Business Advice Legal, brand & marketing and consumer insight

Standard T&Cs: Mitigate the risk of future disputes

In this article Napthens commercial litigator, James Stephenson, considers the benefits for businesses in having standard Terms & Conditions (T&Cs).

In the early stages of a business’ life, the focus is invariably on developing products to be the best they can be, sourcing a customer base and getting products/services out to market as soon as possible. However, all too often, considerations relating to the long-term future of the business are overlooked in favour of short-term goals and returns. One such issue which may be overlooked is how the business may fare in any future disputes. But focusing on this right at the start of the business journey could save considerable time and expense in the future by reducing the risk and uncertainty which can engulf disputes.

Why do you need standard T&Cs?

At the outset it is worth considering what T&Cs a business will have in place to govern and regulate future relationships and contracts with suppliers, customers and other third parties. Once in place, these T&Cs can easily be incorporated into future contracts to deal with, amongst other things, fundamentals such as price, payment, delivery, quality, title and risk, limitation of liability, termination and confidentiality obligations. Many important parts of standard T&Cs are driven by purely commercial decisions and the business' sales process mechanics, for instance, payment terms, or how delivery takes place. The benefit of addressing these issues in T&Cs cannot be overstated. Effectively, it allows a business to put its best foot forward with a bespoke set of terms which, if incorporated into a contract, will undoubtedly put it in a significantly better position than if no T&Cs apply - or if the other contracting party’s T&Cs apply instead. Without any T&Cs in place, the likelihood of a business being bound by the other party’s T&Cs is significantly increased and, no doubt, any such T&Cs will be heavily weighted in favour of the other contracting party.

What happens when no T&Cs are in place?

If no party’s T&Cs are incorporated into the contract, disputes will be dealt with according to common law and statutory principles, many of which are antiquated and out of touch with today’s ever-changing world. Applying these legal principles on a ‘one size fits all’ basis is rarely satisfactory and seldom fits with a business’ often bespoke and unique approach. Taking the example of limitation of liability, having a bespoke contractual term can be considerably better than relying on legal principles. Limitation of liability is always a key issue in a contract. Whilst a customer will want as few limitations as possible to apply, and, if possible, to increase the supplier's liability in the event things go wrong, a supplier will want to restrict its liability under the contract as far as possible. A correctly worded limitation of liability clause can seek to place a cap on certain liabilities - or entirely exclude certain categories of loss. But without such a clause and instead relying on common law principles, in the event of a breach of contract, a business could open itself up to potentially unlimited liability for financial loss. By considering and addressing limitation of liability (and other similar issues) at an early stage and having properly drafted T&Cs in place, could ensure a business is not unwittingly opening itself up to claims or liabilities in future which could be avoided.

For advice on this topic or on legal issues affecting your business, please contact SIBA Legal Helpline on 0845 6710277

North West Law firm Napthens LLP is a SIBA supplier associate and Silver Standard Sponsor. The firm has a team of specialists looking after legal requirements of clients in the leisure and licenced trade sector, with clients including Daniel Thwaites Plc and Titanic Brewery. Napthens manage the SIBA Legal Helpline which offers legal advice and guidance on a wide range of legal issues affecting your business, including: General commercial, intellectual property, corporate finance, dispute resolution and litigation, commercial property, licensing, employment law and HR advice. Any enquiry through the helpline will receive up to 1 hour of free legal expertise (if further work is required, you’ll be advised of the appropriate charging structure). Full details of the helpline can be found on the SIBA Members Toolbox.

