Picture the scene.
You're walking along the seafront, somewhere abroad, perhaps southern Spain.
The sun is just setting over the clear blue sea.
Yachts are bobbling lightly as the gentle sea waves ripple their way up to the soft, fine, golden sands.
The promenade is lined with palaces of gastronomic delight. The subtle waft of varying, fresh Mediterranean cuisine filling the air.
The chink of glass upon glass as the multitudinous evening repasts are toasted with a nice Rioja or perhaps a chilled Sangria.
Lovers look into each others eyes maybe blushing slightly and lowering their eyes as a compliment is made.
Olive skinned children sit quietly and enjoy the flavours of the food unconcerned by the colour or texture of the morsels they load into their smiling mouths.
Soft music also fills the air, perhaps something local, maybe a guy playing a guitar while a girl dances an alluring and exotic Flamenco.
Can it get any better than this? Really !!!
Oh yes because you can experience the "GREAT British Seaside"............
You're walking along the seafront, somewhere in the UK, perhaps Great Yarmouth.
The sun is barely visible as in sinks it's way behind the dark, thundery clouds and into the cold, Greenish/Brown and uncompromising North Sea.
Oil Tankers meander their way across the horizon being battered by the harsh, frantic waves that pound upon the stoney, dog s**t covered, cigarette butt, fly-tipped sand.
The promenade is festooned with outlets offering various deep fried objects and the air is filled with wafts of hot boiling cooking oil, vinegar and the odd waft of fresh horse s**t direct from the back ends of the knackeryard nags that drag poorly maintained carriages up and down so that poorly maintained people don't have to walk to the next doughnut emporium.
The chink of tin upon concrete as the next can of cheap, super strength lager or cider topples out the overfilled bin.
Lovers, when not shouting at each other, can only look into one of each other eyes as the other two are pointing in completely opposite directions.
Pasty skinned children wail as they shovel in copious amounts of hydrogenated fat into their already far to obese bodies and of course when ordering they we're explicit in making sure that nothing green accompanied their feast.
Cheesey Euro pop is being banged out of the grotty looking, shellsuit populated amusement arcades where you actually only find amusement in the elaborate exteriors that try to convince the great unwashed that they have somehow been magically tele-ported to Las Vegas (Caesers Palace my arse)
So there you go, only one winner there for me.......UK all the way :-)
With that in mind here is my recipe of the day.
1. Get some stuff! usually Fish but basically anything will work from Sausages to Chicken to Shoes and perhaps Books !!!
2. Cover it in batter and deep fry it until it's really crisp around the edges and soggy in the middle (Sogginess may not apply to books, particularly hard backs). Keep warm under bright halogen lamps (TIP - it's best to use oil that been constantly used for about 2 weeks without being changed)
3. Chips - Nothing else will do....Naturally these must have been deep fried.
4. Pile deep fried item number two into a polystyrene container and top with deep fried item number one.
5. Cover liberally with salt which was sourced from at least 4,000 miles from the very seafront you are on and drown in cheap malt vinegar.
6. ..............ENJOY.
7. Die young.
Saturday, 31 July 2010
Thursday, 29 July 2010
Finally a Wifi connection
Hey all,
Apologies for the lack of blog this week. I'm actually on holiday in Norfolk near Great Yarmouth. It's been a strain and the weather has been pretty bad but worst of all nowhere has internet access! Honestly it's like being on the 80's all over again.
Food however has been pretty good with one exception. BBQ on the first day. There are 4 of us here and 2 of them are kids (7 year olds) so naturally I made 6 burgers of varying spiciness, 4 Beef Steaks, 4 Pork Steaks, 6 Cumberland Sausages, 4 Chicken Kebabs, Tomato Salad and of course the obligatory Potato Salad.....Needless to say 3 days later and there is still some left in the fridge.
Last night I made Britain's favourite home made caravan holiday park tucker Spaghetti Bolognaise. As passé as it is I still love a good old Spag Bol and I make it differently each time, which I suppose it's how it should be, after all the "Bolognaise" as it's referred to on these shores is actually known as "Ragu" in Italy and each region or even family has it's own version......but you all knew that right?
