t play all of your trump cards at once, spread them out and make sure you have plenty in reserve. Remember... it’s all about them!
CLUB REPORT 25
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CLUB BUSINESS – RUGBY TONIGHT COMPETITION Rugby Tonight goes out live every week on BT Sport.
Your chance to be on BT Sport’s Rugby Tonight Fancy joining Martin Bayfield, Ugo Monye, Lawrence Dallaglio, Austin Healey, Ben Kay et al in the Rugby Tonight studio? Club Mirror has teamed up with BT Sport to give you and your rugby club colleagues the chance to take part in a live broadcast of the popular midweek magazine show.
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T Sport’s Rugby Tonight brings rugby fans an unmissable mix of match highlights, technical analysis and irreverent rugby chat every week. The roster of star names who co-present the programme is like a who’s who of rugby with the likes of Martin Bayfield, Austin Healey, Ben Kay, Matt Dawson, Brian O’Driscoll, ably supported by Craig Doyle and Sarra Elgan Easterby.
But part of the unique appeal of Rugby Tonight is that it incorporates a live audience of real rugby club people in the background. Drawn from clubs from all over the country, some of these fans get the chance to take part in the live technical demonstrations that are staged in the spectacular studio which features a marked-out pitch and full-size rugby posts, with the rugby talent supplying the technical know-how.
Now you and five friends could become part of a future broadcast of Rugby Tonight. Club Mirror has joined forces with BT Sport to give 100 lucky readers the chance to come along to BT Sport’s Rugby Tonight studio in London’s Olympic Park to witness the programme being broadcast live. All you have to do is answer the question below and you could be on the way to Rugby Tonight!
For which club did England wing Ugo Monye make 237 appearances? a) Saracens
b) Wasps
c) Harlequins
Simply send your answer to the question above to: sean@clubmirror.com with your name, address, daytime contact telephone number and name of your rugby club. We will select 20 winners who will, along with four rugby friends, be able to attend the live broadcast of future edition of Rugby Tonight.
Deadline for entries – March 14, 2017 26 CLUB REPORT
You and your clubmates will get the chance to witness the Rugby Tonight crew, including Ugo Monye, in action live in the BT Sport studio.
CLUB REPORT 27
CLUB BUSINESS – THE OUT OF HOME EXPERIENCE
Meeting members’ expectations –andbeyond Keeping the offering fresh and finding ever more reasons to pull members in through the doors is a perennial challenge – one which clubs around the country continue to rise to. Paul Gordon, Trade Marketing Controller, HEINEKEN, offers the following advice.
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here’s no getting away from the impact changing consumer lifestyles have had on the on-trade in recent years; people are more health-conscious than ever, meaning they are more aware of what they’re eating and drinking and how active they are. At the same time, at-home entertainment services and restaurant-quality delivery
28 CLUB REPORT
services are becoming increasingly popular, all of which poses obvious challenges to clubs looking to attract members to spend their hard-earned cash in their bars. There are reasons to be cheerful though; socialising in the on-trade remains an important pastime for Brits, especially now the beer and cider market is
back in growth in both volume and value . New products and the craft beer movement are successfully attracting consumers to the beer and cider categories. Whilst people may be drinking less, they’re drinking better and are prepared to pay more for quality, so long as it represents good value to them. So what does this all mean for clubs? Well, that depends on the club to a degree – this is a notoriously diverse segment with clearly different challenges facing community social clubs to those facing private members’ clubs. But ultimately, the key for any club looking to increase footfall and revenue is to be relevant to your target customers and provide an experience that’s better than staying home; clubs need to keep moving with the times to attract new members, but also be careful not to alienate existing customers. Consumers’ expectations are higher than ever so clubs need to listen to what patrons want from their club experience and cater to their needs to ensure repeat custom. Making sports fans your fans With sporting occasions being a common reason for people to drink out of home, there’s a clear opportunity for clubs presented by televised sport. It’s not just football that can bring people into outlet, but also darts championships, rugby games and boxing matches can require the atmosphere that customers can only get in the on-trade. HEINEKEN works with partners, like BT Sport, to ensure we have footfall driving opportunities built around major sporting occasions. As the only provider with screening rights for all UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League football along with its 38 Premier League matches, BT
Sport gives clubs a great opportunity to drive consumers through the door during the mid-week evenings, as well as the weekends. As well as televised sports, members are also looking for other reasons to come into clubs, whether it’s a quiz night, live music or a darts competition. Events like these are a great way for clubs to differentiate themselves and increase footfall into the outlet. HEINEKEN looks to help customers by giving clubs the chance to enhance the consumer experience from a variety of support, including help with websites, POS or just marketing yourselves to your current and new consumers. With HEINEKEN and our partners’ support, club operators can get the word out so that they see more people in outlet, more often and spending more. Get your range right for your customer At HEINEKEN we offer our customers expert advice on ranging targeted specifically to their business, so for those customers who aren’t sure how
their range can work for them, we’d strongly encourage them to contact their local HEINEKEN team to find out how these beers and ciders can help to grow their sales. Almost two in every three pints of lager consumed in the UK On Trade is a classic lager with brands like Foster’s remaining a firm favourite with consumers looking for a refreshing and easy to drink lager. The Ale category, meanwhile, is currently growing in value and John Smith’s delivers almost half of the category’s volume, remaining the number one Ale in the UK. HEINEKEN’s wide range of brands means clubs can stock brands that their longstanding patrons are looking for, as well as offering their consumers new categories and products to try. The areas of growth in the Cider category suggest that consumers are drinking a wider variety of ciders and consumers are now demanding flavoured ciders on draught, as well as in packaged format. This is why brands like Strongbow Dark Fruit have seen such huge success; it’s now the number one flavoured Cider on draught, second only to Strongbow Original. With many clubs having a far more diverse customer base than they used to, clubs need to offer the right range for their current and target consumers across beer and cider. Having the right breadth in your range allows you to maximise profits by stocking more brands that appeal to more consumers at different prices. This helps stretch clubs profit opportunities and allows your customers to trade up to premium options at higher profit margins. With 45% of consumers readily admitting they don’t know what they will order until they get to the bar , it’s important to ensure best-selling brands are visible. Using the right POS and displays to highlight your range to customers as soon as they enter your venue can influence and interrupt their purchase decisions. Make sure your message is clear to the consumer by offering one brand per category rather than multiple messages across multiple categories. Ensuring your staff are knowledgeable when it comes to your range of beers and lagers is another great way to influence purchases. Many consumers are receptive to recommendations and bar staff should have the confidence to engage with customers and talk knowledgeably about your beer portfolio to prompt customers to trade up. Driving quality and efficiencies HEINEKEN invests in technologies like SmartDispense that helps customers by improving beer quality as well as driving efficiencies that reduce their time and costs. The quality of the first pint is a big factor in whether a customer will choose to have a second, so it’s crucial that clubs are offering the highest quality experience to their consumers. Clean, branded glassware plays a vital role in creating the perfect drinking experience and helps to boost sales and profits as consumers are more likely to trade up and repeat purchase.
CONTACT DETAILS Call HEINEKEN on 0344 556 0109
CLUB REPORT 29
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CLUB BUSINESS – MEMBERSHIP
Attracting and keeping junior members Much good work goes into developing junior membership. This is particularly noticeable in sports clubs where free lessons and tuition has become a norm. But has all this investment proved a good return on investment? Mike Braidwood CCM offers up insights into how to attract and keep junior members, whatever your club.
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unior memberships are ridiculously cheap and lessons are often free. Then, to add insult to injury, the kids leave at 18 never to return!
So what to do? Get proactive and make it a really great club experience for them. Make it such an important part of their life that they can’t do without it! And, following that line of thought, don’t give it away. Think how much parents spend on things like iphones, Xboxes and so on. It needs to have the same importance and the same entertainment value. So here are some pointers. Give them their own space Set aside some space within your club for your juniors and make it an attractive environment, a place where
Keeping on the ball with junior members will pay dividends.
30 CLUB REPORT
they would like to hang out. Make it inspiring to make them want to go out and play the game, whilst also offering some other activities. Relevant Wii games, indoor putting mats, cricket nets, short mat bowls – whatever the discipline there’s a way to bring it inside. And how about setting up their own notice boards? And maybe newsletters? Make it a real club for them Parents are always looking for someone else to do things with their kids! So make it more of an inclusive club and organise more than just competitions and lessons. Away days to other clubs and activities, challenge matches against other clubs, fun nights in the clubhouse and instigating a local league are just some ideas. If you roll out a series of events you’ll develop a great club spirit and have parents dropping their kids off in droves.
Make it fun Clubs can seem pretty boring to kids sometimes, so spice it up and make it fun for them. Don’t put too many rules in place and employ a ‘can do’ attitude. Kids love variety, kids love challenge, kids love team work so think of things that will get them excited. Maybe a monthly skills challenge surrounding their chosen sport, or fun competition formats. Maybe inter-club challenges. All of these can help to keep them engaged and motivated. Get parents involved Although parents often see kids clubs as a free baby-sitting service, it’s good to get parents to volunteer. Seek out a pool of mums and dads who are willing to help organise events, drive kids to places – but be sure to keep the adult-to-kid ratio
Kids love challenges. Look at inter-club competitions and mini-leagues to spark their interest.
right. Too many parents and the kids will feel swamped and intruded upon. Involving the parents is also a good way to introduce more adults to the sport. And you can always give them a free lesson as a thank you for helping out. Educate them – more than just lessons Kids love to learn and they learn fast. Try to introduce more than just lessons. Teach them other things like the rules and etiquette (and set tests with certificates). Set them challenges to research different game formats, get them involved in volunteering with the club and train them in other aspects of the game, such as grounds maintenance, umpiring, and, for golf, caddying (they can then make some money at the same time!). All of your education activities will make them more informed sportsmen and women and they’ll go on to be better members, a force in the club’s future. And back to the parents, they love it when the kids walk out of the club grounds with more knowledge than they had when they entered. Communicate at their level The best way to get the most out of kids is to not treat them like kids. Treat them with respect and space and communicate with them at their level. Use communication platforms such as facebook, twitter,
texting and keep the language relevant to kids. Find out what they want Let them tell you what they want. It’s easy to come up with a survey to find out what they like and want. You could even get the kids to design and develop the survey for you. In that way they feel you care about their opinions and you are keen to create a club and club environment that suits their needs. Showing progress Create a ladder for improvement. Kids love to strive to do better and get to the next level. Create leagues where they can play and progress through divisions. Maybe create skills test certificates and awards. Invite their friends The best way to keep kids engaged and to introduce more of them to the sport is to allow your junior members to bring friends to functions and events (for a nominal charge). In this way the kids won’t be shy in turning up as they have a friend with them and with any luck the friend will enjoy the event and want to sign up to the club as well. Variety, the spice of life To ensure kids remain engaged, continually mix it
up. Keep it interesting, keep it relevant, keep it fun, but most of all make sure there is variety. If you follow some of the previous tips then there will be no shortage of good ideas coming in from your junior members. Student membership After all of your hard work you need to ensure your juniors stay with you once they reach adulthood. Put in place a tiered scheme to take them from a junior membership fee up to a full membership fee. Think about those juniors who leave to go off to further education. Wouldn’t it be great if you could keep them onboard so that they can still enjoy the club during the holidays and when they come home for weekends? And maybe create some special events just for the students so they still feel very much part of the club, even if they are off studying further afield. And finally – a bonus tip – create a loyalty scheme. These can be used to build credit towards the joining fee or adult membership. And don’t forget to include interesting and thoughtful things on the menu that kids will want to eat and drink. They’ll appreciate the effort and the fact that they could be earning loyalty points. It’s a grown up concept which will make them feel an integral and valued part of the club.
