This surely is no way to run a company. The Chairman should do what he does best, oversee the brewery and ensure they continue to produce some of the best beer around. Then let his area managers, and more importantly his pub managers get on with using their expertise in promoting and selling it. Yes, even if it means bringing TV's and music back and returning to proper food in most of their pubs.
The current economic climate is indeed dire but it has been exacerbated by company decisions of such incompetence that one can only assume Mr Humphrey wishes to destroy the heart and soul of a once marvelous company. How long have the TV's & music been gone, 3 years? The steady decline in trade can be traced to that moment in most houses, and it happened at a time when trade was booming for most people. The steady decline was slow in some houses because customer loyalty kept people from going over the road to watch sport at first, but then almost apologetically they went as more of their friends drifted away.
As for the food fiasco, that wasn't so much of a steady decline as a disastrous plummet, the like of which I have never seen before. Managers who had taken years to build up a good trade saw it eradicated in a fortnight and along with it a sizeable chunk of wet trade that was also brought in.
The barmy thing is that even if customers did take a liking to the pies, it would be impossible to cater for more than about 6 at any one time, simply because it takes so long to cook the things from frozen. Customers would soon get fed up of waiting an hour if they are the 8th or 9th person waiting for their meal. Even more farcical is the fact that a large number of pubs are simply not being provided with the specialised combi microwaves that this food needs to turn them out slightly quicker and better. Thus the food policy, though doomed from the start by poor quality, inept introduction and a complete lack of understanding of customer requirements, has ultimately been undermined by the one man who should be moving mountains to ensure its success, Mr Humphrey himself!
The beauty of the old franchise system was that it allowed managers to put on a range of food that suited their own customers at a price that attracted people into the pub and so increased wet trade accordingly. Plus it gave the individual managers a great incentive to do better food which ensured more customers, thus making a bit extra for the manager, and more importantly, a good regular wet trade for the brewery. A perfect symbiotic relationship.
With the new microwave fare, the customers have no special reason to go into a Sams pub in the afternoon or early evening since they can get the same unmemorable stuff far cheaper at the supermarket, or indeed at countless other establishments. Therefore with the inferior menu, the customers lose, the managers lose, and the brewery are definitely losing since the proof is out there. So many pubs cant sell this stuff that every manager cant be deliberately trying to ruin company policy can they?
Also another rumour that Mrs Smith has been ringing pubs up to enquire about takings and staff hours on her husbands behalf. This cant be true, can it? This would make a fantastic comedy programme if it wasn't so serious to those involved. Or should that be a Shakespearean tragedy where the hero unwittingly brings about his own destruction only to realise the truth seconds after it is too late to do anything about it.
I just hope we find out the truth one day, whether it is truly all part of a grand plan that will lead the company into a new era (if it is, can it hurry up please before it is too late), or if Fran is really the influence behind the throne, or if indeed Mr Humphrey has truly taken leave of his senses. It is probably a bit of all three, in which case it is a cocktail for oblivion. If you do read this Mr Humphrey, spare a thought not just for the lives of the managers and staff whose lives you have made and indeed are still making a misery, but also for the customers whose lives you are affecting. Sams pubs were unique in their time, each one being a different character. One pub could not possibly be run in the same way as another because local customers demand different things. A good manager could (given a certain amount of freedom) adapt to these things and improve trade accordingly. This was once called 'integrating into the local community' in the old 'management vacancys' adverts that no-one sees anymore. (Presumably because there are so many pubs without managers that it would devastate a small rainforest to provide the paper to distribute them round the company) This is where local communities are being adversely affected.
Sams have always been a 'locals' pub, and frequently were seen as the centre of village, town or rural life. These locals are now being dispersed, driven out by the company to other hostelries, and so thus destroying the very communities which a lot of Sam Smiths pubs should be targeting and nurturing. I know that being a boss does not mean that you can make popular decisions all the time and that some things will always be derided by your workforce, but to actively go out of your way to destroy your own customer base is nonsensical.
At the moment I cannot find one aspect of the business that is being done in a way that would make for a happy and therefore more productive workforce, or that could be used to increase trade. The exception to this is the cheap beer prices, which should be an assistance but which is increasingly becoming an hindrance. If pubs have to be kept in a state of disrepair, understaffed, no entertainment, no choices then most customers would gladly pay up to 20p a pint more to get the Tellys back, get some entertainment on, and get the pubs a lick of paint, amongst a whole heap of other issues. In the end the price of Sam Smiths beer would still be the cheapest around even with the increase. For some time now, Mr Humphrey's managers, area managers, customers, brewery workers and everyone have been telling him how to make more money.
The overwhelming majority (if there are any left) want to improve trade in his establishments and know how to do so if they would be allowed to do so. There are so many of them that are of the same opinion, they cant all be wrong can they? Just because people are disagreeing with Mr Humphreys methods doesn't make them traitors, they are actually trying to do what is right for Sam Smiths and so ultimately for Humphrey Smith. Sorry this was intended as a quick note, but it has turned into an essay. Believe me I could continue with numerous other points too, but I have stopped myself.
Customers and staff genuinely have (or had?) a soft spot for Sam Smiths, and to see it being ruined like this is genuinely heartbreaking. Perhaps one more voice wont make a difference, but for the sake of the company, the local community's, and the staff please listen Mr Smith. You may also take time to consider your own health, since trying to run a company of this size single handedly will ultimately be a serious detriment to your own well being, in which case if you continue with your personnel policy, your food policy, entertainment policy, and your general attitude to staff and customers, then you shall have achieved nothing but misery, destruction and failure. The smoking ban and the current economic climate must have affected trade, but neither have been so devastating as your decisions over TV's, music, and even more catastrophically, food.
Pubs will recover from the smoking ban, as will the economic climate, but I fear that your leadership of Samuel Smiths in the last 3 years may be something which your pubs may never recover from unless something is done quickly.
