Man your pumps, Wetherspoons are coming

Houdini212

Any update on the Old Boro in Swords? Surely it would make sense to have it open before Christmas!

oblivious

oblivious wrote: »

Its Rathgar the old 108

what is? Are you saying the 108 is becoming a wetherspoons?

BeerNut

Dónal wrote: »

Are you saying the 108 is becoming a wetherspoons?

It's becoming a Galway Bay bar.

BeerNut

BeerNut wrote: »

It's becoming a Galway Bay bar.

Any link for this?

Kevin the Kid

Well at least its nice to have the variety. You don't have to go in there after all. There is no shortage of Irish pubs.
I would predict that if they are selling pints of beer for under 4 euro that they will be out the door with the younger crowd who are watching their shillings.You can be guaranteed that a pub packed with a younger crowd getting their groove on with cheep drink wont be the souless British pub that people are commenting on on this thread.
Hopefully it will be like a duvet slipping off a bed and the advent of cheep dink is upon us !

BeerNut

Dónal wrote: »

Any link for this?

Link.

oblivious

Random_Name wrote: »

Ermmm, thats not Galway

Ha, sorry mix up

Ravelleman

I wonder what the new food concept for GBB is. My bet is barbecue.

I reckon I'll check out the ale festival in Spoons on Friday. I see you can have a festival ale with any of the food items that come with a drink.

I also realise that I only read the first page yesterday. That's rather a lot of ales. How many will make it to our shores though?

BeerNut

Ravelleman wrote: »

How many will make it to our shores though?

Indeed. Even in the UK these festivals are very randomised. I guess the idea is to keep you coming back to your neighbourhood outlet. Doesn't really work when there's only one in the entire country

Last year CAMRA NI made an arrangement with The Bridge House in Belfast that they were all coming on on one specific Saturday and asked the pub to have the biggest range of festival beers on that day. It worked really well too*. Something to keep in mind for a future Boards beers, maybe.

*as in, I nearly missed my train

poitinstill

been in london a few times for this festival. think the might get 1 or 2 casks of a good few as when it ran out there was always a next-up card on the pump clip that had a different beer.

anything updates on the Cork Paul St opening or the Douglas location i had heard it was the Orchard on s douglas road ?

the beer revolu

poitinstill wrote: »

anything updates on the Cork Paul St opening or the Douglas location i had heard it was the Orchard on s douglas road ?

The Orchard is in Ballinlough.
I can't think of any bar on South Douglas Road.
Was there talk of The Briar Rose on the Douglas Road ?

bucketybuck

Lucena wrote: »

A point that hasn't really come up so far, AFAIK.

Even if Spoons are a lot cheaper for ever, will this really bring prices down elsewhere? I mean, if Spoons reach 5% market penetration, which is a lot, there are still 95% of pubs that aren't Spoons. It's not like everyone is going to be able to go to Spoons, is it? The other pubs can just accept they'll lose some customers and keep charging 5-6 quid a pint.

You aren't taking into account what happens after that. If Wetherspoons reach 5% penetration and the competition haven't reacted what do you think Wetherspoons will do next?

They will rub their hands with glee that they are being allowed to corner the cheap drink market and continue to open more pubs. A successful Wetherspoons in Ireland will eventually see multiple city centre locations opened which will have a massive impact on the existing pubs, the ones that don't react to that simply will not survive.

Wetherspoons don't strike me as the type of company that will rest on their laurels, they will continue to push growth as far as they can.

oblivious

bucketybuck wrote: »

You aren't taking into account what happens after that. If Wetherspoons reach 5% penetration and the competition haven't reacted what do you think Wetherspoons will do next?

They will rub their hands with glee that they are being allowed to corner the cheap drink market and continue to open more pubs. A successful Wetherspoons in Ireland will eventually see multiple city centre locations opened which will have a massive impact on the existing pubs, the ones that don't react to that simply will not survive.

Wetherspoons don't strike me as the type of company that will rest on their laurels, they will continue to push growth as far as they can.

And..............

Just look at GBB, there is room for pubs who offer served the customers want.

bucketybuck

oblivious wrote: »

And..............

Just look at GBB, there is room for pubs who offer served the customers want.

What?

oblivious

bucketybuck wrote: »

What?

"They will rub their hands with glee that they are being allowed to corner the cheap drink market and continue to open more pubs. A successful Wetherspoons in Ireland will eventually see multiple city centre locations opened which will have a massive impact on the existing pubs, the ones that don't react to that simply will not survive."

