Club Mirror - survey feature - Ian Freeman part two - licensing hours/magistrates/police The major issue raised within the licensing section of the Club Mirror 2002 Market Report Survey concerned the proposed government reform which would permit licensed premises to serve alcohol 24 hours a day. 55% of respondent clubs said they would stick to their existing hours even if a total relaxation of hours was introduced and 24% suggested they may open for an extra hour at weekends. "I would stick to my existing hours of 12 noon to 3pm and 6pm to 11pm" said John Pyatt of Adderley Green WMC. "To open later would be a waste of resources and involve additional staff costs. As a family club, my members rarely want to stay later than 11." At the other end of the scale, Ian Roberts of the Cwmaman club, already opens 12 noon to 12 midnight, seven days a week, and would welcome an extra hour or two on special nights or at weekends. Frank Brown from Acacia Hall says he will keep a watchful eye on his competition before planning revised opening hours. "I've an open mind on it" he says, "and I'll do whatever the market-place is telling me, but I don't think people are going to want to drink much after 1am or 2am. There'll never be a market for morning drinking, unless you do champagne breakfasts!" Frank intends to keep close to his customers on the subject and take an proactive overview of their wishes. He is in favour of polling members by e-mail, an approach which has worked well in the past, with a prize draw incentive to encourage members to respond. Peter Hunt of the King's Heath Cricket and Sports Club agrees with taking the consultation route. "We will open the hours that our members demand" he says, "but I can't see us needing to close much later than our current time of 11.30pm. It's a bit like when all-day opening came in - many clubs realised that, once the novelty had worn off, there wasn't much point in opening in the afternoons to no business." The British Institute of Innkeepers (BII) and the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) are two of the organisations aiming to help pull licensees out of the legislative quagmire. The BII's Georgina Wald told us "The reform may be announced in the next Queen's Speech in November, but we won't know for sure until nearer the time. But drafting instructions have been issued and the Bill is being written, even though it hasn't yet been allocated parliamentary time." The Bill proposes 24-hour licensing, but actual hours would be restricted by terms attached to a club's premises licence, so some input from local authorities and residents is to be expected. In a survey of BII's members, 45% said they would close at 11pm during the week, 43% said they would open an extra hour, so, says Georgina, "the legislation is unlikely to turn Britain into the alcohol-fuelled Babylon that the media will doubtless attempt to create!" Mark Hastings of the BBPA says "We expect a significant number of our members to take advantage of the flexibility that reform would give them - licensees will have a choice of when they can open over a 24 hour period. The trade has never argued for 24-hour opening - you could, for example, number on the fingers of one hand the number of pubs that stayed open for the full 36 hours permitted over the New Year period." Mark feels that the staff costs issue merely means the licensed trade having to look at new ways of working as an industry. "The retail, media and manufacturing industries are adept at 24 hour operating" he says, "so it should be possible for us to find the right management and working systems to deal with the situation. A club or pub with slow daytime trade could always decide to open from, say, 6pm to 3am - people will have to look at their businesses in a more rounded way." Moves afoot to take licensing out of the hands of magistrates and to place the responsibility with local authorities are unpopular in clubland. Only 15% of clubs questioned felt that this was the way forward, with 56% preferring that the bench continued to grant licences as before. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" says Frank Brown. "Unless local authorities get adequate funding to handle licensing, our fees are bound to go up." John Pyatt says he can foresee changes in laws concerning admission to clubs if local authorities are involved and Ian Roberts quips "if local authorities are as efficient with licensing as they are on every other aspect of local government, we could have problems!"