‘How’s your website looking these days…?’ I can almost hear the collective groan; websites are a necessary evil, aren’t they? They suck up your time and - mostly - your money. They’re only really good for one thing: a webshop… and even that’s a pain in the arse! Why don’t we just use social media? I mean, everyone’s on social media - why bother updating the website? If those thoughts have flashed through your mind then you’re not alone. This is how most brewers view websites, ‘let us just get on and make beer and leave the coding to those computer nerds’. But, if that’s your view, you’re missing a trick. Websites aren’t outdated or second place to social media. A good website with a good sales funnel can bring in sales, drinkers, and a steady income stream. As the cost of living skyrockets, consumers will become more selective about what they buy and where they buy it from. A good website will help increase your chances of drawing them in. To turn searching scrollers into craft beer clickers, a good website should serve several functions:

Presentation

Your website should look appealing. Whether you’re paying a web-designer or using one of the many tools available to create your own (Wix, GoDaddy, etc), an eye catching, fully branded website with the correct fonts, use of language, professional photos and videos, etc will show that you mean business.

Optimisation

Not only should your site look good, it should load quickly and be adaptable or ‘responsive’ to all devices. In order to appear at the top of search results, your website text needs to be clear and concise and use terms that people are likely to be searching for, such as ‘brewery tour’ or ‘craft brewery in Manchester’, rather than cryptic, flowery language. In web speak, this is called ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ (SEO).

Who needs a decent website anyway…?

Websites are not the outdated marketing tools you think they are, says Brand and marketing guru Nick Law. They can and should be essential to your bottom line…

Nick Law is the Creative Director of Hop Forward: a branding, marketing and business consultancy for the brewing industry. He works with a variety of beer businesses both in the UK and overseas and also runs a weekly podcast with a variety of guests from across the world of beer. Find out more at www.hopforward. beer or email nick@hopforward.beer

Systemisation (funnels)

A good website will make it as easy as possible for you to buy a product. You want to have the least amount of sales friction as possible. For example, if you offer brewery tours, is booking a tour as easy as clicking a button or do they have to email, fill out a glitchy form, or worse, pick up the phone and wait for a response before booking on? Although the dedicated or previous generations (who, let’s face it, operated like this for decades) may be willing to jump through hurdles and hoops to come and see how you make beer, many in our fast-paced, hi-tech world will simply swipe or scroll onward to something else. Draw out some flow charts on a piece of paper on how you intend to funnel people to spend money with your business and design your website accordingly.

Information

While it seems obvious that one of the primary functions of a website is to provide information to consumers about your brewery and beers, many businesses fail to do this. It’s vital that you include clear info on your site - who you are, what you do, what you sell, etc. An informed customer is a happy customer. An example: I was in London recently celebrating my 40th birthday, and looking for somewhere to eat with my family. In the West End with two small children with a limited capacity for walking and for, well, London, I’d found a small brewpub that I thought would fit the bill. Only, when we walked in, a look from behind the bar said, ‘This isn’t your kind of place’, and so, we left. Had the pub included a menu on their website and a clear indication about whether children were welcome, we may have avoided the hungry outbursts we received immediately after as we trapsed around the Big Smoke looking for somewhere to eat. (Incidentally, we ended up in a Pizza Express, which welcomes families and - coincidentally - also has a very good website). Attention to detail when providing information - whether it’s a policy on children in your taproom, right through to what the beer tastes like and where you can purchase it - is paramount.

Inspiration

Finally, every aspect of your website should inspire people. By sharing your story and journey through long form content such as a blog, by media like video or well-shot photography, or by inviting people onto your journey by getting them to sign up to a mailing list (which you actually regularly update with interesting stuff), the entire site should evoke some kind of emotional effect. People buy into your story way more than they buy into your beers. Beers are ever changing, fleeting and consumed within a short space of time; your brand - hopefully - will endure many, many years. In conclusion, yes, it’s going to take time and energy to maintain; yes, it’ll cost you money to run; yes, it isn’t as easy as posting a picture of your latest Hazy IPA to Instagram with the hashtag #BuyThisPlease, but - if harnessed correctly - it will generate your brewery way more money - directly and indirectly - than you think.

