Cool theme bars are coining it for hot shot pub firms
targeting youth culture. But is another chunk of traditional
Brighton now in the skip with the beams and brass?
Tim Jones reports
Brighton's
pubs When pollsters asked a sample of Brits to name the three
things that most represented this sceptred isle, first on the
list was the monarchy, second was the red phone box and third
was the pub. Brighton has as many pubs per square pavement as
anywhere else but also the highest population of young people
in the South East barring London so it's not surprising the
breweries are tapping into this lucrative market with little
sentiment for the traditional English pub. But are the new
hybrid pubs a short-term trend or will they wipe out the
traditional public house, and what impact are they having here
in Brighton?
Most 'nouveau' pubs are in the
town centre so are ideal pre-clubbing stopovers. Into the skip
have gone traditional wooden beams, long benches, historic
framed paintings and open fireplaces, to be replaced by smart
designer sofas, real plants, artsy posters, and walls with
solid blocks of colour. Out with the old pub kitsch go the
traditional, tenant-landlord and the busty barmaid. Now the
trendy bars are run by new, young managers who do not live on
the premises and who blend perfectly with their cutting-edge
customers.
Market leaders in this booze
revolution are C-side and Zel. There is much debate over who
wields the most buying power. Zel has just acquired Original
Pub Holdings taking its total of outlets to 23 and making it
the largest chain in town. C-side is well-established with a
string of thriving clubs on the promenade. Both are run by
businessmen in their mid-thirties, both have bought up
run-down pubs transforming them into thriving commercial
outlets, both know that the biggest users of licensed premises
are the young, and both have expanded in a relatively short
space of time.
C-side has been in operation
since 1995 when it acquired The Squid, a popular pre-club
venue. By targeting run-down pubs in the centre of town it was
able to secure grants by persuading the Council that
renovating them would be in the public interest. C-side also
owns 15 pubs, 3 clubs, and a gymnasium. Whitbread allegedly
offered £31m for their empire but was refused.
Zel has been in business in
Brighton since 1996 when it bought the Mash Tun. It now owns
23 outlets and although many of the pubs recently acquired
from Doug Lyon's Original Pub Holding empire are 'locals'
outside the town centre, initial success has been down to
specifically targeting the youth market. Zel marketing manager
Richard Stopford says his pubs offer: "good service, a
relaxed environment, good music, a wide range of food and a
chilled-out atmosphere" - a formula adopted by most
neo-pubs.
While many people would like to
perceive these two chains as bitter rivals, staff of both
companies describe it as healthy competition. Elly Ward,
manager of The Fish Bowl, a flagship Zel pub, goes as far to
claim: "I think it's actually quite helpful as there's
quite clearly room for both of us."
The Fish Bowl represents the
nouveau pub in every aspect. Acquired in June 1998 it was
formerly The Greyhound, one of Brighton's oldest and most
traditional pubs, with a strong local market. Zel has
completely transformed it. A touch of paint and some good
furniture have made it very different. It's popular for its
multi-cultural food in the week and a pre-club favourite over
the weekends; the renovation has been a resounding success.
Now
that 60 per cent of Brighton's population is aged under 44,
there are clearly opportunities for targeting the youth
market. One of the first independent pubs to do so was Alicats,
now one of the most popular central pre-club venues in town.
It was transformed from a disused skittle alley in 1995. The
aim was to target students. Boss Mark Parish put its success
down to: "trying to offer something different. Most pubs
at that time tended to be too similar whether it was the music
they played, the drinks they served or the choice of TV
programmes." Despite the huge increase in competition in
the youth market over recent years, Alicats has not lost its
niche.
Since Alicats first opened,
more nouveau bars have sprung up. McCluskeys on West Street,
and Ha!Ha! on North Street are just two. Jokey theme pubs like
Nan Tuck's Tavern and Finnegan's Wake, are also enjoying a
surge in popularity.
There are legitimate fears
however that the market is becoming overcrowded. Many believe
that Brighton's reputation for diversity is being threatened
with so many pubs replicating each other. Many see Zel's
acquisition of Original Pub Holdings comprising more than a
dozen traditional pubs as evidence of market saturation.
One lemon was Hot Shots, a
bowling alley and bar in the centre of town which opened about
a year and a half ago. A vast amount of money had obviously
been pumped into it but within a year it had shut down. There
is evidence that some theme bars are relying on the big
takings they make over the weekends from out-of-towners and
day-trippers to offset low profits during the week. Perhaps
this is evidence of a backlash, by local traditionalists.
One valid criticism of these
chains is their pricing policies. As these companies have
become increasingly successful, beer prices have increased
significantly. A pint of continental lager in a Zel or C-side
pub is currently £2.40 - £2.50, making their outlets among
the most expensive in town. While they argue that they
represent the expensive end of the market and need a return on
a big investment renovating the pubs, of course other pubs
have followed suit. The result is that a pint of beer
everywhere has increased by 15 per cent, well above the rate
of inflation. It's impossible to see how this benefits the
public.
Not all chains focus on being
'trendy' though. The Golden Lion group which owns eight pubs
adopts a different strategy. Its glossy pamphlet uses words
such as 'real', 'traditional' and 'local' to emphasise the
style of its pubs. While these pubs do offer variety, the
majority are still targeted at older, more local customers.
Dave Day, the owner, describes them as "family
pubs". The immaculate decor, coupled with good quality
food and drink, make them popular with all age groups.