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CLUB BUSINESS – SOCIAL MEDIA
Three ‘best practice’ social media rules Good quality and useful content, targeted followers and relationship-building are all part and parcel of good social media practice. As Nick Bryant from Social Media First explains, social media is called ‘social’ for a reason!
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ocial media is one of the most powerful marketing tools available to businesses today. And the best part about it? Most of the platforms are free to use, meaning you can spread the word about your club without paying a penny. There’s just one problem. If you don’t know how to make the most of these online resources, you could be wasting precious time and effort: over promoting your offering can drive followers away, and avoiding questions and/or complaints from members can ruin your reputation. So what can you do? Here are three tips to help you make the most of social media: 1. The 80/20 rule With social media, your focus should be on creating and sharing quality content. But not all of the content you share should be yours. Too often, companies only post things about their business, which can be offputting. To avoid overselling your club, you should follow a strategy called the 80/20 rule, which dictates that 80% of your content should be non-promotional, such as info graphics, videos, pictures and articles that relate to your sector, but are not overtly sales. The other 20% of the time, you can toot your own horn and promote things specifically about your club.
32 CLUB REPORT
2. Location To get the most out of social media, you need to focus on building a list of targeted followers. If you focus on quality rather than the quantity of your followers, you’ll grow a more relevant audience. Targeting by location is a good start. To find targeted users on Twitter, you can use the Advanced Search feature to filter out posts based on location, and on Facebook, you can also post ads filtered by location. 3. Focus on relationships In addition to following the 80/20 rule, clubs should be careful to focus on the “social” aspect and build relationships with users. With the shotgun approach of traditional marketing, you want as many people to see your club ad or flyer as possible, but social media is a much more personalised and participatory marketing channel. It gives you the ability to engage directly with members and potential members. Bear this in mind, and you’ll be inundated with fans!
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Too often, companies only post things about their business, which can be off-putting.
CONTACT DETAILS
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Social Media First aims to help grow business with attention grabbing social media campaigns. • t. 01892 670830 • e. info@socialmediafirst.info
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Welcome to the
Hospitality Social Media Awards
CLUB REPORT 33
Hospitality Social Media Awards
Social media is one of the biggest tools for the on-trade in all its guises, whatever the outlet and wherever it happens to be. It allows outlets to reach out via an up-to-the minute – and extremely cost-effective – means of communication. Most importantly it’s proving one of the most effective weapons in drawing people out of their homes and into the hospitality arena.
Awards Judges
The Awards were launched to encourage and applaud this, with finalists across all areas of the hospitality industry, from football and golf clubs to pubs, hotels and restaurants coming under one roof to share successes and learnings. “Every one of our finalists is clearly an ambassador for the use of social media,” said ACP MD Sean Ferris (pictured above right). “But there are many, many outlets that need more help. And we’re hoping that these success stories will become part of that inspiring process.”
To enter the 2017 Awards, turn to page 42
e.info@hsma.biz t. 01753 272022
34 CLUB REPORT
Thank You
DINNER MENU To Start
The first ever Hospitality Social Media Awards are brought to you with the support of the following:
Heirloom Tomato & Buffalo Mozzarella Salad, Mixed Seeds, Olive Powder, Pea Shoots, Balsamic Vinegar & Smoked Maldon Sea Salt
Main Course Slow Cooked Lamb Shoulder Confit, Pistachios, Apricots, Mint, Almonds, Cous Cous, Baby Aubergines, Baby Courgettes & Red Pepper Sauce
Dessert Peach and Lavender Panna Cotta, Toffee Sauce, Berries & Shortbread
And Then... Freshly Brewed Coffee & Petit Fours
Wines on the Table Crown Cellars presented a number of Pedley’s 2016 Picks selected from the following... Aimery Merlot, Vin de Pays d’Oc
France
Lyric Pinot Grigio, Venezie
Italy
Castillo de Pedra, Viura Vin del la Tierra Castillo
Spain
Seppelt Moyston Unoaked Chardonnay
Australia
Las Ondas Sauvignon Blanc, Valle Central
Chile
Box of Budgies, Sauvignon Blanc
New Zealand
e.info@hsma.biz t. 01753 272022
CLUB REPORT 35
Pre - Awards
The Hospitality Social Media Awards are all about engaging, networking and driving business. And behind every Facebook page or Instagram gallery are committed individuals and teams who value interaction at all levels and on all platforms â&#x20AC;&#x201C; including face-to -face fun with like-minded peers.
Sport, who Shine on BT h the to join us wit r e v o d e d a he up. ier League C m re P d te e v co ic with this class s e lfi se f o ts Lo by re, followed a rw e lv si f o bit tion and awe p e c re s k n ri ad ainment from rt te n e g in ir insp n chie magicia mystifying te . Tom London
e.info@hsma.biz t. 01753 272022
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e.info@hsma.biz t. 01753 272022
CLUB REPORT 37
Let the Awards Commence!
Welcome to sports presenter and host
John Inverdale...
e.info@hsma.biz t. 01753 272022
38 CLUB REPORT
And welcome to our other celebrity guests who joined us on that special night... Craig Doyle
Steve Cram
Tessa Sanderson
Austin Healy
e.info@hsma.biz t. 01753 272022
CLUB REPORT 39
ENTRY FORM Open for 2017 Entries The Hospitality Social Media Awards (HoSMA) look forward to your entry and/or nomination. From the smallest club to the biggest chain, we want to hear from you. Just tick which categories you’re interested in, fill in a couple of details and we’ll do the rest.
INTRODUCTION From websites to Facebook, and everything in between, the Hospitality Social Media Awards will be seeking out those of you who are busy using social media to engage with your customers.
NOMINATIONS We’re delighted to announce that these awards are panindustry, covering the broad Hospitality Sector, giving every golf club, sports resort, club, sports resort, pub,pub, hotel, restaurant and everything in-between - the chance to enter and/or nominate other outlets. 42
e.info@hsma.biz t. 01753 272022
40 CLUB REPORT
Open for 2017 Entries
Hospitality
HOW TO ENTER Just send us your details as below, and weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get in touch. It really is that simple! info@hsma.biz will get your entry for 2017 underway. Good luck! Deadline: March 31, 2017 Name: Position: Business Name: Address:
Telephone: Email: Website: Social Media Accounts: Twitter: Facebook: Instagram: Others:
We look forward to hearing from you! www.hsma.biz | info@hsma.biz e.info@hsma.biz t. 01753 272022272022 43 sean@alchemymedia.co.uk | 01753
CLUB REPORT 41
REFRESHING
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UNDERSTANDING YOU, FIRST... Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority
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CLUB BUSINESS – PLANNING
Top performing clubsshow value of strategic planning In a recent study from GGA’s Institute for Best Practice which examined the behaviours of 100 of the world’s top performing clubs, 79% of those clubs in Europe (including the UK) stated that their club is currently implementing a strategic plan. “Is your club following the example set by these leading clubs?” asks GGA Partner Rob Hill.
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sked if they’re following the examples of the world’s top performing clubs, most club executives, course owners and operators would probably say they do. But do they really? If a strong strategic plan is in place, then the club committee/board/ownership and management should be very clear about three things: 1. The club’s competitive position in its market Some club leaders misjudge their market position
because there is no reliable data that refute or confirms their ambitions. As such, the club is priced improperly against its value proposition. In the same study cited above, just 43% of clubs stated their strategic plans were guided by thorough market research. 2. Members’ priorities What tops members’ wish lists and what are they willing to pay to ensure the club continues to meet
their expectations? Member surveys are critical tools to measuring and monitoring member expectations and needs. 3. Projected revenues How does the club plan to add members and finance needed capital improvements for the next five years? Clubs that don’t have a clear understanding of these three foundational elements most likely don’t
CLUB REPORT 43
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CLUB BUSINESS – PLANNING have an adequate strategic plan guiding their future direction. They’re also putting their business in a vulnerable position. What is strategic planning? Strategic planning is simply the process of defining long-term goals and identifying the resources needed to achieve those goals. A strategic plan is the document that results from a strategic planning process and defines the following: • The club’s vision or purpose for being in existence. • Where the club wants to be in five years in terms of its membership and financial position. • How it intends to get there through a set of prioritized actions. But what is simply stated is often much more complex in its development. For example, a strategic plan would anticipate and address questions such as the following: • Is the club operating with a current capital expense plan and budget? • Is a new clubhouse or a clubhouse renovation planned? • What are the club’s membership goals? • How do revenue forecasts compare to projected expenses? • How does the club plan to deal with agronomic issues that will affect course conditions and its ability to increase dues? • Is the club taking steps to be environmentally sustainable? • What happens when unforeseen circumstances create financial instability? • Does the club have a current crisis communications plan? Why a strategic plan is important? On the subject of change, esteemed management consultant Peter Drucker once said: “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” We feel just as strongly about strategic planning, which often calls for changes in the ways a club thinks and operates. It’s only important if you want to give your facility its best chance to succeed. In today’s fragile economy and club environment, the greatest threat to survival is financial instability. This is a condition that is brought on by any number of factors and circumstances. In communities where a single business or industry dominates, if a major manufacturer cuts back on its workforce, the trickle_down effect will be felt all the way to the club. Or, if a group of influential members decides that the clubhouse needs a renovation and ramrods approval of a capital expense that revenues cannot match, the club might suddenly find itself on shaky financial footing. Unfortunately, we see examples of these scenarios – some unforeseen and unavoidable, others selfinflicted – on a regular basis. For clubs that find themselves in these situations, a carefully developed strategic plan will help them survive; it may have even helped them avoid financial calamity in the first place.
