JD Wetherspoon unveils the 99p credit crunch pint

steve! Most of the irresposible behaviour and problems come from the bars where premium lagers and vodka shots are sold! oh really? how about the irresponsible behaviour comes from from the people who are pre-loaded from cheap drinks sold in supermarkets and wetherspoons who then move on the trendy bars where premium lagers and vodka shots are sold?to be fair 99p for a pint of real ale is too cheap but to be honest who drinks the crap anyway?its just a marketing ploy by wetherspoons to make you believe that they are cheap! our local wetherspoons is no cheaper than me on most products and im a tied enterprise pub!its all about the marketing at wetherspoons they make you think that your getting value for money just like the supermarkets when in reality you end up spending more! wake up people!the problem with a lot of pubs is that you have no usp! selling beer and home cooked food is not enough to pull customers in these days like ken says you need a niche and the problem is most landlords have not got a clue what a usp or niche is!!!!its time for a change and its about time too!!

jump ship on your money loosing pubs an apply ot J.D.Wetherspoon for employment as I did, I now earn a lot more than before and if I went back would be a lot wiser thanks to the endless training I have received from them...

I have officially declared myself a free house ( Im actually fully tied to snpe) pulled out my brulines and bought in from local suppliers! I now advertise a 25% discount on all alcohol and feel very liberated!!! NOW IM COMPETITION WITH WEATHERSPOONS AS IM MY OWN BOSS!! ( TILL I GET THROWN OUT THAT IS!) lets do it everyone liberate!!

While I am disheartened by Wetherspoons offer and what it means for my tied pub, I can also see why they are doing it. Government has done nothing about the supermarkets so what choice have they got but to try and compete. Just lik ethe all inclusive offers arouynd. Sadly its meaning customers are questioning why my pints arent 99p. But on other hand makes them aware of how unfair pubcos are.

Why hang on? Lack of choice, lack of funds, lack of decent opportunity, family ties, nowhere else to live - need I continue Ken? We will not go down with the ship, but we are ready to jump when the need arises. Good luck one and all for 2009!

Andy I don't understand why you feel insulted I was only posting facts. If you are on top of your wastage then you don't have a problem. Basics of keeping cask ales is fast turnover and as you rightly point out if it doesn't sell then don't keep it. Still see pubs with twenty five malt whiskys sitting on the back fitting with some not selling a drop for months.I still state that I still see empties down cellars that have a considerable amount of beer left in them. Now if this is due to slow turnover due to miscalculations of stocking then the result is the same as if the tap had been turned off at a gallon and the cask pegged and corked for collection. Either way eight pints of wasted sales and profit. As to being miserable that is a personal matter not a neccessary condition brought on by outside influences. Not all licensees are miserable even when stressed by quoted factors. I would ask that if there are so many unacceptable pressures and insurmountable problems why bother? All businesses have pressures and problems. No business comes with a guarantee of either success or happines or profit. If the business doesn't give you what you want a rethink is needed rather than hanging on to the bitter end and going down with the ship. This unfortunately is going to be a hard decision that a LOT of licensees will have to make in the coming weeks. Ken Nason

Ken - I find your comments in respect of real ale wastage somewhat insulting. I used to have 4 hand pumps but now, some 3 years later, due to my desire to sell a good pint (as its also what I drink!) and also due to market demand, I am down to a choice of 2. I would rather have 2 selling well than 3 not turning over quick enough. The wastage, when it occurs, is due to slow sales and high quality control on my part - not bad cellarmanship! And by the way, we are a miserable bunch because of the way the business has gone recently -thanks to the government, the pubco's, utility bills, rates, Sky subscriptions, brewers price increases, extra administration, ill-thought out legislation, irresponsible retailling by supermarkets, etc. Its called worry and stress!!!!!

When I first bought a Freehouse, the maximum discoubt I could get, if any was 5%. If the Government put a cap on discounts, say 5% brewer to wholesaler and 5% wholesaler to retailer. The supermarkets, managed pubs and Pub Co's would be locked into a legislative price ring and not be in the situation that we have at the moment with Lessees getting little or no discount whilst the Pub Co's get £200+ discount per brewers barrel. The price across the board would vary by roughly 10% using those figures as an example. We would not have cheap binge beer selling and licensees could charge a fair price. As long as we have large corporations dictating to brewers about the prices and discounts that they want to achieve, we will always have a problem sadly legislation will be the only way. Whether the beer is a £1 a pint or £4 a pint, if a company can sell it at half that price it will create disparities and trouble.

