Co-Op Pubs...

thebigbiffo

So, pubs are f'ucked right? most people think this is the case. so i've a novel solution and want to see whether the good people of AH think it's a runner...obviously, town/city centre pubs and the big flash places aren't what i'm talking about here...unless they're going for a song

Step 1: you'll need about 15-20 mates who have the same idea about what makes a decent pub as you do. You'll need start up capital so you've all gotta chip in about €1000 per head (now bear with me - these are all guesstimates).

Step 2: find a pub in your locality up for lease on the cheap. there's loads of them about at the moment. around my area, i've heard of decent sized pubs going for €1500 per month or even less.

Step 3: nominate x people to apply for the licence and put their name on the insurance quote, drinks distributers list etc...

Step 4: open pub. the 15-20 who chipped in to open it get their booze at cost price and work the bar on a roster system. everyone else gets their booze at a price cheaper than the place around the corner.

Now, whats the point I hear you ask? well here it is.

A big group of mates have their very own pub to hang out in. There'd always be a few people out of the crowd there cause booze is cheap and they'll all probably be there at the weekend making it more attractive to the casual visitor because it has a better atmosphere. cheaper drinks for all mean people in the locality would probably visit more often and once more the pub is restored to its rightful place in irish society as the social hub for the area (I really loath the decline of the traditional pub and what that has taken away from communities).

You can do all this because you only want a very modest profit - enough that everyone gets their seed money back in a year and enough to maintain the place.

There's loads more advantages (and yes, even some disadvantages) but this is going into tl;dr territory so i'll leave it with you. What thinks AH?

phasers

Let me just get that €1000 I keep in my sock drawer for pub purchases

Cheap Thrills!

Yeh but isn't a pub licence is billions or something ?

Orando Broom

Step 5 watch one or all drink the place into oblivion.

Where To

thebigbiffo wrote: »

So, pubs are f'ucked right? most people think this is the case. so i've a novel solution and want to see whether the good people of AH think it's a runner...obviously, town/city centre pubs and the big flash places aren't what i'm talking about here...unless they're going for a song

Step 1: you'll need about 15-20 mates who have the same idea about what makes a decent pub as you do. You'll need start up capital so you've all gotta chip in about €1000 per head (now bear with me - these are all guesstimates).

Step 2: find a pub in your locality up for lease on the cheap. there's loads of them about at the moment. around my area, i've heard of decent sized pubs going for €1500 per month or even less.

Step 3: nominate x people to apply for the licence and put their name on the insurance quote, drinks distributers list etc...

Step 4: open pub. the 15-20 who chipped in to open it get their booze at cost price and work the bar on a roster system. everyone else gets their booze at a price cheaper than the place around the corner.

Now, whats the point I hear you ask? well here it is.

A big group of mates have their very own pub to hang out in. There'd always be a few people out of the crowd there cause booze is cheap and they'll all probably be there at the weekend making it more attractive to the casual visitor because it has a better atmosphere. cheaper drinks for all mean people in the locality would probably visit more often and once more the pub is restored to its rightful place in irish society as the social hub for the area (I really loath the decline of the traditional pub and what that has taken away from communities).

You can do all this because you only want a very modest profit - enough that everyone gets their seed money back in a year and enough to maintain the place.

There's loads more advantages (and yes, even some disadvantages) but this is going into tl;dr territory so i'll leave it with you. What thinks AH?

if you have 15-20 mates why not just drink in each others houses??

bonerm

After that you could open a video shop ....

blaze1

sounds good... where do i sign

Del2005

Never mix friends and money. You'll end up loosing one or more then likely both.

alwaysadub

Or..install a pump and keg in your shed and invite all your mates round and charge them a fiver in.

scientific1982

Ive a better idea. Everyone on boards donated 5 euro into my bank account this week. That way I can become a millionaire. Then next week we'll pick another boards member an everyone will donate 5 euro to him/her. We'll have hundreds of boards millionaires in no time.

ch750536

There are lots of these in the uk, called 'Social Clubs' , ran not for profit by the members.

I once went into a legion club where whiskey was 5p.

