BII chief calls for government to work with drinks industry

Details: Published on Monday, 29 September 2008 14:15

British Institute of Inkeeping (BII) chief executive John McNamara will call for the government, health officials and the police to work with the drinks industry at next month's Alcohol Harm Reduction Conference.

McNamara, who heads up the professional body for the licensed retail sector, will deliver a presentation entitled 'Working with the industry', outlining alcohol issues including pricing, responsible retailing and promotions, enforcement and young people.

The conference is designed to examine ways in which harm reduction can be achieved through effective partnership working. An update will be given on latest reports, government measures and proposals covering alcohol-related crime and disorder, ill health caused by alcohol, public perceptions of drunken and rowdy behaviour and the impact on A&E and other hospital services.

Other speakers at the event include Don Shenker, chief executive of Alcohol Concern; professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Physicians and chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance UK and key players from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), the Home Office, the Department of Health, the Met Police, KPMG, St Mary's Hospital and the University of Sheffield.

The Alcohol Harm Reduction Conference will take place on 17 October 2008 at the College of Emergency Medicine in London. Tickets cost £375 + VAT. Those interested in registering should go to www.infomedltd.co.uk.

Comments

#1 betterservice 2008-10-17 20:42

Unfortunately all the uproar generated over the last year regarding drinking is not addressing the issue. Other countries do not have the problem with unlawfullness and binge drinking that the UK has yet the sales in those countries are still proportional to the UK. Go into any bar on a Friday night, 20 to 30 minutes to get served by a poor unfortunate making £5.75 an hour. Badly trained if at all doing the job to get through Uni or to earn extra cash. There is no career in working behinbd a bar in this country, no tips, minimum wage - abused by customer and management alike.
The customer having waited for for so long starts to think "I am not waiting another 20 minutes to get served" so they order 3-5 drinks sometimes encouraged by a promotion at the bar and "hey presto" they proceed to drink 3-5 drinks in 20 minutes. The result a massive intake of alcohol in a very short period of time and trouble starts.....
The solution - serve the drink faster. Better and faster service will reduce the crush at the bar, reduce the problems caused by drinking too quickly, and ultimately better profit for the bar.
There ared other solutions out there other than throwing more people behind the bar. Faster pouring systems and POS systems, better training, encouraging tips for good service to keep the good servers in the trade by letting them make a decent living.

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