The let down on the food front however has been the take away curry we got on Tuesday. I was really craving one so headed off to the local village Tandoori and it was pretty poor. The sauces we're OK but the one chicken dish had about half a breasts worth of meat in it and the lamb dish had about two chops worth, they were more soup than curry.
That disappointment was soon in the past because after eating we went to a neighbouring holiday park to catch the talent competition and the cabaret...wooooooo
What a giggle that was !! The talent show was funny, it was all little kiddies so that made it bearable viewing. The winner was a little girl who got up on her own and sung a sing, I couldn't hear a word she sung but she was only about 4 or 5 and it was very brave of her to get up there.
Before that was the cabaret which was this group of young teenage kiddies who were collectively a singing and dancing troupe. The sound people completely buggered up the music meaning that there was loads of feedback and afterwards we were told that they'd been playing the backing music at the wrong speed so it was all out of key...Oops.
Heading back tomorrow via Ely to see my family there so should be out and about if anybody fancies a drink in town later on.
Anyway.......moving on I think it's all about Sven in the Park on 14th August. 12hr set (5pm - 5am) only slight problem is that it's in Livorno, Italy. Still I'll get some prices together and let people know if they happen to be interested in a little roadtrip.
Mind you I'm also wanting to head to Ibiza at the beginning of September too so could be an idea to save a bit of cash.
So that's about it, pretty much everything covered. Catch you laters.
Apologies for the lack of blog this week. I'm actually on holiday in Norfolk near Great Yarmouth. It's been a strain and the weather has been pretty bad but worst of all nowhere has internet access! Honestly it's like being on the 80's all over again.
Food however has been pretty good with one exception. BBQ on the first day. There are 4 of us here and 2 of them are kids (7 year olds) so naturally I made 6 burgers of varying spiciness, 4 Beef Steaks, 4 Pork Steaks, 6 Cumberland Sausages, 4 Chicken Kebabs, Tomato Salad and of course the obligatory Potato Salad.....Needless to say 3 days later and there is still some left in the fridge.
Last night I made Britain's favourite home made caravan holiday park tucker Spaghetti Bolognaise. As passé as it is I still love a good old Spag Bol and I make it differently each time, which I suppose it's how it should be, after all the "Bolognaise" as it's referred to on these shores is actually known as "Ragu" in Italy and each region or even family has it's own version......but you all knew that right?
The let down on the food front however has been the take away curry we got on Tuesday. I was really craving one so headed off to the local village Tandoori and it was pretty poor. The sauces we're OK but the one chicken dish had about half a breasts worth of meat in it and the lamb dish had about two chops worth, they were more soup than curry.
That disappointment was soon in the past because after eating we went to a neighbouring holiday park to catch the talent competition and the cabaret...wooooooo
What a giggle that was !! The talent show was funny, it was all little kiddies so that made it bearable viewing. The winner was a little girl who got up on her own and sung a sing, I couldn't hear a word she sung but she was only about 4 or 5 and it was very brave of her to get up there.
Before that was the cabaret which was this group of young teenage kiddies who were collectively a singing and dancing troupe. The sound people completely buggered up the music meaning that there was loads of feedback and afterwards we were told that they'd been playing the backing music at the wrong speed so it was all out of key...Oops.
Heading back tomorrow via Ely to see my family there so should be out and about if anybody fancies a drink in town later on.
Anyway.......moving on I think it's all about Sven in the Park on 14th August. 12hr set (5pm - 5am) only slight problem is that it's in Livorno, Italy. Still I'll get some prices together and let people know if they happen to be interested in a little roadtrip.
Mind you I'm also wanting to head to Ibiza at the beginning of September too so could be an idea to save a bit of cash.
So that's about it, pretty much everything covered. Catch you laters.
Friday, 23 July 2010
Another weekend has begun.....
Well it's everybodies favourite day of the week. Glorious Friday :-)
Today I shall mostly working but looking forward to this evening when I'll be helping out my fellow DJ cohort Keith Newman down at Mango in Reading. After last weekend perhaps it might be a good idea to pace it out a bit rather than get a bit too wobbly a bit too early. Still very good times and I'm actually fooling myself if I think tonight will be anything different.
This time however we will be inside giving the main room some serious old school classic house party vibes. should imagine that'll kick off at about 10:30pm but the garden is open from 9pm and it'll be free entry up until 10pm.
