Recently there has been a development in some pubs that really promotes customer satisfaction – but is it at the loss of promoting the licensing objectives?
We all know that dreaded feeling of knowing it’s our round, seeing the dregs of our drinks being drained and glancing at the 4 deep queue at the bar and thinking:
“In this day and age surely there’s an better way to do this?”
Well a few chains have decided that there should be and have embraced technology in creating apps where the customer never has to leave their table – they order either on their smart phone or an iPad placed on the table. The drinks then get poured and served directly to the consumer.
The other evolution is the ‘self service station’ that are essentially beer walls or per-table taps that customers serve themselves from, eliminating the need to queue and giving more autonomy to the consumer.
However, this has not been welcomed by all. With these models there is less face-to-face contact meaning that staff have less control over serving someone underage or who’s had too many!
Therefore, it is being advised that if you are to follow this evolution that chains such as Wetherspoons have entertained, it is best to make authorities aware of your plans before putting something into place and to ensure that you are carrying out a risk assessment to promote the licensing laws.
We have a licensing department here at Melrose who will be happy to offer advice on this matter.
We also offer personal license courses once a month. Email licensing@melrosegroup.co.uk for more information.