Brian, as harrowing as your story is and I for one feel for your predicament and addiction surely the primary responsibility for your condition lies with yourself and not those who fail to price alcohol at the levels you suggest. If you were honest with people here you would admit that an alcoholic will find the money whether it was £1 a pint or £20 a pint by whatever means they could.It is the addiction that is the problem not the availability. Ken Nason

Draymen, a very fair point. Some Licensees have become more unhappy over the last few years because of the changes taking place within the trade but unfortunately few have done anything about it other than moan. Your point on wastage is very relevent especially with cask beers and it never fails to astonish me how many of the pubs I visit have "empty " casks with nearly a gallon in them awaiting your arrival. This adds up to an astonishing amount over a year(enough to pay the gas bill?). Lack of good cellarmanship springs to mind or lack of training. In this day and age licensees have to save every farthing in costs and wastage and make every farthing in gross profit they can to have a chance of surviving this year. Ken Nason

Yes Tony I am saying that Weatherspoons have a better buing power that their own tenants who are tied. It is a simple fact that they are a "captive" audience whereas weatherspoons need to be tempted to buy by discounting. Hard fact but true and incidentaly always has been so for tied tenants (or leaseholders). Tied renans have NEVER been able to compete with managed ot freehouses and have to rely on their othe rabilities and business accument to stack it low and sell it high. Demand a premium for what they offer and give value for money. May I also point out that value for money doesn't mean 99p a pint it means having a customer happily paying you willingly for what you sell. Ken Nason

Sorry Rob, but we do run a clean & respectable establishment, with high standards and low tolerance levels. I do not want children causing a noise and making a mess - and as for a customer who drinks coffee all day for around 50p profit - I would much rather sell a couple of bags of nuts to a group of drinkers who may also consume several pints each whilst enjoying our controlled, convivial atmosphere. I'm afraid we are driven by a pressing need - TO PAY THE RENT!!!

Most of the irresposible behaviour and problems come from the bars where premium lagers and vodka shots are sold, in fact many never see a cask ale as this is viewed as untrendy for their target audience. What low priced 'ales' will mean is more hard working, hard taxed members of the community will be able to afford a pint after work instead of jumping straight on the bus home for a bargain can of Stella from the supermarket.

Fantastic news. I live in a beer oasis and the only decent pub for miles around is the Goole Wetherspoons. To be able to go to the best pub in the area and have athe option of a beer at 99p is joyous news. A good start to 2009.

Selling beer at 99p a pint isn't neccessarily anything to do with irresponsible drinking. The two are not linked, providing that the business have controls in place to stop it leading to irresponsible drinking. We must get away from the assumption that the act of discounting automatically means irresponsible. This is EXACTLY what the anti drinking lobby wants to happen.Ken Nason

As a Greene King lesee i was interested to read that in a statement greene king say that they are dissapointed that wetherspoons have de-valued their flagship brand by selling it at 99p, interestingly as a greene king lessee i pay £1.49 per pint to buy it from greene king at trade price, so if i was to match wetherspoons i would lose 50p per pint! Hmmm yeah no actually wetherspoons you can keep your cheap skate customers who want to get drunk by 10am in the morning and i will continue to sell IPA at a more realistic £2.90 per pint, so that i can still pay greene king my rent! I was also annoyed to see that greene king say they are not in any way subsidising this promotion? NO GREENE KING YOUR TENANTS ARE!!!! MAKE UP YOUR MINDS your either a brewer wanting to shift as many barrels as possible and you dont care who buys it or how much they sell it for OR you are a pub company who wants to support its tenants by providing a level playing field!

Well done Wetherspoons! Just another nail in the coffin of so many "Starship" pubco leased pubs. They cannot compete on any level at all whatsoever. You can't buy a 22 gallon barrel for £176 let alone sell it for for that. Oh dear. I feel utterly depressed for so many Starship lessees for whom this will surely mean throwing in the proverbial bar towel...meanwhile I'm off to look up Misrepresentation, the Unfair Contract Terms Act and the work of the Monopolies commission in my old law books....

Hip Hip, Hurray for Spoons!!!

The old saying has never been more true- "When the going gets tough, the tough get going", so publicans STOP BITCHING........ Your anger should be directed at your excessively greedy, controlling (and unbelievable wealthy as a result) breweries that sell you beer at 10,000 times cost. For too long the only thing many lazy publicans running these tied houses offered us was dingy, smoky environments where foul mouthed smokers and drunks were allowed to dominate without being evicted. I have lost count of the number of times I have had one drink (and sometimes not even stayed to finish it) , then left due to the lack of control of foul mouthed louts and the filthy state of the bar, toilets etc. And this was during the so called prosperous time for pubs while smokers ruled the roost. Perhaps this move by Wetherspoon might actually galvanise publicans into acton to confront these greedy "tied" brewers and maybe publicans will start to offer something to attract families and responsible drinkers. It is an outrage that a soft drink often costs more than a highly taxed alcoholic one. How about offering a bottomless cup of tea/coffee to the non-alcohol drinkers who come in with the alcohol drinking ones for a meal - then they will all stay much longer and spend a great deal more - or are you all too stupid (or greedy) to realise this ?? The 99p price is clearly a loss leader to attract more custom during the quietest time of year and I say "well done Wetherspoons" who have always offered sensibly priced food, drink and clean environments. It is no wonder pubs run by lazy landlords with few if any standards are going to the wall - I say "the sooner the better....." The small ones that make a genuine effort and offer good food will always survive. Any Landlord who doubts this should visit the Cart & Horses in Commonwood to see how hard work and the correct environment pays - it's not posh - it's just good.........

