The training of managers in the UK licensed trade: Changing career structures to meet new customer requirements

Twenty years ago, 80 percent of British pubs were owned by breweries who appointed managers or tenants to run them. Mature married couples were preferred, so the wives could work for a pittance and age promised the customers’ experience. Training was minimal, as pubs existed to sell beer, and few offered food or entertainment. In 1990, the government limited the number of outlets brewers could own. This led to the formation of pub owning companies whose profit relied on retail sales. Restructuring coincided with low consumer spending and an expansion of the leisure market. Moreover, more women visited pubs and public expectations changed: standards of comfort came under more intense scrutiny. As a result, the 1990s saw innovations in the pub environment, such as the growth of pub catering, the development of theme pubs, family pubs, etc.