Drinking partners
The pub is no longer a male preserve. Social and economic factors have combined to make the licensed trade increasingly dependent on women as customers.
Social change over a generation has moved women towards equality, with greater independence, earning power, confidence and expectations. Many of the inhibitions have gone so that increasingly women can feel comfortable in a pub environment.
Bob Cartwright, director of Bass Taverns, says: "Our training programmes for managers and bar staff emphasise ways to make women feel more welcome: establish early eye contact; greet warmly but be non-sexist; learn to be sensitive to female customers' wants.
"Also, we are recruiting women into Bass Taverns' management structure, including pub management. More than 20% of our licensees are female (probably twice the industry average) and in Scotland it rises to 50%. Women are at least as good as men in running pubs and now have greater opportunities because we no longer necessarily recruit couples."
Cartwright is particularly excited by the recently launched All Bar One concept. Five are already trading, with more in the pipeline. They are sited in busy commercial centres to attract the business community, office workers and professionals.
"We have made them appealing to women in a number of ways: interiors are light, uncluttered, airy (and air-conditioned). Big windows give good visibility from outside - the opposite of the old, secretive, inward-looking pub. There aren't any bar stools, machines or traditional pub games. Magazines and newspapers are provided, seating is flexible, and service is at the bar or at tables. The menu avoids heavy, traditional pub food, is unusual and good value. There's a wide range of wines and we sell a lot by the bottle - at about £6.
"Of course, staff are important: we recruit many hotel-trained, restaurant or retail people, looking for high standards of service. All Bar One managers and staff work as teams and expect close customer involvement.
"Making these bars women-friendly is the key factor in their success. About 50% of customers are women and the places are creating a real buzz. The mix looks right, we are pleased with the results - and we're learning all the time."
Bass is not alone in targeting women. Other groups and individuals are well aware of the opportunity.
Linda Swanson runs the White Horse at Eaton Socon, Cambridgeshire, with her husband Peter. It is a Whitbread lease, traditional food-led pub and former coaching inn. Her grandparents and parents were licensees and she understands the importance of women as customers.
"We pick up the body language of customers unsure of the ways of pubs - particularly older women, foreigners or disabled people - and make an effort to put them at ease. Women appreciate extra attention," says Swanson.
"Our chalkboard menus and wide wine selection are highly visible, we include lighter meals and dishes that perhaps women would not make at home - and we don't look surprised when the woman, rather than the man, pays the bill.
"I want a non-boozer image. I don't allow bad language and sexist attitudes. Women enjoy the welcome and atmosphere, they feel comfortable here, a natural part of the White Horse's life - which is as it should be."
A totally different pub, also a Whitbread lease, operates in the centre of Bedford, 12 miles away. The Jumping Jelly Bean is the creation of 24-year-old Cathy Waller. The core market is 18-25-year-olds, equally split between men and women. "But the women are more important," says Waller. "Without them we wouldn't have the men."
She makes sure they are welcomed - big windows for clear visibility from outside, no dark corners, a decor of creams, pinks and blues ("no gloomy pub colours"), anda large choice of wines, cocktails and zany drinks.
"The girls feel relaxed and comfortable here and enjoy being themselves. If a girl wears her highest heels and shortest skirt that's great - our job is to ensure she has a terrific time, which includes not being harassed. Our security is discreet, part of the policy of ensuring a safe environment, which women are entitled to whether they are drinking, dancing or just enjoying the music.
"Above all," says Waller, "it's the way my staff and I treat our guests. The words ‘customer' and ‘punter' are banned here. We are a guest-oriented business and my brief is that everyone should be welcomed as if in one's own home. And women get that little bit of extra attention."
The formula seems to be working. On a Saturday night there is a queue to get into the Jumping Jelly Bean.
However, there are still plenty of pubs where the licensee has no particular wish to attract women. Some licensees are failing to gain women's custom because they do not understand the ways in which women and men fit into the pub culture.
An older generation of women may have been brought up to regard pubs as "not nice", and younger age groups may be concerned about male aggression and harassment. There is still an element remaining, too, of the northern view that "the man's place is in the pub, the woman's is at home". Many women of all ages are still unwilling to go into a pub on their own.
Pubs have suffered in recent years from the negative publicity associated with lager louts and pub violence. Even beer advertising on TV has often been over-aggressively male. Bad news about the trade is particularly off-putting to women - they need to feel not only welcome, but safe.
It is essential for the survival of many pubs that women are made welcome. This does not mean that women are taking over this previously male domain but that instead the sexes should share the attractions of pubs.
Women who go to pubs have different expectations of what they should offer. It is up to the trade to meet those expectations: there is still a long way to go.
Michael Sargent is co-author with Tony Lyle of Successful Pubs and Inns published by Butterworth Heinemann in association with Caterer & Hotelkeeper.