PUBLICANS STOP BITCHING........ Your anger should be directed at your greedy, controlling (and exceptionally wealthy as a result) breweries that sell you beer at 10,000 times cost. For too long the only thing many lazy publicans offered us was dingy, smoky environments where foul mouthed smokers and drunks were allowed to dominate without being evicted. I have lost count of the number of times I have had one drink then left due to the lack of control of foul mouthed louts and the filthy state of the bar, toilets etc. Perhaps this move by Wetherspoon might actually galvanise publicans into acton to confront these greedy "tied" brewers and maybe publicans will start to offer something to attract families and responsible drinkers. It is an outrage that a soft drink often costs more than a highly taxed alcoholic one. The 99p price is clearly a loss leader to attract more custom during the quietest time of year and I say "well done Wetherspoons" who have always offered sensibly priced food, drink and clean environments. It is no wonder pubs run by lazy landlords with few if any standards are going to the all - I say "the sooner the better....." The ones that make a genuine effort and offer good fod will always survive. A

STO Cheap Drinks .... RISE The Prices .. I started of drinking pints at aged 18 and by 25 i was addicte to alcohol an for the last 10 years ui have neen dependent on alcohol until i was given 6 months to live back in June 2005 ... I could not walk, i was yello and cheap drinks kept m going ... I would have been in detox or given longr IF cheap drinks were NOT around ... If alcohol was being brough out now .. It would be illegal like drugs ... Say Min of £3 per drink in ALL pubs an that would stop alcohol relted deaths PLUS increased alcohol related crime. I HAVE LOST FREINDS BECUASE OF CHESP DRINKS BING OFFERED .. RISING PRICES MEANS LESS ALCOHOL ... Brian Morrison brian@alcoholpeersupportservices.co.uk

I am for reducing the price of beer if it was enjoyed responsibly but witnessing acts of stupidity around town an the innocent people getting hurt due to 'having one to many' i dont believe it will help the current climate. going out and enjoying yourself down the pub should be fun for all not for the ones who want to get smashed. it will be intresting to see what happens

Hi , we are the guys who deliver the beer to j.d wetherspoons and i think it will be no busier just a change in differnet beer and no ajustment to the volumnes already delivered , what i would say is to the present licences is to be a bit more happier , in the last 5yrs i have seen a complete change to the attiude in the licenece and try emtying the kegs it is all money down the drain ,

We have just had a letter from our pubco SNPE informing us our beer is going UP! at least £20 per barrel which is already double free of tie price! happy new year !!!

So Ken, are you really saying that Wetherspoons has more buying power with Greene King Brewery than Greene King Pub Partners does? Mark isn't exagerating for effect, Greene King tenants are expectated to pay more for ale made by the company than Wetherspoons can sell it (at a profit) for. That doesn't look like fair competition from any angle I can see! Not only can Greene King pubs not compete with this, it also completely devalues the Greene King brand that we have to trade under. This is a real boot in the face to Greene King's struggling licensees, to watch our so-called 'partners' not only aiding the competition's attempts to drag us under but trashing the brand at the same time. I believe your point is that if we can't sell quantity then we have to sell quality and that's what we've always done but how can you persuade customers that there's any quality in an ale they can get round the corner for under a quid? Hundreds of years of proud brewing history dragged through the gutter! Well we'll just have to take it off the bar and concentrate on the extremely limited selection of other ales we have to pay outrageously inflated prices to Greene King for.

I, like many of you have been in the industry all my life and have seen all the trials and tribulations that everyone from media to licensing have chucked at us. What I don't see coming through here though is the responsible drinking message. Whilst I am not arguing for either side, surely if many pubs and bars are stopped from running £1 drinks promotions (as I have) surely the same rules should apply to Wetherspoons aswell. Or is it, that as already its perceived as a 'cheap' pub it gets away with it? Or alternatively if they can do it with no arguments, the precedent is set and so can well all?

I'm wondering ... if I went down to Wetherspoons and bought their barrels off them at their retail price of 99p a pint, that's a hell of saving over the price I'm having pay Greene King for my barrels at the moment! 2.00 a pint in my pub would be more than feasible then - although, of course, I would be breaking the terms of my tie so even if Wetherspoons would agree to it I'm not allowed to do it.

Steve, 2.00 a pint would be wonderful and I am sure this would go a long way to improving trade. HOWEVER, if you have a lease with the pubco Starship, to sell a pint of Fosters for 2.00, you would earn a 23% margin !!!!!

Hey it's called competition, something everyone in business has to address at one time or another. Basics of economics you can stack it high and sell it cheap or you can stack it low and sell it high. Most pubs are somewhere inbetween and do not have the buying power to follow Weatherspoons route so you have to find your own niche in the market place to survive.Ken Nason

Paul, You know what they say: "If you can't beat em, join em"!!! Let's face it, In a free market economy, firms are entitled to trade freely and quite rightly too! The main problem facing the pub trade today is in fact the effects of all those crazy tied pubco leases people have and not the credit crunch.

This is a great move by the chain, other pubs should follow suit by reducing prices at least to 2.00 per pint on some ales, people cannot stomach the average 2.80 plus prices many pubs now charge.