Before that however I think I shall go and have some rather lovely and tasty tucker over at the London Street Brassierre. Been a few times now and it really is right up there with the best Reading and the surrounding area has to offer.
The Chef de Patron Paul Clerehugh was one of the judges at the final of the cooking competition that I took part in and his comments about my dish after the event backstage we're just so inspiring. I was always acutely aware that I could cook a bit but what he said really made me realise that their was something inside of me, a talent I suppose, that need to get out hence why we're more actively seeking pub/restaurant opportunities than ever before.
After the final Paul wrote me a voucher entitling me to a meal for two at his restaurant for whenever I wanted to use it, and we did. It was completely VIP, champagne on arrival, whatever drinks we wanted throughout the meal and all the food we could eat. It was brilliant and such a fantastic and completely unexpected gesture.
Whenever I go to a restaurant I really try to have something different from the previous visit but I already know what I'm having tonight for a starter and that's the diver caught Scallops with Cauliflower Purée, simply amazing! I could eat that dish everyday for the rest of my life and never bore of it.
While in Ibiza a couple of weeks ago we (Carley & I) introduced Emily and Grandad to Aioli which you may know as the Garlic Mayonnaise stuff you get delivered with bread to your table at virtually all Spanish restaurants.
Well they both absolutely loved it. When you consider that at the time Emily was just 6 and Grandad would turn his nose up at the mere mention of the word Garlic this was some revelation. Emily asked if we could get it at home which of course you can from most supermarkets but thats the processed stuff and nowhere near as good. So you can imagine my surprise when I got home after a rubbish day stuck in traffic to find lashing and lashings of Aioli handmade my Carley & Emily. Let me tell you it was beautiful too, easily as good if not better than any I've had in Spain. So massive thumbs up to the girls. I'll get the recipe and have it posted on my facebook page very soon.
Following up the Aioli was a traditional Spaghetti Carbonara which again was perfectly executed by Carley and such a great comfort dish, so much so that I was asleep on the sofa within minutes of finishing it. I think it came from a Hairy Bikers recipe but I'll have to ask Carley and then if I can find a link to their site I'll stick that up too.
Only a couple of days to go and then we're off to Norfolk for some seaside shinanighans......can't wait to dip my toes in the cool, greeny brown waters of the North Sea.
Mind you one of my absolute favourite chefs Galton Blackiston has a Michelin starred hotel and restaurant up that way................hmmmmmmmm
Today I shall mostly working but looking forward to this evening when I'll be helping out my fellow DJ cohort Keith Newman down at Mango in Reading. After last weekend perhaps it might be a good idea to pace it out a bit rather than get a bit too wobbly a bit too early. Still very good times and I'm actually fooling myself if I think tonight will be anything different.
This time however we will be inside giving the main room some serious old school classic house party vibes. should imagine that'll kick off at about 10:30pm but the garden is open from 9pm and it'll be free entry up until 10pm.
Before that however I think I shall go and have some rather lovely and tasty tucker over at the London Street Brassierre. Been a few times now and it really is right up there with the best Reading and the surrounding area has to offer.
The Chef de Patron Paul Clerehugh was one of the judges at the final of the cooking competition that I took part in and his comments about my dish after the event backstage we're just so inspiring. I was always acutely aware that I could cook a bit but what he said really made me realise that their was something inside of me, a talent I suppose, that need to get out hence why we're more actively seeking pub/restaurant opportunities than ever before.
After the final Paul wrote me a voucher entitling me to a meal for two at his restaurant for whenever I wanted to use it, and we did. It was completely VIP, champagne on arrival, whatever drinks we wanted throughout the meal and all the food we could eat. It was brilliant and such a fantastic and completely unexpected gesture.
Whenever I go to a restaurant I really try to have something different from the previous visit but I already know what I'm having tonight for a starter and that's the diver caught Scallops with Cauliflower Purée, simply amazing! I could eat that dish everyday for the rest of my life and never bore of it.
While in Ibiza a couple of weeks ago we (Carley & I) introduced Emily and Grandad to Aioli which you may know as the Garlic Mayonnaise stuff you get delivered with bread to your table at virtually all Spanish restaurants.