Introducing the Great British Pub 2.0

Katy Moses, the Founder and MD of consumer insight specialist KAM Media, takes a look at how the UK’s pub trade is evolving post-Covid…

KAM Media is a boutique research consultancy, specialising in hospitality and retail, running bespoke and syndicated customer research programmes for both pub companies and on-trade suppliers. Find out more at www.kam-media.co.uk.

I am absolutely over the moon that pub customer confidence is now firmly back at pre-pandemic levels - at last! In fact, pubs are now more important than ever to Brits, with 56% of pub-goers saying they will visit the pub at least once a week over the next 12 months. We’ve just completed a significant piece of research called ‘Return of the Pub’, in partnership with the BII, to understand the evolving behaviours and attitudes of pub customers following two years of global pandemic, in a bid to define the ‘new normal’ for pub experiences in the UK and the results are predominantly fantastic for pubs! Back in June 2020 we predicted an overall decline in pub visits of 12%, which represented a loss of approx. 200 million pub visits, by regular pub-goers, to UK pubs in the first six months following the first lockdown. It is incredibly positive news that the latest data suggests that confidence levels have finally returned to pre-pandemic levels. And I realise I’m preaching to the converted but one of the highlights of the research for me was the fact that 35% of all pub-goers believe that the role of the Great British pub has grown in importance for them personally in the last two years. This is significantly higher in the 18-34-year-old bracket - the demographic that we were previously struggling to engage with in pubs. Clearly, all age groups are recognising the role that their local plays in both their social lives and the role pubs play as the heartbeat of the local community. Three in four customers say they feel safe (with regards to catching/spreading Covid-19) when visiting a pub now. Great news, and this goes for older age groups too. Despite this, outside of a continued vigilance on cleanliness, pub-goers are still looking for venues to be aware of the number of patrons inside at any given time, with caps on max number, decent spacing between tables and outside seating areas all still seem as very desirable. The research highlights three clear shifts in behaviours from pub-goers in terms of what factors influence their choice of pub now, compared to two years ago. Whereas in June 2020, pub-goers were likely to stick to what they know, now there is a clear desire to be more adventurous with their choice of venue - they are now almost twice as likely to be looking to try somewhere they’ve not been to before. Demand for friendly and helpful staff has also grown in importance as customers place a greater value on the human interactions that can’t be replicated when having a ‘night in’. When it comes to which types of pubs customers will be visiting more of this year, there is a clear trend towards local and community pubs over town or city centre pubs and independents over chains. Foodled pubs are also attracting higher footfall vs wet-led; 38% of pub-goers said they are likely to visit “food-led” pubs more often over the next 12 months. With VAT on the increase, adding to the numerous other financial pressures that pubs are facing, the price of food and drinks in pubs is set to rise. The research suggests that most pub-goers (75%) are expecting a price rise and that a fair price increase is likely to be accepted by many (80%), at least in the short term. However, they are also conscious that price rises may mean they have to reduce their visits to pubs with 1-in-2 admitting price rises may mean they visit pubs less frequently over the next 12 months. Pub-goers are aware of the challenges that pubs have been through in the last two years; there doesn’t need to be anything ‘sneaky’ about price increases, it is happening across so many retail environments at the moment. The beauty of British pubs is that most have a strong and honest relationship with their customers. The key here is that, in the short term, most are aware and understanding of the reasons but pub-goers are aware that they are likely to have to tighten their belts forcing fewer visits to the pub. Pubs need to double down on their customer service, atmosphere, experience, quality of food, quality of service, etc., in order to counterbalance any price increases and continue to offer the level of ‘value-add’ that will get people out of their homes and into the pubs. The research also shows that pub-goers are increasingly looking for an experience that they can’t get at home; 78% in 2022 compared with 63% in 2019, an increase in expectation of 24%. When people go out they are, more than ever, looking for an experience that is less easily replicated. Be that a perfectly poured real ale, an expertly crafted cocktail, delicious food or a vibrant atmosphere – pubs are increasingly being asked to deliver so much more than simply a drink and a chair.