FatherLen

there is a lot more to think about than just the bar what about cleaning, maintenance, security, stock and accounts.

thebigbiffo

alwaysadub wrote: »

Or..install a pump and keg in your shed and invite all your mates round and charge them a fiver in.

where do i go from here wrote: »

if you have 15-20 mates why not just drink in each others houses??

it's about keeping local pubs open for the community it services - not about getting sloshed whenever you want. it's also about a way to reduce the costs of socialising with your neighbours and friends...

Cheap Thrills! wrote: »

Yeh but isn't a pub licence is billions or something ?

nope - most pubs come with the licence you just have to apply too have it transfered to the leaseholders name.

thebigbiffo

FatherLen wrote: »

there is a lot more to think about than just the bar what about cleaning, maintenance, security, stock and accounts.

all of these are allocated on a roster system in my perfect world

with 15-20 people splitting the work associated with running a pub, it should be easy peasy...

Where To

thebigbiffo wrote: »

all of these are allocated on a roster system in my perfect world

with 15-20 people splitting the work associated with running a pub, it should be easy peasy...

LOL:D

Neil3030

Yep... because clearing up tables, washing glasses, restocking shelves etc. is such a piece of cake you could do it while pi$$ed.

And also:

once more the pub is restored to its rightful place in irish society as the social hub for the area

This really tells its own story.

Mark200

thebigbiffo wrote: »

it's also about a way to reduce the costs of socialising with your neighbours and friends...

At €1000 a head before you even have a drink, I don't see how it would reduce costs for anyone involved.

Where To

I know very few pubs where two people can agree on how to run them

15-20 would be very interesting:pac:

thebigbiffo

Neil3030 wrote: »

Yep... because clearing up tables, washing glasses, restocking shelves etc. is such a piece of cake you could do it while pi$$ed.

And also:



This really tells its own story.

firstly: what you describe is typical of any barman in any pub. each member of the syndicate doing one night per fortnight (or less) would hardly turn off too many people if you liked the idea...

what tells it's own story?? surely you haven't missed that pubs were (are?) a massive part of traditional irish society. i never got this whole 'oh we irish are pissheads and should be ashamed of ourselve' attitude. for hundreds of years - right through to our 'boom' - the pub was a focal point for socialising and everything in-between from politics to arts and culture to sports. i for one lament this change, why do you?

maninasia

I've seen groups of investors open pubs in other (cheaper) countries. It usually ends on one fella buys out most of the others and runs it as a regular pub. Running a pub isn't easy, it's not a part-time thing. Now if you mean some type of social club it might be different but who really wants to 'work' in a pub..invest and own one yeah...but work not really.

phasers

Seriously though OP, I'll go in on it if you agree to clean the jacks every night

thebigbiffo

Mark200 wrote: »

At €1000 a head before you even have a drink, I don't see how it would reduce costs for anyone involved.

well essentially it's a long term investment which you get back...the person who went in with seed money gets their night out in the boozer cheaper and the people who drink there also get a reduced price due to there not being the need for large profits...just enough profit to slowly pay back seeders.

where do i go from here wrote: »

I know very few pubs where two people can agree on how to run them

15-20 would be very interesting:pac:

agreed - but it's actually fairly straight forward after it's up and running. the thing is that the seeder buy into the idea and spirit of what they're doing...problems for most publicans come about because of the need for profits, this wouldn't be the case here...

sbsquarepants

ch750536 wrote: »

I once went into a legion club where whiskey was 5p.

I'm not a big whiskey drinker myself, but for 5p, i'd change!

thebigbiffo

maninasia wrote: »

I've seen groups of investors open pubs in other (cheaper) countries. It usually ends on one fella buys out most of the others and runs it as a regular pub. Running a pub isn't easy, it's not a part-time thing. Now if you mean some type of social club it might be different but who really wants to 'work' in a pub..invest and own one yeah...but work not really.

again, for people to commit to one night per fortnight it's not really part-time...it's more like a hobby! you'd sort of have to see the spirit of the proposal which i guess can be shortened to: a pub run by the people, for the people.

i guess though it probably is more like a social club...