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Five elements of strategic planning There are five key elements of an effective strategic plan. Each defines a specific phase of the strategic planning process and collectively they help clubs avoid the fatal flaws of strategic planning. 1. Market analysis Start by comparing the club’s vision and mission statements to market reality. Is the club correctly positioned in its market? Does that position align with its vision and mission? Or has the market shifted (a common occurrence in recent years) to such an extent that the mission and/or vision needs to be revised? In the same study cited earlier, just 43% of club’s base their strategic plans on thorough market research. 2. Financial analysis Compare the club’s financial performance to documented and well-researched best practices to gain a thorough understanding of the business and how well it is performing. 3. Board retreat and focus group meetings Solicit opinions on club direction, needs and priorities from an ad hoc group of board members. The board retreat is followed by focus group meetings with a randomly selected cross section of club members based on gender, age and length of membership. Input from these sessions provides the basis for the questions that make up the member survey.
market segment. Clubs that are not best in class gravitate toward the middle of the market, where the majority of clubs reside. The middle of any market today (aka, average) is a confusing, costly and ultimately debilitating place to compete. It’s where clubs go to die. Who should develop the strategic plan? We are often asked by prospective clients, “Couldn’t we do this ourselves?” The answer is a qualified yes. Yes, most club management is fully capable of developing a strategic plan. But in our opinion it’s not advisable to do so. Admittedly, this is a highly self-serving opinion. But it’s one we unabashedly espouse after spending years watching clubs struggle through the process on their own, trying to find the three to four months of dedicated time it requires, trying to be honest with themselves about the strengths and weaknesses of their facility and trying to remove any and all vestiges of bias from their recommendations. Summary A strategic plan helps a club understand its competitive position, members’ priorities and financial position. It defines vision, aspirations and the steps the club needs to take to reach its goals. The plan is the result of a disciplined process that carefully considers market and financial conditions and members’ expectations. In a fragile economy and club environment, a strategic plan gives a club its best chance to grow and achieve best-in-class status.
4. Member survey A strategic plan focuses on the most important issues facing an organisation. The member survey should do the same thing. We consider the member survey the cornerstone of the strategic planning process because it helps uncover members’ expectations, how they define value and their tolerance for fees and dues increases. It tells the board what the majority of members want from their club and distinguishes the opinion of the silent majority from that of the vocal minority. 5. Board presentation Once member survey results are compiled and analysed, develop a recommended course of action for presentation to the committee/board/owner. These action steps might include such things as restarting and re-targeting the membership marketing process and program, refining the scope of services at the club and aligning club programs and pricing to the priorities of the member audiences that are being served. Approval of the recommended course of action gives the green light to begin development of the strategic plan. In total, the steps described above generally require three to four months to complete. The process is facilitated by open and clear channels of communication between those developing the plan and those providing input. It is exacerbated by the lack of the same thing. The plan charts a course for the club to be best in class in the market segment it wants to own. Best in class should be the goal of every club, regardless of
Rob Hill
CONTACT DETAILS GGA (formerly KMPG Golf Industry Practice) is the largest consulting firm in the world dedicated to golf and club-related businesses. From offices in Ireland, USA and Canada the firm provides advisory and support services to more than 2,700 clients worldwide. GGA specialises in strategic planning, non-profit governance, membership and operational performance analysis. They are a CMAE Corporate Partner. t. +353-1-44-33-603 e. rhill@globalgolfadvisors.com www.globalgolfadvisors.com
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CLUB BUSINESS – HQ BUILDING THE BUSINESS
HQ BUILDING THE BUSINESS
Want to cut club spend while increasing efficiencies? Well now you can. Introducing HQ Building the Business. Completely free to clubs this new service involves no contracts and no costs, just better buying and better club business.
Welcome to HQ Building the Business F
rom utilities and energy savings to procurement and financial services, HQ Building the Business works with your club as a surrogate head office, helping you to boost club business. And by working with carefully selected club-supporting partners and suppliers, HQ Building the Business will save you valuable time and resources in the quest to save your club money, freeing up you and your committee to run an even more efficient club. You’re just three steps away from saving money.
Step 1 Free no-obligation audit – just call us or email us.
Step 2 Following our audit and discussions, if we believe we can help your club we will source the best deals available.
Step 3 Your club starts saving money.
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This is what we call a win win! So get in touch now and help us help you to make 2017 an even better year for your club and your members. You can call on 01753 272022, email enquiries@hqbusiness.com or use the form overleaf.
Frequently Asked Questions Q. What do I get when I become a member? A: You get a free and confidential audit of your club in those areas where you would like to find savings and efficiencies. This could be anything from utilities to phone bills and from food to club equipment.
Q. What are the costs? A. There are no costs. HQ is free to join. Q. If I become a member, what are my obligations? A. There are no obligations for you or your club and no contracts. All we ask is that when we work with you, you are open about your current supplier situation. Q. Does the club need to have a minimum turnover? A. Our services are most suited to clubs with a minimum turnover of ÂŁ100,000. This is because to secure the HQ Building the Business deals with suppliers we need to prove the value of a club to their business, but if we can help we will. Q. What are your club credentials? A. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been working in the club sector for over 30
years in various roles. The launch of HQ Building the Business is the culmination of many years working with clubs and suppliers, from brewers and telecoms suppliers, to energy and water companies. Q. Do I need a face to face meeting? A. Not necessarily. A lot of the ground work can be done over the phone/email. Q. How do I become a member? A. Just email enquiries@hqbusiness.com, call 01753 272022 or or turn the page to use the form.
CLUB REPORT 47
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CLUB BUSINESS – HQ BUILDING THE BUSINESS
HQ BUILDING THE BUSINESS
MEMBERSHIP FORM Yes I am interested in joining the no-cost, no-contract, no obligation HQ Building the Business club. Your name: _____________________________________ Role in club: _____________________________________ Club name and address: _____________________________ _____________________________________________ _____________________________________________ Tel no: ________________________________________ Email: _________________________________________ Number of members: ______________________________ Turnover*:______________________________________
n All n Other (please list): _____________________________
Particular areas you are interested in?
_____________________________________________
*Turnover - this information is entirely confidential and is not shared with any other companies/agencies etc. It is HQ Building the Business’s measure as to how we can help you save money. 48 CLUB REPORT
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JOIN THE WINNING TEAM
Alchemy Contract Publishing Communications specialists and proud publisher of Clubhouse Europe t. +44(0) 1753 272022 e. info@alchemycontractpublishing.co.uk
Celebrate with one of our own.
Serve up the biggest names in sport MEANS BUSINESS
CLUB BUSINESS – MANAGEMENT
How to be an HR Star Do you sometimes feel that all you do is deal with staff issues? Well, there’s good news for readers with a staffing responsibility. Putting in preventative systems can help you to achieve streamlined team management, freeing you up to make more effective use of your time.
H
umans are individuals with their own aspirations, ideas and motivations. And while it’s important to encourage that zest for the business, it’s equally important to know how to manage it to the best effect – for the club, the management, the team and (as always) the members. So how can you ensure a smooth running operation? The following pointers will help.
ply listing all the things you need your team members to do, then add in the standard stuff that you expect them to do (code of conduct, for example). When recruiting to fill these positions the job descriptions will help you identify the skills sets you are looking for and these can then be listed at the end of the description as requirements. Once you’ve developed the job description write a brief introduction / overview.
Job descriptions A job description can be as detailed or as simple as you choose to make it, but it really forms the back bone of the positions you manage and by having them in place it leaves nothing to doubt. They are easy to create and templates can be found online. They should, however, be tailor made and reviewed and updated every year. Start off by sim-
Recruitment search process This is generally the area where most of us fall down. If you cut corners in your recruitment search process then you often make the wrong hire and that is when most of your staff problems begin. Be sure to give enough time to the process – however time-critical the appointment may seem. This will ensure that you don’t end up recruiting the
most available person as opposed to the most suitable person. There are a few simple steps to follow... • Understand the position you are trying to fill, create a job description and a job requirements list. From this point you can start to build up an ideal candidate profile of the type of person you are looking for. • Once you have your candidate profile you then need to think carefully as to where you might find such a person. There are options for seeking candidates and almost all of them come at a cost, however the investment might be worth it. • Run an advert in a trade publication to ensure you’re being read by those already in the club business.
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CLUB BUSINESS – MANAGEMENT • Depending on your location and the level of entrant required, local press is an option (your readers will be in the area and will probably have a knowledge of your club already). • Engage a recruitment agency – particularly when recruiting a senior position. • Engage a specialist industry company or consultant – this can lead to a targeted/head-hunting thanks to their specific industry knowledge and network. • Consult specialist and or local colleges. • Use your own network to find suitable candidates. • And of course make use of the CMAE. • Whichever one you choose make sure your chosen option throws up a good choice of suitable candidates. • Have a method of screening applications. If you sense you’re going to get a lot of applicants you could create your own application form. In this way the candidate fills out in advance some answers to the key criteria you are looking for. This will save you going through their CV in great detail trying to find the salient information you’re looking for. • Prepare for the interview and have pre-prepared questions. Remember the interview is for you to hear about the candidate’s experience and what they are going to do for you, rather than you telling them about yourself and your facility. • At the end of the interview, always ask them if they have any questions; this is a good indicator of how well they’ve prepared for the interview and how genuinely interested they are in working for you. You can often measure the intent of the candidate by the types of questions they ask. Avoid recruiting ones who ask about how much time off they get! Once you’ve made your decision, always seek references on your preferred candidate and follow up on their qualifications. Some interviewees are excellent at blagging it – both with their CV and at interviews. Employee induction The employee induction is a great tool to really inform your new recruit about the business and what is expected of them. The more detail you can put in the better. It should be at a minimum one day and should include the following: • Vision, Mission, values of your organisation. • A history of your organisation. • An organisation structure (who’s who). • The purpose of the business. • The purpose of the various positions within the organisation. • Employee code of conduct or rules and regulations of the work place. • A comprehensive tour of the facility. • Some rudimentary training – H&S, Customer care, service standards and sales. • FAQ – “what do I do if .......” • Quiz.
