Dalton’s Weekly

Dalton’s Weekly is a newspaper that advertises a whole range of items, services and businesses for sale. It is often used by pub valuers and business transfer agents to promote the pubs they have on offer. Many individuals wishing to sell their lease or freehold use Dalton’s to advertise their pubs too. It is useful for comparing prices and for obtaining website addresses and telephone numbers of agents and valuers to contact.

Shortlisting Suitable Pubs

Once you know where to look for pubs that are available, the next step is to focus on finding pubs that match your ideal. Use your checklist to screen out unsuitable pubs and identify ones you think may match your requirements. Draw up a shortlist and focus on these pubs, requesting more details about them and visiting them to assess their potential.

Visiting Your Shortlisted Pubs

This is often the most time-consuming part of finding your ideal pub. Locating pubs can sometimes be difficult and may involve lots of travelling. A map or directions to the pub will be invaluable.

When visiting a pub it is best to be inconspicuous. You should respect the privacy of the existing licensee and allow them to run their business without interruption. They are likely to have other people interested in their pub too. Many licensees will not have told their customers or staff that they are leaving. Prospective licensees asking questions or obviously assessing the pub will be very unsettling. It is best to be discreet and make all approaches through the proper channels.

You may quickly reject a pub once you have seen it, while you will need to visit others several times before you make a decision. The aim of visiting a pub is to gather more information on which to base a decision. It is helpful to make notes as you visit each pub so that you can refer to them later. You should assess the customer and the location profiles and then prepare a ‘SWOT analysis’. (For information on preparing a SWOT analysis, see later in this chapter.) Many people also consider a ‘gut feeling’ to be crucial in deciding whether a pub is suitable for them. It is worth making a note about your ‘gut feeling’ on each of the pubs you look at.

Customer Profiles

You need to ascertain what kind of clientele uses the pub, and where they come from. You should really visit the pub at different times, and on different days of the week, to get a true picture of this. Even if there are no customers in the pub, you can pick up clues as to what type of clientele uses the pub:

• What type of music is on the jukebox?
• What type of drinks are being offered?
• What kind of promotions are being run?
• What facilities are available?

Location Profiles

A drive around an area can be very illuminating. It can tell you a great deal about the kind of people who live and work there. It is also an opportunity to investigate competitors’ pubs. Does the pub you are interested in seem to meet the needs of the area or does it appear out of place? Are the competitors’ pubs meeting these needs more successfully? Is there a gap in the market that could be filled?

Is the pub in a prominent position, in a busy area, or is it hidden away? Remember that the catchment area of a pub will vary depending on the type of pub you are looking at. Bear this in mind when assessing the area around your target pub.

You can find some valuable details about a neighbourhood on-line. Based on Census statistics, information on age profiles, employment, crime, housing and education are available. All you require is the pub’s postcode in order to request details of the area you are interested in. This information is excellent for assessing an area and also provides useful background material that can be used in a business plan.