Well they both absolutely loved it. When you consider that at the time Emily was just 6 and Grandad would turn his nose up at the mere mention of the word Garlic this was some revelation. Emily asked if we could get it at home which of course you can from most supermarkets but thats the processed stuff and nowhere near as good. So you can imagine my surprise when I got home after a rubbish day stuck in traffic to find lashing and lashings of Aioli handmade my Carley & Emily. Let me tell you it was beautiful too, easily as good if not better than any I've had in Spain. So massive thumbs up to the girls. I'll get the recipe and have it posted on my facebook page very soon.
Following up the Aioli was a traditional Spaghetti Carbonara which again was perfectly executed by Carley and such a great comfort dish, so much so that I was asleep on the sofa within minutes of finishing it. I think it came from a Hairy Bikers recipe but I'll have to ask Carley and then if I can find a link to their site I'll stick that up too.
Only a couple of days to go and then we're off to Norfolk for some seaside shinanighans......can't wait to dip my toes in the cool, greeny brown waters of the North Sea.
Mind you one of my absolute favourite chefs Galton Blackiston has a Michelin starred hotel and restaurant up that way................hmmmmmmmm
Thursday, 22 July 2010
Banking....
Due to me losing my bank card this morning I had to visit my branch to transfer some funds to another account. While I was standing outside with my cup of tea waiting for it to open along with several other people it occurred to me that it would be far more beneficial to the bank and it's customers if the opened earlier, when people weren't at work !!
I mean how hard could that be to implement? You could have a half the people who normally work there start at 7am and finish at 3pm then the rest 9am to 5pm that way the busier lunchtimes would be covered by the same amount of staff and customers would not have to take time off work because they could do their banking bits before going.
Just thinking from the staff side it must be better for them too. If you rotated it so that each team did a week of early starts followed by a week of late starts or even let them sort it out between themselves then they'd be able to make time to do things they might not normally be able to do like pick the kids up from school, get to the high street shops before they shut, get a haircut...the list is endless.
For the bank it'd mean less people having to do their banking at the weekends so lower staffing requirements and of not that at least it'll ease the pressure on the current workforce and be a boost for morale.
I have no problem at all with the people who work in my bank (Santander) they were positively excellent, very helpful and made things very easy for me being a relative bank counter novice but I'd much rather have got there at 7am and not had to then rush into work.
Unless there is somekind of strict legislation that restricts banks opening hours then I might very well just forward this to all high street banks and see what they say.
I mean how hard could that be to implement? You could have a half the people who normally work there start at 7am and finish at 3pm then the rest 9am to 5pm that way the busier lunchtimes would be covered by the same amount of staff and customers would not have to take time off work because they could do their banking bits before going.
Just thinking from the staff side it must be better for them too. If you rotated it so that each team did a week of early starts followed by a week of late starts or even let them sort it out between themselves then they'd be able to make time to do things they might not normally be able to do like pick the kids up from school, get to the high street shops before they shut, get a haircut...the list is endless.
For the bank it'd mean less people having to do their banking at the weekends so lower staffing requirements and of not that at least it'll ease the pressure on the current workforce and be a boost for morale.
I have no problem at all with the people who work in my bank (Santander) they were positively excellent, very helpful and made things very easy for me being a relative bank counter novice but I'd much rather have got there at 7am and not had to then rush into work.
Unless there is somekind of strict legislation that restricts banks opening hours then I might very well just forward this to all high street banks and see what they say.
Wednesday, 21 July 2010
Rat a tat tat
......Went the door at 7:15 this morning.
Well not so much "Rat a tat tat" as " Bang a Dang a Lang"...Jeez that man had some knock on him.
It was one of those knowing door knocks only confirmed when I poked my head out the bedroom window and saw the clipboard.
Nope not double glazing and certainly not any kind of religious visitor this was Baliff pure and simple.
So loud was the knock that little'un jumped and fell out of bed, good job they are bouncy at that age (Mind you she's being a right little whatnot this morning, I'd have been sent to my Nannas by now for some serious telling off)
Anyway all to do with a previous tenant which of course I knew it would be because we get loads of brown envelopes through the door with other peoples names on. Apparently this one was for unpaid parking tickets in Hammersmith, not that I needed to know this but I'm sure the guy who came round really doesn't get the chance to talk to too many people inside, or even outside of work for that matter so I humoured him and I'm counting it as my good deed for the day.