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Standard operating procedures For staff to operate in an appropriate and consistent manner you need to have a core of standard operating procedures. The more the better, but at least start with the basic ones that your feel are important. Present them in a way that is simple to follow and which can be signed off as understood by your new recruit. This means that you always have a follow up with them if things don’t go to plan! Start with a few and then add more as time permits, soon you will have an operating manual for your business. Code of conduct By having a code of conduct in place, nothing is left to chance. Things which might seem obvious to you may not be to a new recruit which is why you need to S P E L L it out! This code of conduct needs to be included in your induction, but should also be refreshed in team meetings/internal training and also posted on employee notice boards. It should also be updated regularly with examples of contraventions – again a tool for clarification. Processes Make sure you have simple processes in place for the everyday things that can crop up. Some of these things will form standard operating procedures where as others such as holiday forms, sick leave forms, expenses claims and so on, all need a process. If you don’t have a process then staff will have to make them up for themselves and assume they are doing the right thing. Leave nothing to chance. Appraisals Appraisals are key to ongoing good employee performance and communication. Have the following in place: • A three-month review for all new recruits. This is the time when you can let them go without any recourse if they are not to your satisfaction. • Mid-season review – this could be a simple (but formal) discussion to chart progress on the year’s objectives. • Annual appraisal – this needs to be prepared for by both parties and gives you a great opportunity to review the previous year and set targets for the year ahead. Employee feedback system If you are to be viewed as a progressive employer and an employer of choice it’s a good idea to seek feedback from your staff. You’ll be surprised with the ideas and insights they’ll come forward with. The interview can be created online (Survey Monkey) and can be filled out anonymously. Focus on questions about how they feel they could improve as an employee and you as an employer. The answers should have the fields of strongly agree, agree, neither, disagree, strongly disagree for example: Question – I feel I am fairly paid for the work I do. Question – I feel management keep me informed of what is going on at the club. Question – I am provided with the adequate tools / equipment to do my job effectively.
And so on. Each question should also have a comment box to allow the employee to elaborate further. Training and development budget This is usually the first budget line to be cut; and that’s if you’re lucky enough to have an organisation who has a training and development budget in the first place! Do recommend to your Board or committee that they set a policy of a set percentage of either turnover or payroll should be allocated to training and development. (A good argument for your case could be that in some countries the government actually collects a percentage of your payroll to go into a government training fund; it’s a tried and tested means.) If for example your business turns over £500,000 1 per cent of this gives £5K to work with. Once secured, develop a plan to use this fund to further enhance your organisation. Also check out from your local government what grants are available. Other ideas to make your money go further or to ensure that it is well invested: • You could ask staff to contribute 50 per cent of the training costs. It shows how committed they are and the investment not only benefits the club but it makes them more desirable employees. • Have a “brain drain” policy in place where if an employee who has benefitted from training and development leaves within one year of the training taking place, they reimburse to the club a percentage of the training costs. • Work with suppliers to see if they can support some training through sponsorship / scholarships or actually deliver some training for you. Once you get your training and development fund up and running I am sure you will develop many good ideas and initiatives to develop your staff into better employees who in turn will help grow your business. The old adage “take care of your people and your people will take care of your business” never rings truer. MWR MWR – Moral, Welfare and Recreation – is a term I picked up from the United States Military who have a whole department dedicated to MWR for their troops. It is a great concept and one that all businesses should advocate. MWR can come in many formats and again will need some budget, however most employees are happy to contribute to positive activity. Some ideas for MWR can be: • Staff golf day or staff golf outing (you can reciprocate with another club). • Staff golf lessons. • Discounted gym / sports club membership (you can reciprocate with a local gym/sport club); this also ensures your staff are taking care of themselves. • Staff BBQ – invite suppliers to contribute.
Michael Braidwood is contactable at Michael.Braidwood@cmaeurope.eu
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CLUB BUSINESS – MANAGEMENT
How to chair meetings – and why hold them at all? Typically, managers spend around 40% of their time in meetings. Yet according to research, 83% of people who go to meetings worry about them drifting off the subject and 74% question their effectiveness.
H
ave you ever left a meeting wondering why you were there in the first place? Or perhaps walked away feeling positive, only to find that nothing has actually changed a week later? Whether you are meeting with an individual, a group or a supplier, it’s important to conduct meetings effectively and use the time well. The following check list will help. Preparation • Is the meeting really necessary? Why has it been called? • Who needs to be there? • When, where and for how long? • Self prepare – what do you want the outcome to be? • How can you influence the meeting? Plan your approach. • Circulate a draft agenda. Let everyone know why they need to be there. Do they need to add anything? This way everyone can prepare effectively. Agenda When planning the agenda think about: • What you want out of the meeting. • The scope of the discussion so you keep on track. • A logical order for the items to be covered. • Whether you will cover difficult points first or start with the easy or more pleasant matters. • How you will deal with difficult items – would they be better dealt with outside the meeting? Do you need to do a bit of ‘lobbying’ first? • The times allocated to each and how flexible you will be; how to manage the meeting accordingly. • Who will be there? What might their needs/hidden agenda be? • What decisions might need to be taken – what are the possible options? • Possible action plans and outcomes. Putting your case forward • State your case. • Give reasons. • Give an example.
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• Restate your position. For example: ‘I’d like to introduce a broader food menu at the bar. I know that some of the regulars have been eating elsewhere. We can – and should – make a good margin here.’
FIVE TOP TIPS 1. Gain rapport – warm up the meeting by discussing something general that everyone can join in with. 2. Guide the discussion rather than dominating it – the chair is the facilitator not the chief contributor.
Dealing with conflict • Keep calm, cool and in control. • Keep to business – avoid personal comments – use ‘I feel...’ instead of ‘you...’ • Keep to the facts and issues in hand. • If you don’t understand, ask. • Be open to feedback and use it positively. • Respect the other point of view – even if you don’t agree with it. • Take a break if necessary. • If you really can’t agree discuss with an impartial third party. • Be prepared to compromise. Problem solving • Define the issue (problem). • Check the facts. • Define the desired outcomes. • Identify alternatives. • Examine possible consequences. • Choose your solution and do it. • Check whether you achieved the goals and act accordingly. Dealing with different types • Mr Stroppy: let him have his say, sum up his point of view for the group and ask for feedback. • Mrs Positive: use her to reinforce points and contribute throughout. • Mr Know-All: Let the group comment on his theories. • Miss Chatty: Interrupt tactfully – use time lim-
3. Make an impact – positive, strong, good body language. 4. Set the tone, rules and agenda. 5. Listen and ask the right questions.
•
• • •
itations as an excuse to move on. Summarise her points. Mr Bashful: Ask him about something he knows to increase self confidence. Give credit for his contributions. Miss Distracted: Ask her about her experience and for help to solve the issues. Mr Detail: Ask for the overview and then for specific detail only as it’s needed. Mrs Questioner: Pass her questions back to the group or ask her to answer her own question.
Involve everyone and bring in those who may be holding back (they are often the thinkers in the group and can make the best contributions). And above all, make sure that all action points are minuted and allocated to the appropriate person. These will need to be followed up and the activities competed within a given time frame.
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CLUB BUSINESS – WEBSITES
Maximise your website’s success So, you have just had your fantastic new website designed and developed… but this is just the first step. Here Larrytech explains how to maximise success once it’s live.
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he worst thing you can do with a new website is just sit back and expect the new leads and enquiries to flow through the club doors, unless of course you are employing an Agency to provide you with the digital marketing support you need. What you must do is keep your website updated. It’s incredibly important to drive your website forward, becuase if you don’t, no matter how great the site is, or how compelling an offer you have, people just won’t find you in the first place. Here are a few pointers that should help.
Content strategy – plan it! There’s no getting away from it, content is an incredibly useful tool in modern digital marketing – to an extent, as long as the quality is good, you can’t get enough of it! All this points towards the benefit of generating more content whether that be on your website, social channels or through the press. But we’re all busy people, and unless you have the luxury of hiring an external agency, the best way of ensuring you adhere to a structured content strategy is to plan one. Set time aside to think of blog titles for the next three months, set-up some social content via Hootsuite, plan your press releases prior to an
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Content is an incredibly useful tool in modern digital marketing...
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event. By doing all of this, and writing a structured plan for when your content needs to be both written and posted and sticking to it, you will be amazed at how much more successful your website is. Share share share Once you have created all this high quality content, it’s important to tell people about it! If your website is properly set-up, blog posts and articles should start being indexed for keywords you have targeted so you will start to gain some organic traffic from search engines. But to really maximise success,
sharing your content over your social media channels will vastly increase the number of people you can interact with, and if your content is engaging, your reach will be even greater. Sharing your content can be something as simple as creating a post on your business Facebook account and sharing this on your personal account, but to really engage people you want something a bit more exciting. Try a competition – give something away to everyone who shares your content, or even just if they like your page or follow you. If you have something compelling to offer, your chances of reaching a wider audience who may not have heard of you before becomes much, much greater. High quality, but fast loading images Modern websites are very visual, and the quality of your images can often make or break them. As with every other aspect of your website, updating pictures is important, whether you want to give the homepage a different feel or add a little more spice to your blog posts. When you are updating and adding new pictures, don’t forget to crop them to the correct size to ensure optimal load time. You can use stock photography, but nothing beats the quality of hiring a professional photogra-
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CLUB BUSINESS – WEBSITES
pher for a couple of hours to come and take pictures of you, your office or even lifestyle shots around where you work – these can work really well on a website, and an experienced photographer should ensure your pictures are cropped to the right size, and the right balance of quality for optimal loading times. Try http://www.picresize.com/ for easy cropping and resizing of images. SEO basics This is a biggie – so important in fact that there’s too much detail to go into in this one article! But to really maximise your websites success in search engines, make sure you do the following: • Good quality, keyword-rich website content. • Focus on your local listings – people will often be searching for a club locally.
