Letters

Smoke-free pub still has great atmosphere

The Three Fishes in Shrewsbury is a totally smoke-free pub, and it is suffering from misrepresentations published in several newspapers by Forest, the tobacco industry pressure group.

Forest is saying that the previous tenant had to abandon the pub because his no-smoking policy was a failure. In fact, he was unhappy about the rental terms for his lease.

The pub did not go bankrupt. Indeed, business is booming. We are proud that customers drive from all over to enjoy the pub and compliment us on our pleasant, smoke-free atmosphere.

It is Forest, not our non-smoking policy, that is causing the biggest risk to our trade by saying that we are no longer smoke-free.

I have written to the director of Forest asking him to stop playing the tune of his tobacco-industry paymasters, and I wish the whole industry would stop misleading everyone on smoking in public places.

Nobody is calling for a total ban on smoking. However, I would urge any publican to try a smoke-free area and see what customers think - it works well for us. I am sure there is a market for a pub like ours in most cities and towns.

I want to set the record straight for the benefit of my customers. I certainly do not like being misrepresented by Forest and I hope it will withdraw its comments.

Adam Wardrop, the Three Fishes, Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

Breakfast charges will send guests packing

I refer to your news story on extra charges for breakfast (Caterer, 5 October, page 6).

My 20 years in the industry has shown me that hospitality means "best guest service practices". If guests feel they are being ripped off with exorbitant extra charges for breakfasts, not only will they let everyone know, but they will vote with their feet.

When I took over the Cedars Lodge Inn in Barnstaple, I changed room rates from "room only" to "bed and breakfast inclusive". Not only has the guest perception of "no hidden charges" been removed, but room revenue and food profit margins have increased.

I am proud of my business and our guests are pleased to be here - they know they are not being ripped off, so they keep coming back. That's what it is all about, isn't it?

JOHN McKitterick, General Manager, The Cedars Lodge Inn, Barnstaple, Devon.

That's the way the money goes…

A number of articles in Caterer caught my eye recently. The first detailed the Mash & Air chain, now seemingly faltering after a none-too-profitable few years (Caterer, 21 September, page 4). Yet there is still money for a £400,000 refurbishment and to open the Admiralty restaurant.

The next was Whitbread's opening of the Costa coffee shop on Brompton Road. I couldn't get the group turnover (£50m), the number of outlets (200) and the annual rent on Brompton Road (£98,500) to add up. Oh yes, and the premium payment for the lease.

On to the Soup Opera: turnover £1m plus, but that's with nine units in London. I hope the "plus" is big.

Next, One Blossom Street. There, they serve 50 lunches and 25 dinners, an average spend of £35-£40 per head. How can this finance a central London location, nine staff plus head chef and manager, and a return on a quoted £1.9m investment?

It leaves me wondering - where does all the money for new ventures really come from?

Peter Jackson, Sheffield.

Who will replace the disillusioned young?

The easing of work permit application requirements announced by the Government (Caterer, 5 October, page 4) is long overdue and a welcome step. But is the Government helping employment where the skills shortage is most acute?

The changes, which make it a bit easier to employ head and second chefs, fail to acknowledge the most desperate shortage area, that of well-trained demi and commis chefs.

Views on the skills shortages have been aired over the past months, and we do not have any better solutions to offer than anyone else.

But what if, with the Government's enthusiasm for pointing young people at IT and new technologies, the skills shortage just does not lessen?

What if the appetite of young people for entering trades where creative practical skills, as well as academic abilities, are rewarded with longer hours and less pay than they can get after three days training in a call centre, is waning?

Maybe the Government could put hospitality in the same category as the industries it included on its Shortage Occupation Hot List and make it genuinely easier to employ suitably qualified people at whatever level from overseas.

After all, hospitality is a global business, catering for both home and international markets at tourist and business level, earning substantial revenues for the UK. Why stifle its efficiency by keeping rules designed last century for reasons that are no longer applicable?

Phil Edrop, Proprietor, Seasonal Staff, Burntwood, Staffordshire.