Life as a Licensee - The Ups and Downs!

This is Me......

Being a Licensee is still a fairly new way of life for me...... I've only been doing the job proper for just over 12 months! In my previous life I worked in Housing for almost 20 years for a large Local Authority and then after a short but horrendous flirtation with the NHS as a Senior Manager I moved in to the Private Sector. But now, my partner Tim (he's been in the trade for years!) and I run the Victoria Inn, Salcombe - a fantastic St Austell seaside pub!

It's been a very challenging 12 months in more ways than one. Let me list the issues. Firstly there was and still is sometimes the never ending exhaustion.....particularly in the height of the season. To not be getting to bed till 1,2 or later in the morning and sometimes up for 8 the same day means I often have less than 6 hours sleep - that is tough at times and in a face as old as mine it shows! Secondly, I'd always had huge corporate back up to deal with HR issues or legal stuff - now who you gonna call..... yourself!!

I'd never really given much thought to the HR issues before hand - I just told a different department what I wanted and they did it! Now though, I've had to learn to write contracts of employment, keep staff records, deal with (seemingly!) trivial staff issues - including a male staff member 'squaring up' to me in the early days! My best Peggy Mitchell voice coming in to play with 'get outa my pub'!! Maternity leave, paternity leave, sickness interviews, training and on and on and on..........

But I suppose it's been the overall culture of being in the pub business I have found most peculiar and often most challenging - I find it very male dominated and I constantly get deferred to as the 'landlady', with callers asking for the landlord or (and this ACTUALLY happened) the man of the house!! I've run huge departments with 50/60 staff and massive budgets, I've worked with Government Ministers and yet I feel quite patronised some days by colleagues in our industry.

I also feel distinctly uncomfortable at times with the 'booze' culture that I feel exists. I will admit that in the first few heady months of the job, I was a little like a kid in a sweet shop, but actually that feeling soon passed and I'm more than aware of what excessive drinking can do to families and individuals so I take my duties as a responsible retailer very seriously and ensure that staff do the same. I'm also really hot on customer service and believe it's that level of service we offer at the Victoria Inn that gives us the edge on our competition.

In my blog for the Good Pub Guide I'm going to be chronicling what it's really like to run a succesful but hugely seasonal pub with a large restaurant with all that it entails. We have a massive re-furb coming up in the New Year (that's is bound to throw up great writing material!) starting with the discovery of wet rot in the Restaurant last week! No wonder the radiator was looking decidedly wonky - more of that certainly!

We also have great plans for our future expansion next season of which we're very excited about as well as the every day stuff. I hope you enjoy my ramblings and I'll certainly love to hear any comments you may have!