• Measure results – add Analytics and Search Console and act on the results. • Optimise your website for mobile – this can be a key factor in driving search engine rankings. Interactive content – video? Content isn’t just about quantity – quality is even more important. One great piece of content that gets shared multiple times is far better than 10 poorly written, irrelevant pieces of content. One still perhaps slightly underused medium for content on websites is video. Although easy to embed via YouTube or Vimeo, creating video content can be trickier and expensive, but it may well be an investment worth making. Users tend to engage more with video content and there’s so many ways you can use video content
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Nothing beats the quality of hiring a professional photographer for a couple of hours...
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effectively. These include: • A corporate video introducing your club and people – great for showing website visitors what you’re all about. • Web adverts – is there a particularly compelling reason for people to choose your club over a competitor? If so, how about storyboarding this in a clever web advert and then promoting via Facebook ads? It’s a great way of highlighting why a visitor should choose you. • Facebook Live – got an event that people may want to view? Then why not showcase this live via Facebook? So there you have it, a simple guide to maximising success of your website once it goes live.
CONTACT DETAILS Want to talk through options in more detail? Or are you considering outsourcing some of this activity? Then get in contact with the team to see what they can offer. Larrytech Ltd, Calverley House, 55 Calverley Road, Tunbridge Wells, TN1 2TU • t. 01892 888 011 • www.larrytech.com
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2017 CLUB AWARDS
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Enter the 2017 Club Awards.
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REGISTRATION HOTLINE 01753 272022
CLUB MIRROR 55
CLUB BUSINESS – SPONSORSHIPS
Securing sponsorship satisfaction CMAE’s Mike Braidwood CCM examines the value of sponsorships to clubs and how to ensure that the relationship works for all parties – including the members. Here are his 10 Top Tips with an additional one thrown in, all in the spirit of under-promise, over-deliver! practical way to earn additional revenue for your club is to bring in sponsors. Not only can they add financial value to the club, they can also pro-actively promote the club and act as an endorsement of the club if the brand fit is right. To bring in the right sponsors at the right fee, you first of all need to understand what the sponsors are looking for. All businesses will have their particular targets so if, for example, they’re looking for a younger market you may want to discuss the youth section. If their product is female focussed, then your drive to bring in more 18-34 year old males may cause disappointment and friction at a later stage. Equally, be sure that the sponsors you hope to bring in will be viewed as a good fit by the members. The sponsors you choose to work with says as much about you as a club as it does about them as a sponsor. And also do remember to tap into the expertise and reach of your new partner. Examine cross-promotions and be ready to discuss their learnings while sharing your own to equal benefit. In general sponsors are looking for: • Positive promotion of their brand (exposure). • A platform through which to sell their products. • A targeted client base who match the profile of their customers. • A facility that matches their brand aspirations. • And potentially a place to entertain existing clients to ensure ongoing loyalty.
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Here are top tips to ensure your sponsors are completely satisfied and keep coming back to you year on year. 1. Professionalism Many of the potential sponsors you will be dealing with will be reporting back to a head office which will have strict control procedures. Therefore it is important to understand quickly that these organisations will need professionally produced documents produced during the negotiations and contract process. Ensure that you have these documents to hand and that your communication and dealings are professional and efficient. Often large organisations
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The sponsors you work with will tell your members much about you as a club. make last minute decisions and are working to tight timelines, so it is important that you respect these timeline and follow through on their requests. Ensure that everything is signed and sealed as - like many clubs - budgets may be cut in times of austerity or if head office priorities change. 2. Respect their brand Sponsors are entrusting you with their brand. From the onset, then, you should ask them for a copy of their brand guidelines and any do’s and don’ts. This will not only impress them with your commitment to safeguard the brand values, but it will also ensure that you or your team don’t make any blatant errors when you do agree terms and are ‘managing’ their brand on your property. It is a good idea to quickly establish sign off procedures on their brand application at your facility so it does not hold up the process. 3. One stop shop Once you have established an agreement for a company to sponsor an element at your facility they may expect you to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for them. This is a great opportunity to add yet more valuable revenue by taking care of the production of branded items etc. Be careful during the negotiations that the
sponsor understands that the fees you are charging are for the exposure opportunity and the cost of branding certain items is over and above that. You may be asked to source the signage company, printer, source the shirts, produce the flags etc. whatever it is you will need to project manage this carefully and charge a decent margin to cover the time you have put into this. Very often clubs will have much better supply chains for these items than the sponsoring company themselves. 4. Add value When you are developing sponsorship relationships make sure you understand the long term value of the sponsorship agreement and ensure that you are adding value into the agreement. This may be in the form of, for example, free activities – perhaps a fourball at a golf day, seats at an annual dinner and so on. One good way to add value is to create a media release about the agreement and circulate (with their prior approval) to your database. By adding value you are reinforcing the relationship which should result in the relationship lasting longer term, giving the club some sustainable income streams.
• Media clipping from a joint press release with some media value calculations. • Photographic log of their brand in situ. • Feed back/testimonials from sponsored events. 8. Longer terms presence If you have committed and loyal sponsors on board it is a good idea to have a sponsors’ recognition wall somewhere prominent in the clubhouse. This wall can carry the logo and a story of the relationship, thus giving the sponsor more exposure and a feelgood factor. However, the sponsors’ wall is also a marketing showcase for you, because it sends a positive message to others that ‘yes we are open to sponsorship suggestions’. You should be able to measure the value of the sponsorships you receive and therefore you could put a ‘minimum’ spend threshold to qualify for permanent club house presence. 9. First refusal Over time you will think up many sponsorship opportunities at your club, from events and competitions to product placement or simply branding. Whatever they are, make sure you give your existing sponsors first refusal. There is nothing more infuriating for an existing sponsor seeing another brand take on something at a facility that they were unaware was up for grabs. Equally, if you feel the need to spread your sponsorships over more companies for security, use your diplomacy and communication skills to explain this reasoning.
If your sponsors are focusing on the next generation of members, make sure they see your coaching programmes in action. 5. Communication – before, during and after Often the sponsoring company will have assigned the relationship to a specific person in their organisation. Whoever this person is and whatever their job title, rest assured they will be required to give timely feedback on what is happening to their sponsorship investment. As a result be proactive with your communication before, during and – in the case of an event – after. In this way you are making their life easier and, if there are any misunderstandings, they will emerge quickly and can be addressed. The aim is to show that you are meeting and exceeding expectations. It becomes quantifiable and, should this person leave, there is an accurate trail of activities to prove that you are meeting your side of the agreement. It also makes their life easier which can only help secure renewals/more business and goodwill. 6. Loyalty During a sponsorship relationship you need to be loyal to your sponsor and open and upfront about other sponsorship opportunities. You may, for example, tie down a local car dealer to be ‘Official car dealer of club X’. As a result of this you will have to have in your agreement certain exclusions
regarding approaches from other car dealers and/or brands. This may not preclude you from having a competitor brand’s event at your club, but you better make sure that your sponsor knows that you will be open to other car brand business. This puts you in a position of power. If they demand exclusivity that will cost more as you’re losing potential revenue. A word of warning here; if exclusivity comes into play, be careful on your handling of turning others away. If your sponsor walks away from you (for whatever reason) you could find that those you’ve turned away have secured sponsorships elsewhere. Look at the length of your agreement and secure a three year exclusivity deal if possible. 7. Results The more results and stats you can feed back to the sponsor the better. They have to report up the chain the performance of their sponsorship investment, so it is crucial that you feed them with the right information. Some of the stats you could offer are: • Number of customers you have had through your doors who have seen their brand. • The number of hits on your web site pages that carry the sponsors brand (you might also show the click through rate).
10. Innovation Sponsors appreciate it if you come up with innovative ideas that help portray their brand in a positive light – and which also secure money for your club (win win). So take time to understand the businesses your members are in and keep an eye on local and regional advertising to see who is promoting what. Then approach them with ‘have I got an idea for you!’. And finally – your bonus point! 11. Recognition Take time to recognise your sponsors at every available opportunity: • Thank them during speeches at events, specifically not generically. “I’d like to thank all the sponsors today” does not cut it. • Invite them to a sponsors’ golf day or event as your guest/s. • Invite them to an end of season dinner. • Send them a thank you gift at the end of the year (an innovative one ideally – stand out from the crowd). • Send them thank you notes. Ultimately, always try and step into the mind-set of your sponsors. And keep in touch with what they’re doing. If they shift direction or launch a new product, you want to be sure that together you stay on the same path and continue the journey for their benefit, the club’s benefit and ultimately the benefit of your members. And ultimately always remember the mantra – under promise and over-deliver!
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BRANDS REPORT 2017 – SPIRITS
TheUK’s top10 – club spirits brands
Club Mirror’s annual and exclusive Top Club Brands Report in association with CGA Strategy reveals the club stalwarts and the new favourites, starting with the UK's Top 10 club spirits brands. Mark Newton and Ashley Cairns report.
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he Spirits sector continues to be a key driver for the total UK on trade – and the club sector is no exception to this. While the market here may continue to be dominated by mainstream brands, there is no doubt that the innovations seen throughout the category helps to focus customer interest irrespectively. In the broader trade premiumisation continues to be a buzz word, cocktails remain important too as are the continuing developments within premium mixers. Innovation is a core factor and micro distilleries and unique in house serves are all helping to keep
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interest in the category high. For sports and social clubs further rebranding, and new brand extensions, are likely. The top brands listed in this report are ranked based on total current GB MAT volume performance over a combined two year period for each brand shown – along with their UK distributor (or owner). With the overall 10 brands remaining the same as previous – albeit with some minor movement – showing the continuing power of the big brands within the segment and the importance of brand recognition and value for money for many club drinkers.
#1 Smirnoff Red
ABV: 37.5% Diageo GB
#2 Famous Grouse
The biggest vodka (and spirit) brand in clubland. Visibility continues to be increased with the help of exposure at festivals last summer with ‘House of Smirnoff’ and the ‘we are open’ campaign on TV.
#3 Gordon’s
ABV: 37.5% Diageo GB
The largest Scotch in the GB on-trade, it continues to be a major success in the club market. The brand brought back the iconic ‘The Bird’ advertisements on TV over the Christmas period and is targeting millennials with the Naked Grouse variant.
#4 Bell’s
Gin as a category is continuing to go from strength to strength. Gordon’s launched a new bottle in autumn 2016 that has been rolled out in the on and off-trade to give the brand an update and a slicker look.
