Registering With A Brewery Or Pub Company
The recommended approach is to register with several breweries or pub companies who have pubs in the area you are interested in. Your initial contact is likely to be with a member of the tenancy and lease recruitment
department. Take time to talk with them and obtain details of their name and a direct telephone number if possible (they can be a useful contact for you). They will take some brief details from you and will send you an application form and information pack.
Application Forms
Your application form is important as it gives a recruiter a first impression of you. Once you receive the application form, it is worth taking time to read it through and think about any questions you are asked. Complete the form neatly and thoroughly and ensure that you use all the available space on the form to make a good impression. Untidy and incomplete application forms will not impress recruiters. There will be a number of questions about your financial situation, which you will need to complete honestly and completely. Completing this section with phrases like ‘sufficient capital available’ will not help your application. Before you complete the form, you should have an understanding of how you intend to fund the business. You will be required to provide evidence of your capital at the interview stage. This does not mean that you should rush out and obtain a loan, if you require additional finance. But it does mean that you will need to have investigated your ability to raise the required money and perhaps been given an agreement in principle from a lender.
Add a photograph of yourself (or -selves) to the form and make sure it’s a good one, not one that looks like a police mugshot!
Interviews
Breweries and pub companies normally run two types of interview – a general or preliminary interview, and a pub-specific interview. General interviews are for applicants who have registered with the brewery or pub company, but who have not yet applied for a specific pub vacancy. These interviews may be conducted by the recruitment department or a Business Development Manager/Area Manager, or both. The purpose of this interview is to see if you have the general skills, abilities and personality to operate a pub. It also establishes your financial position.
The outcome of this interview will be either that you are added to the brewery or pub company database of prospective licensees, or be advised that you do not meet the required criteria. Anyone on the database will normally be kept up to date on which pubs are available.
Pub-specific interviews are aimed at filling specific pub vacancies. Applicants applying for individual pubs may have already had a general interview or this interview may be their first. The interview will be carried out by the Business Development Manager/Area Manager who is responsible for the pub. They will decide who is offered the pub, based on these interviews. Where there are two candidates who are closely matched, a further meeting may take place, before a final decision is made.
Here are some interview tips:
- Present yourself as the solution to the Business Development Manager/
- Area Manager’s problem.
- Research the pub and area well.
- Prepare a business plan for the pub.
- Ensure that you are clear about how you will fund the business.
- Bring confirmation of your financial position (bank statements etc), plus any letters from lenders agreeing in principle to provide additional finance.
- Turn up a little early.
- Be smart and well presented.
- Prepare for any questions that you may be asked.
- Ask for confirmation of barrelage and rent figures.
- Ask why the vacancy has occurred.
- Ask whether there are any major issues about the pub that you should be aware of.
- Clarify anything you are unsure about.
- Try to relax – Business Development Managers/Area Managers tend to be easy-going people; the interview should not be too gruelling!