Anyway back to the pub daydreaming and so far I've come up with a couple of menu ideas that I think might work but I need to study it more. I know what I want to do but I cannot see a mixture of traditional pub grub and sophisticated classic French/Italian/Spanish cuisine going down well.
Whatever happens it'll all be homemade making use of fresh, seasonal produce from as many local producers as I can find. I'm even gonna put up signs near the local allotments to tell those who have them that our doors are always open to them and their produce.
Imagine that. Sitting in the restaurant and being able to see the person who grew the Leeks and Potatoes that made the very soup your are having. Thinking of having a farmers market in the car park too providing it's big enough.
Right well my ramblings are over for now, best get to work. If I think of anymore drivel today I shall post it right away.
Well not so much "Rat a tat tat" as " Bang a Dang a Lang"...Jeez that man had some knock on him.
It was one of those knowing door knocks only confirmed when I poked my head out the bedroom window and saw the clipboard.
Nope not double glazing and certainly not any kind of religious visitor this was Baliff pure and simple.
So loud was the knock that little'un jumped and fell out of bed, good job they are bouncy at that age (Mind you she's being a right little whatnot this morning, I'd have been sent to my Nannas by now for some serious telling off)
Anyway all to do with a previous tenant which of course I knew it would be because we get loads of brown envelopes through the door with other peoples names on. Apparently this one was for unpaid parking tickets in Hammersmith, not that I needed to know this but I'm sure the guy who came round really doesn't get the chance to talk to too many people inside, or even outside of work for that matter so I humoured him and I'm counting it as my good deed for the day.
Anyway back to the pub daydreaming and so far I've come up with a couple of menu ideas that I think might work but I need to study it more. I know what I want to do but I cannot see a mixture of traditional pub grub and sophisticated classic French/Italian/Spanish cuisine going down well.
Whatever happens it'll all be homemade making use of fresh, seasonal produce from as many local producers as I can find. I'm even gonna put up signs near the local allotments to tell those who have them that our doors are always open to them and their produce.
Imagine that. Sitting in the restaurant and being able to see the person who grew the Leeks and Potatoes that made the very soup your are having. Thinking of having a farmers market in the car park too providing it's big enough.
Right well my ramblings are over for now, best get to work. If I think of anymore drivel today I shall post it right away.
Tuesday, 20 July 2010
Offers
So I have offers on the table from both the previous tenants and the Pubco involved in the pub that we want to show an interest in.
Both options are inviting but there is so much to consider. Thankfully there are some free resources out there to get you on the right track.
This one is particulally helpful as it's been created by people who have been there and either failed, telling you why or succeeded again telling you how.
Of course each business should be taken on it's own merits and what might work for one may not work for another but far better it is to heed the advice than it is to go in feet first only to end up bankrupt, jobless and homeless.
It also depends on how we really want to view this opportunity. Are we intending to stay here for quite a while, building up a good trade and basing our future on it? Or should we use it as a learning curve to see if we can adapt to life in the licensed trade, a stepping stone to bigger things.
I think I'm leaning towards the latter but then we have a 7 year old so would the thought of potential upheaval for her be too much for her to cope with? Seeing that big school beckons next term and from what I remember this is when her lasting lifetime friendships will probably be formed.
Lots of people quite rightly warning of the pitfalls of signing up with a Pubco which of course shows caring for our future but also getting tremendous encouragement from not only friends but from many of the pub regulars who think it'd be the best thing to happen for it, even given our intention (should we get it) to completely change the emphasis from a currently completely wet trade to a predominantly food trade.
Even changing that trading ethos has it's challenges. Firstly the overheads will be much higher which will have to be taken into account when going over the figures. Extra staff will be required. Kitchen equipment will need to be blast cleaned and serviced not forgetting all the extra table and table furniture that will be required.
How do you respectfully and politely tell people that a suitable standard of dress must be adhered to at all times? i.e. no dirty or dusty work clothes shaking debris into lovingly prepared homecooked meals. This would instantly outcast the majority of the previous regulars whom lets be honest ain't gonna be too happy about it.