#5 Bacardi Carta Blanca
ABV: 37.5% Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands
ABV: 40% Bacardi Brown-Forman Brands
#6 Courvoisier VS ***
ABV: 35% Cellar Trends Jagermeister is the most popular non-cream liqueur in the club sector by a considerable margin, mirroring its continuing success in the wider on-trade. Innovation in serve continues to be key and the ‘Ice Cold’ shot is currently flying the flag for the brand.
ABV: 40% Maxxium The 10th biggest spirit in the GB on-trade, this is the biggest cognac in the sector. More recently, its ‘Toast of Paris’ cocktail competition has returned bringing even more focus to the brand.
#8 Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
Still the most well-known bourbon brand in the UK on-trade. Jack Daniel’s enjoys solid support from the club market with variants such as Honey also now becoming well established, and new developments such as Jack Daniel’s Fire adding to the portfolio.
#9 Jagermeister
ABV: 40% Diageo GB One of the most easily recognisable brands in the traditional club spirits market, the profile of Bell’s remains high, especially with its continued work with Help for Heroes. This has now raised over £1 million for the armed forces’ charity.
While Bacardi may be focusing more on the late night, high tempo area of the market with the mojito serve, many club drinkers still enjoy this flexible rum, which goes down well with a wide variety of mixers.
#7 Jack Daniel’s
ABV: 40% Maxxium UK
ABV:35% Diageo GB
Golden/ spiced remains the fastest growing rum style and Captain Morgan is undoubtedly the biggest brand in this sector. More recently, the introduction of a new white variant has provided customers with the option of a complete brand rum range from which to choose.
#10 Baileys
ABV: 17% Diageo GB This iconic cream liqueur is moving forward by driving association with cocktails and coffee as a means of diversifying the brand. The flat white martini is its main cocktail, however simple Baileys and coffee is also being pushed as a different option.
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BRANDS REPORT 2017 – PACKAGED AND RTDS
TheUK’s top – club packaged beers, ciders and ready to drink brands Packaged drinks remain hugely important to many sports and social clubs with the fridge as crucial a focus to customers as the back bar and the beer font.
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hile the makeup of the fridge itself has evolved over time, tradition and big brand recognition remains crucial for many club drinkers. This is reflected in the continued success of the vast majority of key brands within the following lists. The report splits out the key sub categories from packaged world lager to RTDs, stout and low/ nonalcoholic beers. The top brands listed within each are ranked based on total current GB MAT volume performance (CGA Strategy On Premise Measurement Service P12 2016) in each of the key packaged sub-categories over a combined two year period for each brand shown – along with their UK distributor (or owner). Where applicable, either a Top 3 rank or a single key brand – depending on overall category size – is included.
PACKAGED READY TO DRINK (ALCOPOPS/SPIRIT MIXERS)
#1 WKD
WKD continues to innovate to maintain interest in the category. In 2016, this revolved around some new extensions to the range called ‘NKD’. Same ABV as WKD but less than half the calories and a lighter taste profile, so can be enjoyed alongside food.
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#2 VK
VK still offers a wide range of flavour options helping it to remain a popular and competitively priced choice for those looking for a classic vodka based RTD.
#3 Crabbie’s While Crabbie’s sponsorship of the Grand National may have ended, the brand is still sponsoring high profile sports across the board. This year they are sponsoring the Scottish Rugby team until the end of the 2017 season. They also sponsored TFI Friday in 2016 when it returned to Channel 4.
PACKAGED CIDER
#1 Kopparberg
#2 Magners Kopparberg enjoys a broad appeal through the wide selection of flavoured packaged variants available. This position is likely to be consolidated with further product innovation such as their recent move into a fruit flavoured premium packaged lager option.
#3 Bulmers
This ever popular Irish cider has continued to maintain a dominant position in the packaged cider market. The brand’s new ‘hold true’ campaign combined with a packaging re-design has helped to cement Magners’ place in the top rankings.
While the broad flavour range of Bulmers is key to success the brand is offering further innovation with the availability of 500ml bottles, and the release of a new ‘Orchard Pioneers’ range of two premium apple ciders in 2017.
PACKAGED WORLD LAGER
#1 Corona
#2 Peroni Nastro Azzurro Regular large scale marketing campaigns help ensure that Corona remains at the front of drinkers’ minds and package innovations such as the smaller 21cl Coronita bottle help to broaden appeal further.
#3 Tiger While Mexican beers are still very popular in the club sector, this year Tiger has brought a little bit of Far Eastern exotica to the world lager sector courtesy of continued support from UK brand owner Heineken.
The overall popularity of Peroni in the wider trade means that it continues to enjoy good sales across the club market. Peroni have also launched a gluten free variant catering to the growing ‘free from’ beer market.
PACKAGED PREMIUM LAGER
#1 Budweiser
#2 Beck’s Budweiser continues to focus strongly on football within its promotional campaigns but has also broadened its outlook into music/festivals and a classic US/GB link to BBQs.
#3 Desperados Although no longer in major growth in a crowded fridge, the draught Desperados distribution rolling out will take the brand on to the front of the bar in a bid to entice consumers into staying in the beer category later into the night.
While Beck’s Vier may have cornered the brands draught market across the UK on-trade, there is no doubt that many packaged lager drinkers still look to the more traditional branding and taste of Beck’s original packaged in clubland.
PACKAGED STANDARD LAGER
#1 Coors Light
#2 Carlsberg Jean-Claude Van Damme is still the figurehead of Coors’ highly successful TV campaign. The brand has also focused additional marketing towards the younger end of the market over the last 12 months.
PACKAGED STOUT
#1 GUINNESS
#3 Foster’s
PACKAGED ALES
#1 NEWCASTLE BROWN A lot of current packaged Guinness activity is still being driven by innovation - with increased interest in the brand helped by the launch of its Hop House 13 lager variant and Guinness Rye.
Foster’s has moved away from its comedy associations to sponsor the English Cricket Board in 2016, running activity particularly over the summer months.
Remains one of the highest profile brands in the club sector. Always close to major sports events, the last year saw extra high visibility as sponsors of the Euro 2016 football championships whilst 2017 brings a limited edition bottle inspiredby Danish design.
This iconic beer remains extremely popular in clubland and innovation in the form of Brown Ale on Draught (currently being trialled) could bring it to a wider audience still.
PACKAGED LOW/NO ALCOHOL BEERS
#1 BECKS BLUE Beck’s Blue remains the most popular low/non-alcohol beer brand in the club sector by a considerable margin. It is an ideal option for the designated driver, or the drinker wishing to avoid too much alcohol.
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BRANDS REPORT 2017 – CASK AND KEG
TheUK’s top10 – club draught cask and keg beer brands Draught beer – whether cask or (more particularly) keg – remains in a strong position with many drinkers in the sports and social club sector, and this is reflected in its continuing popularity across all styles.
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he massive explosion of interest in ‘craft beer’ within the wider UK on-trade over the last few years has helped to ensure that the category retains its importance, even if the key brands remain big name national and ‘super regional’ offerings. The list here is ranked based on total current GB MAT volume performance (CGA Strategy On Premise Measurement Service P12 2016) for each brand by aggregated cask and/or keg variants over a combined two year period.
TOP 10 TIPS FOR GETTING YOUR CASK ALE IN PERFECT CONDITION AS YOU PASS IT ACROSS THE BAR Steps
Why?
1. Take pride in your cellar – ensure that the cellar and all equipment is scrupulously clean
Beer is classed as a food product. Poor hygiene is one of the biggest causes of infected beer and wastage
2. Ensure you order the correct size of casks that you can sell through within three days of being put on sale
After three days the quality of cask ale deteriorates very quickly resulting in off flavours and aromas. Reduce your range in off-peak times
3. All beer should be stored in a temperature controlled cellar, maintained at between 11°C and 13°C Either way, flavour is always affected resulting in returned beer
Too cold: Casks are slow to condition and can appear ‘hazy’ – a chill haze Too warm: Casks over condition and the shelf life is shortened
4. Stillage casks as soon as they are delivered. Use self tilting stillages if possible
This gives the beer plenty of time to settle before you start conditioning the beer. Self tilts improve yields
5. Clean the beer lines every seven days between regular weekly line cleaning and improved sales
Yeast build up in the lines results on fobbing and off-flavours. There is a direct correlation
6. Do hard peg cask ales at the end of the night
This ensures cask ale will be kept in perfect condition for three days
7. Always do the CAT test on cask ale in the cellar before pulling through the lines – check Clarity, Aroma and Taste
If the beer is not fully conditioned the beer in the lines may have to be disposed of
8. Using a thermometer, regularly check the temperature of the liquid in the glass. Cask ales should be 11-13°C, standard lagers and smooths should be 5-8°C, extra cold products 2-5°C
Don’t let your customers become your Quality Control department – they vote with their feet and won’t return if the temperature is inconsistent
9. Clean the glasswasher thoroughly once a week and don’t put anything other than glasses in the machine. Renovate glassware regularly
A good product can be ruined by a dirty glass – and it can affect your yields
10. Train staff how to dispense the beer correctly without over-spilling
Overpouring or incorrect dispense techniques can ruin the product and result in massive stock losses
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#1 John Smith’s
ABV: 3.8% Heineken UK
#2 Guinness
Although the Gold variant launched in 2015 is no longer part of the John Smith’s range this iconic bitter is still the dominant keg and cask ale brand in the club sector by far.
#3 Worthington’s
ABV: 3.6% Molson Coors
A lot of draught Guinness activity is still being driven by innovation with increased interest in the brand helped by the launch of their Hop House 13 lager variant and continued success of the ‘surger’.
#4 Tetley’s
This classic Midlands bitter remains one of the most popular keg beers in the sports and social club category with its Creamflow format retaining a large following.
#5 Greene King IPA
ABV: 3.6% Greene King
ABV: 4.0% Molson Coors
#6 Fuller’s London Pride
ABV: 3.6% Charles Wells The Charles Wells owned McEwan’s brand continues to find a healthy niche in the club sector. Best Scotch remains the biggest seller on the back of its continuing popularity in the North East of England.
ABV: 4.1% Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC Sports remain an important connection for London Pride. While the South East remains its heartland, additional visibility is being further developed country-wide through sponsorships with organisations such as England Golf.
#8 Brew XI
This highly successful Molson Coors brand is still the biggest selling cask ale in GB. Sports sponsorship and events tend to be of a nautical flavour to reflect the beer’s Cornish heritage and even include sponsoring the annual London Beach Rugby event.