Pleasure Limited is also a pub
company that likes to emphasise the traditional. Having been
in business for six years they have opted to grow slowly and
have just acquired their seventh pub. Although a chain, their
pubs are run on an individual basis. While some outlets, like
The Pull & Pump, are aimed at the youth market, others,
like the Great Eastern, have a more adult customer base in
mind. According to Hannah Pook, manager of The Office, their
long-term aim is to: "provide 'quality' drinking at
reasonable prices over a long period of time."
So where does this leave the
traditional English pub? Numbers have declined over the past
few years yet many landlords view the increase in trendy pubs
as an opportunity rather than a threat. Graham Boyd, landlord
of The Nelson on Trafalgar Street, an archetypal traditional
pub, is cautiously optimistic: "Traditional pubs will
always be here, they're part of our heritage, so only the ones
that are good at what they do will survive."
He believes that traditional
pubs can offer an environment that the nouveau bars can't,
plus a wide range of quality beers, a strong localised base
and the serving of traditional food, all features of a
traditional pub. This is what many people especially the older
generations look for. As long as there is still a market for
this type of service then traditional pubs still have a role
to play.
One concern of independent
landlords is the availability of licences. One landlord
claimed: "The authorities have to be very careful about
the number of licences granted. Of course we want to attract
people to the town, so having a variety of clubs, pubs and
bars is essential. But there is still a real danger that some
of the established pubs will be squeezed out, and people will
lose their livelihoods." The fact that new pub licences
are currently hard to obtain suggests that these concerns are
being taken on board.
Perhaps it is pubs like The
Albert on Trafalgar Street, which has been successful in
targeting all age groups, that have gained most from this
polarisation. Landlord Chris Stewart says: "A public
house is open to the public and that means everyone. I find
the idea that you have to differentiate between young and old
contemptible."
Brighton's
pub scene has definitely expanded over the past few years. The
youth market, which has perhaps been overlooked in the past,
is now being targeted with verve and vigour. Those who can do
it well, whether they be independent or part of a chain, are
richly rewarded. No one can deny that C-side and Zel have
experienced unprecedented success. Their rapid expansion is
proof that they have identified a niche in the market and are
successfully servicing it. Their financial success and the
number of pubs that have followed their example, is ample
proof that they are offering a service that people enjoy.
There is, though, a real danger of what one landlord described
as, "too much of a good thing." Nouveau pubs have
been very successful so far, but is there a danger of
saturation? While Brighton has a reputation for diversity,
surely this could be diluted by a string of pubs that merely
replicate each other. As one member of the public put it:
"If you've been in one of these pubs, you've been in them
all."
Despite any misgivings, the
chains show no signs of slowing down the rate of expansion.
Brighton's youth spend may be high at the moment but could it
support say 10 or 20 more of these pubs? The over thirties,
who look for different things in a pub, ensure that
traditional pubs still have a role to play. In many ways the
new-style bars have given traditionalists an opportunity to
concentrate on their own niche market.
Last word goes to Brenda Elsip,
landlady of The Temple: "Brighton's big enough and
diverse enough to have a variety of outlets, I think there's a
place for all of us." For the moment she's right. Whether
this will be the case in a few years' time is another question
entirely.
C-side:
Fortune of War; Sumo; Greens; The Squid; Leek & Winkle;
The Shark; Easy; Polar; Belle Vue; Blimey O'Reillys; Princess
Victoria; The Bear; Constant Service; Gemini; The Burlington
Zel:
Western Front; Fish Bowl; Tap & Spile; Mash Tun;
Shakespeare's Head; No Man Is An Island; Sidewinders; Cobblers
Thumb; Fiddlers Elbow; The Engineer; Victory Inn; Pressure
Point; Golden Cannon; Hanbury Arms; Queens Head; The Racehill;
Railway Hotel; Rainbow Tavern; Springfield Hotel; Sutherland
Arms; Duke of Beaufort; The Leconfield Arms; The Marlborough
The Golden Lion Group:
The Cricketers; The Ship Hotel; The Golden Lion; Hove Place;
Bar Lion D'Orr; Marine Tavern; Colonnade Bar; Longman of
Wilmington; The Ladies Mile
Pleisure Limited:
The Aquariun; The Pull & Pump; Dr. Brightons; St. James;
The Office; The Great Eastern; The Lamb (Lewes).
'Trendy' Bars:
The Tiger Bar; Casa; McCluskeys; Lanes End; Bar Med; Yates
Wine Bar; Ha! Ha!; Far's Bar; Riki Tiks; Bar Cuba; Alicats;
Circus Circus; The Tin Drum; The Prodigal; Shooters.
Traditional Pubs:
The Nelson; The Black Horse; The Windsor Tavern; Waggon &
Horses; Temple Bar; The Compton Arms; The Pump House; The
Sussex; The Park Crescent; Shakespeare's Head (Spring Street);
Duke of Wellington; The Pedestrian Arms; The Prince of Wales;
Charlie's Bar; The Pub With No Name; The Bath Arms; The
Palmeira; The Evening Star; The Bugle; The Lion & Lobster.
Is
the changing face of pubs purely a Brighton phenomenon? Graham
Elwood, regional manager for Criterion Asset Management Ltd -
a company that manages 2000 pubs across the country on behalf
of landlords - says, "drinking trends are changing across
the country, the demand for super pubs in high street
locations has grown dramatically in the last 5 years, and the
indications are that it will continue to grow."
Closer to home, Bev Robbins,
chairman of the Sussex Society of Licensed Victuallers agreed
that this is not just a Brighton scenario. "In Brighton,
this development has been more intense over the last 2 years -
many companies are moving to Brighton because they see it as a
growth market. There are about 280 pubs and bars here,
licenses are harder to get now because there are too many
drinking establishments - although every case is dealt with on
its merits."
copyright New Insight 2000
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