CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR CANCELLED OFFICIAL

[stig]

  BEEN INFORMED BY OUR AREA MANAGER THAT THERE ARE TO BE NO EXTENDED OPENING HOURS OVER THE FESTIVE PERIOD 

[blueboy]

Stig c'mon mate, of course there will be no supplementary hours at Xmas, Santa's had his hours cut as well. None of us are to escape  the wrath of Humph!

[yorkie]

If there really are to be no extensions over Xmas then that will be the end for many pubs. People will simply not go to a Sams pub if they are expected to go home at the normal time. Who would go out to a place with no music on New Years Eve only to be kicked out before 12.00? Answer - nobody.

[Max]

A striking resemblance to Humphrey Smith?

[OldBreweryDrinker]

Very similar appearance

[whizz]

Why worry? go somewere else. Humph appears to be rich enough to do what he wants, it's maybe a game to him. I enjoy his beer, I enjoy the price, but on the other hand I stayed local today and paid ?3.00 a pint, and had a good time. Go with the flow, use his pubs when it suits you.

[OldBreweryDrinker]

Humphrey and Samuel Smiths brewery and other business interests, is definately rich enough to do what he wants. But the pub division, seems to be just a toy train set that he uses and plays with as he likes. As you say the price of the products is great ajnd the atmosphere can be entertaining even though there's no music.

[tad]

Humphrey and Samuel Smiths brewery and other business interests, is definately rich enough to do what he wants.

yeah, but it's the managers who will get the rough end of this when they're trying to explain to Humpty why the takings are down, cos' it won't be his fault - ooohh No!

I think that if you're not going to go to a Sams pub for Christmas, you should go into your local SS pub and give the management a tip or buy them a drink so that even if no one comes through the door for a few days, they're OK!

No! I'm not a manager

[ian]

Last December I was in a London Sam's pub and I was looking at the Christmas and New Year opening times that the manager who was new to Sam Smith's had put up. He had planed to close late on a few dates over the holidays. I had a quite word with him, asking him if he'd had the OK from the brewery?  He said no but the brewery would not mind. I advised him to check.

Been told that he no longer works for Sam's.

PS his leaving was not connected to this as he moved on to manage one or two more Sam's pubs before leaving. I do not know if he was pushed or left on his own.

[OldBreweryDrinker]

I do know some managers that had extra hours for the festive season last year, some seemed to have got away with it. Others were not so lucky, they might have been sacked for others reasons as well. With Christmas and New Year falling on a weekend, it is going to be spread out over a long weekend. Nw Year last year the manager of one SS pub was to buy all your drinks in the correct time and then drink them till midnight. Not sure what the policy will be this year.

[OnTheDrink]

The Christmas and New Year memo has been sent out: No staff hours to be used on Christmas Day and avoid using staff on Boxing Day as it's still double time.  New Year's Eve instruction has been clearly written by Charles Dickens: Open to 12 but no drinking up time - finish drinks, 'sing Auld Lang Syne' and leave.  I kid you not.

[yorkie]

That's me and my table not drinking for long in a Sams pub then. We will do what we did last year, start at our local Sams and move on 10.00 to 10.30. I suspect there will be nobody left at midnight to sing Auld Lang Syne!

[passedit]

No staff hours on a Christmas dinner is unbelievable, I could do up to ?250 per hour no problem,but had the wife, two staff and family working with customers collecting glasses,and we still struggled,its to hope the managers have family to help.
Humphrey Smith cannot be a religious person,but he is Scrooge hope he gets the runs all Christmas.

[ian]

I don't like calling Humphrey because I don't know the man, but closing at midnight on New Years Eve is turning him into a laughing stock. Reports have it that only one verse is allowed to be sang and then out you go.  I cannot understand how an intelligent man can be so bloody minded. I'm not bothered because I'll be in bed long before midnight. 

[OnTheDrink]

I don't like calling Humphrey because I don't know the man, but closing at midnight on New Years Eve is turning him into a laughing stock. Reports have it that only one verse is allowed to be sang and then out you go.  I cannot understand how an intelligent man can be so bloody minded. I'm not bothered because I'll be in bed long before midnight.

I get the feeling that he thinks his customers are all from 'below stairs' and we should all be jolly grateful for his benevolence in allowing us to sup his cheap ales, then back to the mill/mine/factory with you!

He's making the manager's jobs a nightmare - potentially the busiest night of the year, with many licensing areas allowing continuous opening from opening on New Year's Eve to closing on New Year's Day without applying for extra time, but because it'll cost him a little extra in staff hours he won't allow it, despite the extra takings that would easily cover the overhead many times over.  In fact, he's going to lose trade because customers will go elsewhere earlier than they would have, not to mention the lost goodwill from loyal customers who will be peeved at being unceremoniously booted out of their local at midnight.

(As I'm writing this I can see the Sam Smiths 'covert' Foden rigid dray coming up the hill from my local. Seems to have been originally destined for the Royal Logistics Corps because it's got a blanking cover over what was the roof cab  machine gun mounting!)