Previous regulars can actually have a very damaging effect on the new business plans, especially as it was previously a drinkers pub. Yes it's very nice to have regulars but at a Pubco run establishment the profit margin is very low on beers so relying on these customers is not going to be a great business move considering the changes we want to make.
They can also feel like their local actually belongs to them rather than anybody else and that they have some devine right to choose the path that the business takes which is of course wrong.
I think this sums up how a relationship between tenant/landlord and customer should be - You should should be friendly with all your best customers but none of your customers should be your best friends.
Now the only other thing I can thing of at the moment is what I'm going to have on the menu......
Answer below please :-)
Both options are inviting but there is so much to consider. Thankfully there are some free resources out there to get you on the right track.
This one is particulally helpful as it's been created by people who have been there and either failed, telling you why or succeeded again telling you how.
Of course each business should be taken on it's own merits and what might work for one may not work for another but far better it is to heed the advice than it is to go in feet first only to end up bankrupt, jobless and homeless.
It also depends on how we really want to view this opportunity. Are we intending to stay here for quite a while, building up a good trade and basing our future on it? Or should we use it as a learning curve to see if we can adapt to life in the licensed trade, a stepping stone to bigger things.
I think I'm leaning towards the latter but then we have a 7 year old so would the thought of potential upheaval for her be too much for her to cope with? Seeing that big school beckons next term and from what I remember this is when her lasting lifetime friendships will probably be formed.
Lots of people quite rightly warning of the pitfalls of signing up with a Pubco which of course shows caring for our future but also getting tremendous encouragement from not only friends but from many of the pub regulars who think it'd be the best thing to happen for it, even given our intention (should we get it) to completely change the emphasis from a currently completely wet trade to a predominantly food trade.
Even changing that trading ethos has it's challenges. Firstly the overheads will be much higher which will have to be taken into account when going over the figures. Extra staff will be required. Kitchen equipment will need to be blast cleaned and serviced not forgetting all the extra table and table furniture that will be required.
How do you respectfully and politely tell people that a suitable standard of dress must be adhered to at all times? i.e. no dirty or dusty work clothes shaking debris into lovingly prepared homecooked meals. This would instantly outcast the majority of the previous regulars whom lets be honest ain't gonna be too happy about it.
Previous regulars can actually have a very damaging effect on the new business plans, especially as it was previously a drinkers pub. Yes it's very nice to have regulars but at a Pubco run establishment the profit margin is very low on beers so relying on these customers is not going to be a great business move considering the changes we want to make.
They can also feel like their local actually belongs to them rather than anybody else and that they have some devine right to choose the path that the business takes which is of course wrong.
I think this sums up how a relationship between tenant/landlord and customer should be - You should should be friendly with all your best customers but none of your customers should be your best friends.
Now the only other thing I can thing of at the moment is what I'm going to have on the menu......
Answer below please :-)
Monday, 19 July 2010
Monday Monday....So good to me
Well apart from waking up and having to cancel my bank card it's been good.
The schools have broken up for end of term which of course means no maniacal women on the road in their ridiculously big 4x4's, (which was an absolutely necessary purchase after the birth of baby Horatio) doing their make-up and texting their therapists.
I mean how can a 43 year old first time mother possibly cope with with the lack of room provided by a BMW convertible, plus the fact that all the other ladies at the tennis club have them.
I'm joking of course, I really do love it when I almost get run off the road by a perma-tanned, pink terry towling clad psycho in a Range Rover sport trying to avoid a puddle, it's a hoot.
I just don't get this "Chelsea Tractor" thing. I mean my mum did perfectly OK with the 3 of us and a metallic blue MK II Ford Cortina with the black vinyl roof !! Oh actually the blue one was a MK III, the bright yellow one was the MK II.
Also I didn't see one "Baby on Board" dangly sign or the even wackier "Princess on Board" or perhaps even the stupendously amusing "Little Angel on Board" variety. What are they all about anyway?
Are we to assume that the average driver wakes up one morning and thinks "Ooooh it's a lovely day, had a great weekend too. What shall I do today?........I know I'll go out for a drive in my car and purposely crash into the back of someone.......Oh best not crash into that car as they have a baby on board, I'll have to choose one without one of those very informative dangly things."