#9 McEwan’s Best Scotch
ABV: 3.6% Carlsberg UK Tetley’s is the quintessential Yorkshire brew and is still extremely popular in sports, social and working men’s clubs across the north of England.
Greene King IPA’s continuing success has been helped by the further sporting links that have been cemented in 2016 with the deal to make it the official beer of England cricket on a five year agreement.
#7 Sharp’s Doom Bar
ABV: 4.1% Diageo
ABV: 3.6% Molson Coors A one-time Mitchells & Butlers brand, this traditional best bitter, now in the Molson Coors portfolio – once upon a time “brewed for the men of the Midlands” – retains a hard core following in that area of clubland.
#10 Marston’s Pedigree
ABV: 4.5% Marston’s Pedigree or ‘P’ as it was originally known, is an iconic amber ale brand that has seen some significant contemporary re-branding in recent times to focus interest in a younger club-land demographic.
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FOOD AND BEVERAGE – WINE
Wine – premiumisation and polarisation Over the last couple of years the wine category has all been about sparkling wine, particularly Prosecco. This remains very much a trend of primary importance. However, there are a number of other moves within the category that should also be brought into the spotlight. CGA’s Mark Newton and Ashley Cairns report.
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ast year, CGA spoke about the concept of premiumisation within wine and this remains an important factor. There's now an extra dimension to add to this – polarisation. It is not the mainstream, budget end of the market that is seeing the greatest effect from this move towards more expensive, higher quality wines. The middle market is now the major battle ground where share is being lost. Old and New World wine also remains a clear battle front as traditional countries such as France
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still make the most of the move away from budget wine brands which are more the mainstay of countries such Australia, and South Africa. The ever increasing focus on casual dining and the out-of-home eating sector has also re-focused the traditional relationship with wine and food and this makes its presence felt across the whole GB on-trade. Finally, there is a new buzz in the category which is all about the serve. The success of Prosecco has reignited interest in draught wine,
but this is only part of the story. Relatively new technologies such as Coravin and Enomatic wine dispense systems are becoming more accessible and affordable, which offers a whole new lease of life to the ‘by the glass’ serve. Polarisation and premiumisation The whole ‘quality not quantity’ ethos is very much at play here – especially for special occasions. Equally there will always be a safe place sales wise for value wines; some people just cannot afford to
As customers have become more educated about wine, there has been a slow but sure re-emergence in Old World styles – particularly good news for France and Italy.
spend more, and/or are reassured by cheaper, mainstream brands (many of which they will also drink on promotion from the supermarket). This area of the market remains reasonably strong at the moment. It is, therefore, the middle mainstream £15-£20 bracket that is getting squeezed more and more – hence the added concept of polarisation. Sparkling wine – the (continuing) Prosecco effect Over the last 12 months talk about sparkling wine and Prosecco has continued to hit trade headlines – indeed the category is still enjoying growth of over +40% volume and value year on year. Much has been made of the legal moves by Prosecco producers regarding the rights to use the name. Equally there have been scaremongering stories regarding lack of supply based on overwhelming demand and struggling production. Ever greater choice – from both Old and New World alternatives – appears to be the outcome and as a result the market will no doubt become ever more competitive, with price (balanced with quality/ value for money) likely to become a key cornerstone going forward. Old vs New World As customers have become more educated on wine, there has been a slow but sure re-emergence in Old World styles. This has been particularly good news for France and Italy, with a greater
selection of good quality, but competitively priced, wines becoming more easily available across the on-trade and providing a volume and value uplift of c.+2% against New World options. Mainstream branded New World wines remain highly popular in the off-trade, especially when on supermarket special offer. But this is no longer enough for many on-trade consumers. If they have to pay more in their local club than when making a trip to the off licence they want a different, better experience. Many now see the Old World as providing that opportunity. Draught and by the glass Draught wine in the traditional sense is at a strange crossroads. We don’t see the old still wine draught dispense gaining broader traction outside traditional ‘heartland’ retail operations such as mainstream branded food – the concept is still too firmly ingrained as too mainstream, low quality in the eyes of many customers (whether this is deserved or not). This, of course, isn’t the case for sparkling as the huge success of Glera/Frizzante, the legal name for draught Prosecco, has shown. Many suppliers are also seeing some considerable success with new alternatives into that side of the market and it is likely we will see new sparkling wine successes during 2016/17. In still wine the concept of the Coravin and Enomatic style wine dispense systems appears to be getting a lot of support from suppliers right
now. This being so, the potential to expand the more premium ‘by the glass option’ is significant. Up until now the capital investment in such systems might have scuppered the deal for many, but now more retailers can have the opportunity to bring added appeal to customers and the potential additional margin they can put into the till. For those not in a position to take advantage of these new technologies just yet, 187ml single serve bottles are still seeing +9.2% volume increases year on year. Wine and food The popularity of casual dining has further boosted the interest in food and drink combinations. Whilst many consumers and producers are looking to new pairings, such as craft beer and cider, to provide alternatives there is no doubt that wine remains at the forefront for many customers. This is something that retailers can take advantage of with sensible matching and competitive pricing options. It is some years since so many factors have influenced the on-trade wine category all together. This suggests that opportunity exists across all segments of the market – where one trend does not apply, another may very well fit perfectly. As the cost of adopting new serve technology likely drops in the medium/ long term, this may very well be a perfect chance for some sports and social clubs to increase both storage convenience and profit margin in the future. *All data shown is CGA Brand Index 2015.
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FOOD AND BEVERAGE – BEER FESTIVALS
All Hail the Ale A quality cask ale offer reflects well on the club. It is often seen as a benchmark for the club’s overall quality; research shows that clubs and pubs that build a reputation for keeping consistently excellent ales are more likely to experience an upturn in all trade, including food sales. Marston’s Haley Cox offers the following advice.
T
he cask ale drinker has remained loyal to the licensed trade, continuing to head out for a sociable drink. Meeting their needs and recruiting more of them is therefore an essential and logical way to increase sales and generate sustainable business for your club. Cask ale popularity is growing and out performs all other beer categories, now accounting for 57% of all on-trade draught ale (versus 43% keg)1 – and it’s set to achieve 20% of on-trade beer and 70% of ontrade ale by 20202.
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Cask Ale Report 2015-16 Cask Ale Report 2015-16
Range and beer styles As demand and interest in cask ale continues to grow, cask beer drinkers are looking for more premium, quality drinks, crafted with natural ingredients and genuine regional provenance, leading to a trend in seeking out different taste and flavour experiences. So you can understand why more and more beer drinkers are enjoying the variety of flavours that can only be found in a delicious pint of real ale.
Aim to have a balanced range of familiar ‘tried and trusted’ brands to re-assure new or occasional drinkers, alongside less familiar ‘guest’ brands that provide something a little different to encourage choice and experimentation for more experienced drinkers. It’s all about quality If you want to build a reputation for cask ale you need to deliver quality beer. It’s as simple – and as difficult! – as that.
loyal ones who keep coming back, and it’s repeat custom that keeps any business alive. Train staff and the customers will follow For your customers, the care and attention your staff pay towards pouring and serving has a large impact on their impression of your overall offer. Helping your staff to learn and develop a passion for what they are serving will also have a big impact on your sales. Even if you only have three beers on your bar, if your staff know what each beer is and what it tastes like they can encourage trial, upsell and make trusted recommendations that give your customers confidence. In fact last year, 30% of drinkers cited staff knowledge as increasing their confidence in a venue. Often drinkers will not know which beers are hoppier, and which are maltier for example – so any gentle nudges staff can provide will be helpful. The more ales you have and the more knowledge your staff have about them, the more confident your customers will feel in buying them.
1. Ordering – order the correct size of cask and aim to sell it within three days.
Make it an event With so many benefits to serving cask ale it only makes sense to create events and activities to encourage your non-cask drinkers to try cask ale for the first time – and with 41% of people saying the best place to try real ale is at a beer festival4, it’s the perfect event to show off your range and to impress. Cask Ale and beer festivals cash in on what customers want – an experience that cannot be replicated at home. Beer festivals are a great way to boost footfall and build a reputation for quality cask ale. Some ideas include:
4. Pegging & venting – all casks should be vented with soft porous pegs 2-6 hours after delivery. Check casks frequently and change peg if it becomes blocked. When strong fermentation has finished insert a hard, non porous peg. Remove that when serving and replace at the end of the session.
• TASTING PLATERS – a great way of encouraging experimentation and delivering a real tasting experience. • FOOD MATCHING – get your kitchen team involved to create a range of food or snacks to accompany each beer. • INVOLVE YOUR MEMBERS – hold a vote and let your members influence what they want to see on the bar on the big day. • REWARD – run a loyalty scheme to encourage return custom with prizes for attending the multiple events. • SAMPLING – offering ‘try before you buy’ from a small bespoke glass (shot glasses work well) drive interest and engagement. • LOCAL BEERS – choosing a regional or local beer can help create a sense of community. Yes it’s true that cask ale needs a lot of work, but it’s worth it. You need impeccable quality standards right from cellar management, to cleaning and maintaining the line equipment through to keeping your glasses clean. But all that effort is reflected in the rewards. While the value of a single visit of a cask ale drinker may be slightly lower, with 50% of cask ale drinkers visiting a venue once a week or more3, the value of their custom over their lifetime is considerably higher. Cask ale customers also tend to be very 3
Cask Ale Report 2015-16
TOP TIPS FOR THE PERFECT PINT
Publicising your club and events It may seem obvious but unless your members know what’s going on they won’t get involved. • POINT OF SALE – keep POS up to date and relevant with personalised banners, posters and flyers (and always advertise the next event before the first one is over!). • GO DIGITAL – 69% cask ale drinkers use Facebook once a month or more5 and social media is quick, easy and cost effective to tell your 4 5
Cask Ale Report 2015-16 YouGov survey for the Cask Report July 2015
2. Storage – check your cellar temperature. Casks must be stored in a temperature controlled cellar between 11-13°C. 3. Stillaging– all casks should be stillaged securely for at least three days before sale. If some have to be stillaged later, roll them first to allow the finings to work. Cask beers will usually drop bright within 48 hours, some brands may take a little longer.
