A word of caution on pre-booked pubs

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It certainly was in The Audley public house in London’s Mayfair last week. When wandering in around lunchtime, I was greeted by a row of small chalkboards on various tables stating “reserved @ 2:30pm”. 

It is one of the most annoying aspects of pub-going at this time of the year – the sight of a plethora of tables booked ahead of time. It is clearly understandable in restaurants, but it has now become irritatingly widespread in pubs. It’s sadly a feature all year round to some extent, but it reaches its zenith – or nadir I’d say – in December.

It is one of the throwbacks to covid-19, when at certain times, table bookings were mandatory within hospitality businesses. But we are now more than five years on from the pandemic, and it seems to be a policy adopted by a growing number of pubs. Within the capital, the trend is running riot, if we go by the trading activities at the big city rivals Fuller’s and Young’s. 

Simon Emeny, chief executive of Fuller’s, acknowledged pre-bookings have become a key focus for the company in recent years, and in the six months to 27 September, such sales were up 4.8% to account for 33% of managed pubs and hotels revenue. Meanwhile, Simon Dodd, chief executive of Young’s, recently stated 32% of sales are from pre-bookings, and that this figure rises to 50% during Christmas. Compare this with a mere 18% in 2019 and the difference is marked. 

He suggests pre-booking is now as important in pubs as it is in restaurants, having risen from a position of barely existing a few years back. From being fully reliant on walk-in customers, many pubs have now switched to embracing bookings whereby they are becoming pretty much essential aspects of their businesses.  

It is not just your smarter, food-led pubs where this pre-booking situation is taking hold, but in regular boozers too. Greene King has recently introduced a new booking system across 1,600 of its managed pubs – notably for securing tables for live sports and for in-pub activities such as pool and darts. It has taken an impressive 35,000 booked sports covers per month, so it is clearly working. 

When the leaders of pub companies suggest there is less spontaneity nowadays, I would question this. I reckon this move away from serendipitous behaviour is simply a result of the fact that in order to secure a seat or table in places today, you have to place your imaginary towel on the sun lounger hours before the sun has even come up in the form of an online booking for a table at your local pub. First come, first served is now a thing we can say existed in the good old days. 

Even when you go along with the game, there are plenty of niggling obstacles to annoy. Bookings invariably involve fixed time slots. Is this simply because that’s the way the booking engine is configured, or would you actually get thrown off your table at the end of the allotted time? I’d suggest if the place is busy, then you would be asked to leave at that time, but if it is not, then you could no doubt stay longer. This unpredictability is not a scenario that favours the customer.

My wife and a group of friends have, over decades, visited the Cork & Bottle wine bar in Central London, and the first to arrive would grab a table for the group. Then, a booking system came in, which they were fine with, but now the slot is limited to two hours. Bear in mind this is a wine bar and not a restaurant, and the grouping has invariably spent well for the duration of their visits. 

Needless to say, they have had to change venue this Christmas, and the ultimate choice is not necessarily because it is one of their preferred options, but because it gives them the greatest flexibility. No doubt, if they have a good time, then it will become a regular haunt.

With a pre-booked customer in Young’s pubs typically spending £54 versus £33 for a walk-in, it is understandable why pubs are shifting to pushing bookings, but I’d urge them to handle it with great care. Please don’t turn pubs into venues covered in booking cards on tables. Life is becoming increasingly prescriptive, so don’t let that haven of spontaneity that is the pub lose its most unique quality.

Glynn Davis, editor, Beer Insider

This piece was originally published on Propel Info where Glynn Davis writes a regular Friday opinion piece. Beer Insider would like to thank Propel for allowing the reproduction of this column.