And.... that's just business, it's open to anyone that can offer a serves that's wanted. I just offer the GBB as a model that has been successful for them.

Lucena

bucketybuck wrote: »

You aren't taking into account what happens after that. If Wetherspoons reach 5% penetration and the competition haven't reacted what do you think Wetherspoons will do next?

They will rub their hands with glee that they are being allowed to corner the cheap drink market and continue to open more pubs. A successful Wetherspoons in Ireland will eventually see multiple city centre locations opened which will have a massive impact on the existing pubs, the ones that don't react to that simply will not survive.

Wetherspoons don't strike me as the type of company that will rest on their laurels, they will continue to push growth as far as they can.

I don't really know if they can push beyond 5-10% realistically. I can't see them setting up in rural Ireland, or any town with less than *plucks figure from thin air* 10,000 inhabitants. Also it wouldn't appeal to everyone, as the atmosphere isn't great, too many young'uns in for the cheap drink, people only going in for a feed etc.

I think that realistically they can only hope to have similar penetration to what they have in England.

I could however, also be wrong, because in areas outside London (and even sometimes within London) drink is relatively cheap compared to Ireland, which possibly limits any further expansion within England, whereas drink in Ireland is a little more expensive.

(I know they operate in the UK, not just in England, but I'm not familiar with the rest of the UK)

Lucena

Found this on their website, a list of pubs opening soon:

http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/find/_/_/20/_/just-opened,coming-soon/1000#hide-search-options

rubadub

coylemj wrote: »

You're right on one point, you don't know the law on off sales. A publican's licence (in the trade referred to as an 'on-licence') permits the sale of intoxicating liquor for consumption on or off the premises.

Bottle tops are removed at concerts to stop idiots chucking full bottles of water at the stage.

I know about the bottle tops at gigs. I was unsure of the pub laws since I have seen them refuse to serve capped bottles in some bars before. I was fairly sure they did all have a dual licence as I always thought pubs could sell "takeouts", but was wondering what the deal was with refusing to serve capped ones, in non-concert venues.

I do recall a friend asking a barman why this was the case and he was told in case he brought them home.

1 reason I can think of is to stop people smuggling in bottles and claiming they bought it capped. However a request for a capped beer is strange and should stand out.

Anyway the law is a bit of a moot point, I was saying they are currently cheaper than 2 offies I listed and so it could possibly be used as an offie by people, and wondering if people could, so its established thats its legal, but they still could refuse to sell unopened bottles/cans. I am not sure but I think I saw some post where someone was trying to buy cans there.

Avada

rubadub wrote: »

I know about the bottle tops at gigs. I was unsure of the pub laws since I have seen them refuse to serve capped bottles in some bars before. I was fairly sure they did all have a dual licence as I always thought pubs could sell "takeouts", but was wondering what the deal was with refusing to serve capped ones, in non-concert venues.

I do recall a friend asking a barman why this was the case and he was told in case he brought them home.

1 reason I can think of is to stop people smuggling in bottles and claiming they bought it capped. However a request for a capped beer is strange and should stand out.

Anyway the law is a bit of a moot point, I was saying they are currently cheaper than 2 offies I listed and so it could possibly be used as an offie by people, and wondering if people could, so its established thats its legal, but they still could refuse to sell unopened bottles/cans. I am not sure but I think I saw some post where someone was trying to buy cans there.

They sold me 4 unopened cans of Sweet Action in Wetherspoons on Saturday, no problem at all

coylemj

Lucena wrote: »

Found this on their website, a list of pubs opening soon:

http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/home/pubs/find/_/_/20/_/just-opened,coming-soon/1000#hide-search-options

Irish website (scroll down) is more up to date, has the 40 Foot in Dun Laoghaire and the Newport Cafe in Cork under 'opening soon' .......

http://www.jdwetherspoon.ie/

coylemj

rubadub wrote: »

I know about the bottle tops at gigs. I was unsure of the pub laws since I have seen them refuse to serve capped bottles in some bars before. I was fairly sure they did all have a dual licence as I always thought pubs could sell "takeouts", but was wondering what the deal was with refusing to serve capped ones, in non-concert venues.

Given that off-licences now have to close earlier than pubs, I suspect that a lot of pubs simply refuse to do take-outs for fear that they're over the time - the staff on a busy night mightn't be too aware of the time and could inadvertently sell a take-out after the time which I think is 10:30 p.m. on weekdays. You'd also have the issue that someone could buy a few cans at (say) 9 p.m. for a late night party, stay in the pub for a few pints, then leave with the take-out well after the off-licences have closed, possibly attracting unwanted attention from the cop, even if the actual sale was legal.