5. Tapping – tap all casks 1-2 days before they go on sale. Always use a clean tap. 6. Sampling – sample beers for clarity, aroma and taste after tapping, and before serving each day. Always sample from the cask. 7. Serving – once on sale the beer is exposed to air, which begins to deteriorate the quality of the beer. Ideally, therefore, empty a cask within three days. 8. Tilting – gently tilt the cask when it’s between 1⁄2 and 2⁄3 full, either by raising the back or lowering the front by about three inches, whichever is easier. 9. Cleaning – clean the beer lines and equipment every week, using methods recommended by your cask supplier. 10. Don’t compromise – follow these tips and you will serve the perfect pint of cask ale.
members what’s going on. • LOCAL PRESS – create a press release or photo call about your event and send to local journalists. • CAMRA – Make your local group aware of your event. (Find contact details at www.camra.org.uk).
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FOOD AND BEVERAGE – CLUB KITCHEN
Food trends 2017 With pop-up food markets, 24 hour news channels and social media, things move very quickly these days. Booker offers the following thoughts on what’s hot and what’s not for 2017. Burgers Although still the number one dish on UK menus, burgers are in decline. They featured on 7% less menus in 2016. You still need to have them on your menu and the trend for ‘build your own’ by adding toppings and sauces still continues. Vegetable burgers are growing their presence on UK menus and now account for over 10% of all burgers sold. Use ingredients such as Chickpea, Sweet Potato, Halloumi and Butternut Squash to add a twist to your offer. American Long and slow cooked dishes are really on the up; just look at how many ‘pit’ and BBQ style restaurants are popping up. Slow cooked Brisket is the biggest winner from this trend. Cook it for 6-7 hours and it can be served with a variety of toppings and sauces to create a fantastic dining experience. As with burgers, traditional American dishes of Hot Dogs and Macaroni Cheese are slightly declining, but don’t take them off your menu just yet. It’s the same story with Pulled Pork; although still popular and a dish that you should be selling as a topping or side, the popularity is starting to wain slightly. Mexican There is a trend for pop-up restaurants and so called street food, where Mexican lends itself very
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FOOD AND BEVERAGE – CLUB KITCHEN easily. New Mexican restaurants are still opening at a pace, backing up the thought that it is still popular and trendy. We mentioned Burritos last year and they are still growing in popularity, replacing Hot Dogs in the top 20 dishes served by pubs – a useful statistic for club kitchens. This also fits with the rise in popularity of extreme hot flavours, with Habanero, Harissa and Sriracha appearing regularly. Superfoods and salads There has been strong growth in this area with customers looking for a healthier option when eating out. Superfoods such as different pulses, beans and kale are appearing more and more, especially when mixed with a salad and topped with a protein such as chicken or salmon. Salads also tap into the need to make your food colourful and to have an eye appeal. We live in an age where everyone seems to post pictures of what they are eating (14 million brits have an Instagram account). This can be one of the best (and free) ways of marketing your club kitchen. An instant recommendation by a customer can be worth its weight in gold. Ethical Free range is the mostly widely used term on menus, most commonly associated with eggs, but also with chicken and pork. Sustainable and line caught are also terms being seen more, particularly in association with fish. Farm assured is also a wellrecognised term to your customers. Toppings, sides and sauces Sauces still continue to be popular as customers want to personalise their food. Sweet sauces and hot sauces are currently in the biggest growth. Sweet sauces are used more to accompany breakfast and brunch, with hot sauces adding an extreme twist to other dishes. Coleslaw was slightly down in popularity in 2016 v 2015, but still continues to feature on a lot of menus, particularly with the long and slow trend foods mentioned earlier. Offering a variety of fries, especially if they come with different seasonings, remains popular, with Sweet Potato fries still the most popular alternative to standard chips. Final tip The traditional Sunday Lunch has seen a huge increase in popularity. It’s a meal customers want to cook less and less and they are realising that they can get a great value meal out rather than slave over a hot stove for a few hours.
CONTACT DETAILS t: 0845 6012999 – Booker www.booker.co.uk
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FOOD AND BEVERAGE – FRIDGES
Cool advice on buying and maintaining fridges No-nonsense advice on operating your fridge with maximum energy efficiency, plus what to look out for in new equipment. More energy efficiency from the fridges you already have Location, location, location. One of the commonest forms of ‘fridge abuse’ is, quite simply, putting it in the wrong place, so that there is inadequate ventilation. This means it has to work much harder to maintain temperature. Make sure your fridge has plenty of ventilation and make sure staff don’t block it (for example, by storing trays beside the cabinet’s ventilation panels).
energy (plus, your staff will be more comfortable). Equally, putting your fridge in a cooler part of the kitchen, away from the hot cooking equipment, will mean it doesn’t have to work so hard.
Make the kitchen cooler Making better use of the kitchen’s ventilation could drop the ambient temperature by a degree or two, which means the fridges will need less
Internal layout Make sure your shelves are properly spaced out and, if you’re storing big boxes, make sure they don’t block the airflow.
Overloading Another common abuse is to overload fridges. This affects the internal airflow, reducing the cabinet’s or coldroom’s ability to chill effectively. Again, the system will constantly work to try to rectify the problem and energy will be wasted.
Shut that door Obvious but, almost unbelievably, another common abuse. Always shut the fridge, freezer or coldroom door and NEVER prop them open! If you’re constantly going in and out of a coldroom, fit a plastic strip curtain to keep the cold in. Turn off the burners A common practise in kitchens is to leave gas burners on. This raises the kitchen temperature and causes fridges to work much harder than necessary. So turn burners off when they’re not in use. Choosing energy-efficient refrigeration Look at the Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) tax scheme for businesses: it saves energy and saves you money. Plus you may be able to claim 100% tax allowance in the first year when purchasing the cabinets. Save energy with drawer and half door cabinets Fridges using drawers and half-doors (as opposed to full doors) are increasingly popular because they hold temperature better, since you only access the part of the fridge you need. They won’t suit everyone, but are simple and effective energy savers. With insulation, go thick The thicker the insulation, the less cold the fridge loses and the less impact the warm kitchen has. So the less energy you use to maintain temperature. Consider remote refrigeration systems This is where several cabinets and coldrooms are powered from one refrigeration system, usually sited outside, often on the roof. Systems like Williams unique Glycol are not only more energy efficient, they also chill more quickly and remove the heat and sound produced by stand-alone fridges from the kitchen. Further information Manufacturers are continuing the battle to make their products ever more energy efficient, so keep an eye out for their latest products.
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FOOD AND BEVERAGE – SMALL KITCHENS
Catering conundrums – how to build a kitchen from scratch Food is cooking up a storm in clubs across the country. And the good news is that even the most basic club kitchens can join in the food fest. But if your aim is to add catering to the club menu for the first time, where do you start? It’s all in the planning.
M
any clubs are already running successful food operations, but those who have stayed wet-led are now looking to raise more revenue from selling food. And that means buying kitchen equipment. Many clubs intending to push hard into the food market for the first time are likely to choose fast service menus offering familiar foods which rely on a lot of frozen ingredients, quick-cook fresh items and premium sandwiches and salads. Adopting this entry-level approach to food requires a restricted range of kitchen equipment and modest cooking skills which keeps the start-up budget manageable. Refrigeration No club kitchen can work efficiently or safely without a freezer. The size or number of freezers depends on the menu mix, but a freezer is a must item of kitchen equipment. Clubs need rapid access to frozen food in busy service times so upright cabinets are more convenient than chest freezers and occupy less floorspace. There need to be enough upright fridge cabinets to cope with storing all the chilled food the kitchen is going to need. This may be a single cabinet, but likely at least two. There is the good working practice argument for a club to buy commercial refrigeration, but there is a more important one – food safety. The expensive components in refrigeration are the motor and the condenser, which is how the refrigerant moves around the cooling bars. Manufacturers build motor performance according to the expected use – i.e. the number of times the freezer door or lid is going to be opened. Fryer A club will find it difficult to run a food operation with a single fryer. There needs to be two, usually one for frying coated products such as fish or sausages and one kept exclusively for chips. There are good operational reasons for working with two fryers, or a twin tank fryer. It is difficult for a fryer to cook two different items at once - different foods need different cook times and sometimes different cooking temperatures. Coated products and salty products such as sausages break down the structure of oil much more quickly than chips, so a chip-only fryer will have the oil last longer than one being used
for spicy food. At an entry level into club catering, plug-in tabletop fryers avoid the need for hard wiring of three-phase electricity or plumbing in of gas for a gas fryer. For volume production of fried food floor-standing fryers will be needed. Any fryer needs the oil filtering at least once a day to remove food debris. Microwave oven All club kitchens need at least one microwave oven, most need two or even more to deliver frozen food in the time customers expect between ordering and being served. Domestic microwave ovens are unsuitable for commercial use for a number of reasons, which can include low power, uneven re-heating and the irritating “ping” which can indicate to the customer how the food is being prepared. Cooking range A six-burner cooking range has to be in every club kitchen. The hobs will boil and shallow fry and the oven underneath will roast meat and bake pies. However, since a club just moving into the food market is not going to have a huge demand for food cooked on a range, it will be adequate to go for a model classed by the manufacturer as light to medium duty. Dishwasher A club will already have a glasswasher which may also have been used for occasional cups and saucers and sandwich plates, but once food proper appears on the menu a dedicated dishwasher will be needed. The two types of washing machine look similar, but
have different wash cycles, pump pressures and use different detergents. The worst thing a glasswasher needs to clean off is lipstick, while a dishwasher has to deal with everything from lasagne to curry. Grill or griddle? Steaks are a core menu item for a club menu and there are several options of how to cook them. A griddle works with the heat underneath and as well as steaks is also a good way to cook burgers. One advantage of a griddle is that meat can be easily basted to keep it moist. A grill works by the heat radiating down and with some heat rising up. A benefit is that food can get a barbecue effect through the very intense radiated heat. A grill can also do toasted sandwiches or brown off a cheesy topping. It can be a dry form of cooking with meats which do not contain fat so basting may be necessary. A compromise between the two is a contact grill which has two hinged heated plates which clamp together to cook meats on two sides at once. These are very quick and the result is moist, but their small size compared to a griddle means only one or two items can be cooked at once. Contact grills can also do toasted sandwiches. Plan for the future A common mistake clubs just breaking into food make when choosing the size of equipment to buy is basing the choice on current business and not planned business growth. A rule of thumb is to choose equipment at least one third bigger than you think you will need. If the plan is to branch into food as a new revenue stream, that greater capacity will be needed.
CLUB REPORT 75
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