I'd like to see other ones done in the same design. Things like "Chav in Training on board" or "Potential Thug on Board"....I think you get my drift :-)
So I'm grateful for school holidays that I didn't come across any of this and that makes me happy.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT.....I've just found out that schools don't infact break up until Thursday.............I'm a plum. I apologise for my previous rant although I'm not going to delete it because I think it's mildly amusing.
Well still it was a nice traffic free journey......... (DOH)
In other news my upcoming weekend plans have been scuppered by the closure of my local pub (RIP - Sad times) however I have already tendered my interest in taking it over and becoming a Restaurateur and Publican but to be honest the brewery that actually owns the pub (Enterprise Inns) are notoriously difficult to work with and because of the tied lease there is no real incentive to make a healthy business out of it.
I'd need them to allow me to at least earn what I do now to make it worthwhile and I cannot see that happening especially after reading that one of their pubs had a turnover of £500,000 and the tenants got a return on that of £15,000 !!! Absolutely outrageous profiteering. Not sure a village pub in a suburb of Reading is going to be able to make a turnover of £1m+ in a year.
Making people buy stock at over 60% more than other wholesalers and then increasing rents when profits are made is just completely unreasonable and cannot be an effective business model.
Seems to me and probably many others that the people running these business models have absolutely no interest in preserving the tradition that is the great British pub.
They are probably more interested in getting the places bulldozed and ready to be replaced by very expensive and incredibly mediocre blocks of flats that can then be sold to people without enough money to repay their mortgages.
Have a great day readers :-)
The schools have broken up for end of term which of course means no maniacal women on the road in their ridiculously big 4x4's, (which was an absolutely necessary purchase after the birth of baby Horatio) doing their make-up and texting their therapists.
I mean how can a 43 year old first time mother possibly cope with with the lack of room provided by a BMW convertible, plus the fact that all the other ladies at the tennis club have them.
I'm joking of course, I really do love it when I almost get run off the road by a perma-tanned, pink terry towling clad psycho in a Range Rover sport trying to avoid a puddle, it's a hoot.
I just don't get this "Chelsea Tractor" thing. I mean my mum did perfectly OK with the 3 of us and a metallic blue MK II Ford Cortina with the black vinyl roof !! Oh actually the blue one was a MK III, the bright yellow one was the MK II.
Also I didn't see one "Baby on Board" dangly sign or the even wackier "Princess on Board" or perhaps even the stupendously amusing "Little Angel on Board" variety. What are they all about anyway?
Are we to assume that the average driver wakes up one morning and thinks "Ooooh it's a lovely day, had a great weekend too. What shall I do today?........I know I'll go out for a drive in my car and purposely crash into the back of someone.......Oh best not crash into that car as they have a baby on board, I'll have to choose one without one of those very informative dangly things."
I'd like to see other ones done in the same design. Things like "Chav in Training on board" or "Potential Thug on Board"....I think you get my drift :-)
So I'm grateful for school holidays that I didn't come across any of this and that makes me happy.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT.....I've just found out that schools don't infact break up until Thursday.............I'm a plum. I apologise for my previous rant although I'm not going to delete it because I think it's mildly amusing.
Well still it was a nice traffic free journey......... (DOH)
In other news my upcoming weekend plans have been scuppered by the closure of my local pub (RIP - Sad times) however I have already tendered my interest in taking it over and becoming a Restaurateur and Publican but to be honest the brewery that actually owns the pub (Enterprise Inns) are notoriously difficult to work with and because of the tied lease there is no real incentive to make a healthy business out of it.
I'd need them to allow me to at least earn what I do now to make it worthwhile and I cannot see that happening especially after reading that one of their pubs had a turnover of £500,000 and the tenants got a return on that of £15,000 !!! Absolutely outrageous profiteering. Not sure a village pub in a suburb of Reading is going to be able to make a turnover of £1m+ in a year.
Making people buy stock at over 60% more than other wholesalers and then increasing rents when profits are made is just completely unreasonable and cannot be an effective business model.
Seems to me and probably many others that the people running these business models have absolutely no interest in preserving the tradition that is the great British pub.
They are probably more interested in getting the places bulldozed and ready to be replaced by very expensive and incredibly mediocre blocks of flats that can then be sold to people without enough money to repay their mortgages.
Have a great day readers :-)
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