Hence management might have a simple policy of 'no take-outs'.

coylemj

JDW have just tweeted that they're now open to applications for jobs in the new Dun Laoghaire pub. Significantly, in the section for full-time bar staff there isn't even the vaguest hint that prior experience in the pub trade would be an advantage ......

http://www.wetherspoonjobs.ie/recruitment/vacancySearch.php

Ravelleman

coylemj wrote: »

Significantly, in the section for full-time bar staff there isn't even the vaguest hint that prior experience in the pub trade would be an advantage ......

This is consistent with my experience of Spoons in Blackrock.

Lucena

I've never worked in a pub, so I could be talking nonsense, but how long does it take to train up someone in a pub? A couple of months, assuming everyone is new in the place? Assuming this is the case, the bar staff will soon be experienced, barring a huge staff turnover.

Besides, maybe Spoons don't want to limit the number of applicants, but may end up with some experienced bar-staff anyway.

Lovely Bloke

Lucena wrote: »

I've never worked in a pub, so I could be talking nonsense, but how long does it take to train up someone in a pub? A couple of months, assuming everyone is new in the place? Assuming this is the case, the bar staff will soon be experienced, barring a huge staff turnover.

Besides, maybe Spoons don't want to limit the number of applicants, but may end up with some experienced bar-staff anyway.

It's supposed to be an apprenticeship!

Proper bartending is an art, imo. Being able to control a queue, being able to take and pour more than one order at once, being able to remember the full order when you get to the til, being able to take an order or multiple different drinks, pour them and take for them without once asking the customer to repeat himself.

All of that comes with experience. Years of it.

coylemj

Lucena wrote: »

I've never worked in a pub, so I could be talking nonsense, but how long does it take to train up someone in a pub? A couple of months, assuming everyone is new in the place? Assuming this is the case, the bar staff will soon be experienced, barring a huge staff turnover.

Some of the people I observed behind the counter in the TTT will never be good bar staff. It's about being able to juggle multiple orders at the same time, being able to remember the location of every spirit bottle, beer tap, beer bottle and soft drink bottle so you can put your hand on each one without thinking, it's about being able to clock up a drinks round at the cash register without looking like someone who's not comfortable with modern technology and being able to move smartly behind the counter without crashing into your colleagues. A lot of the skill can't be learned, you either have it or you don't.

Lucena wrote: »

Besides, maybe Spoons don't want to limit the number of applicants, but may end up with some experienced bar-staff anyway.

It's more subtle than that, the fact that they make no mention of prior experience suggests that anyone currently working in the pub trade will be expecting to be paid a lot more than what JDW intend to pay so the job specs. as far as I'm concerned includes the unwritten clause: 'experienced bar staff need not apply'.

JONJO THE MISER

Ravelleman wrote: »

This is consistent with my experience of Spoons in Blackrock.

I think its good, everyone has to start somewhere and most pubs wont hire people unless they have years experience, its pulling pints not eye surgery.

dub_skav

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

It's supposed to be an apprenticeship!

Proper bartending is an art, imo. Being able to control a queue, being able to take and pour more than one order at once, being able to remember the full order when you get to the til, being able to take an order or multiple different drinks, pour them and take for them without once asking the customer to repeat himself.

All of that comes with experience. Years of it.

It hasn't been an apprenticeship for many many years.
I was a barman for years and I believe the level of barstaff has plummeted in the last 15 or so years.
The "proper bartending" you lay out above is probably practiced by some of the barmen in 1 in 5 pubs these days.
It's a shame really as it used to be one of the things we did significantly better than anywhere else in the world.

So, while the barstaff in Wetherspoons might not be very good, they are most certainly not alone in that.

Ravelleman

JONJO THE MISER wrote: »

I think its good, everyone has to start somewhere and most pubs wont hire people unless they have years experience, its pulling pints not eye surgery.

I agree. The service is pretty bad though. Hasn't stopped me from going. Lots of the younger staff seemed like locals, which is nice for them.

MonkstownHoop

Baldy Conscience wrote: »

It's supposed to be an apprenticeship!

Proper bartending is an art, imo. Being able to control a queue, being able to take and pour more than one order at once, being able to remember the full order when you get to the til, being able to take an order or multiple different drinks, pour them and take for them without once asking the customer to repeat himself.

All of that comes with experience. Years of it.

I'd never want a barman to pour my pint when pouring another