The Lock In Pub Podcast

With indoor reopening now well underway, the Lock In team tackle the subject of pub grub, how the crisis has impacted on offers, the challenges around growing your own chefs, calorie labelling on menus and we ask how sustainable is your pub food offer? With special guests Gary Hunter from Westminster Kingsway College, Juliane Caillouette-Noble from the Sustainable Restaurant Association and the Michelin-starred legend that is Andrew Pern from the Star in Harome. Tune in now

With reopening just days away, the Lock In team get to grips with the challenges operators will be facing when it comes to opening up indoors under restrictions. We get extra input from special guests Andy Grimsey from Poppleston Allen, who shares insight on the licensing challenges, award winning operator and curate Emily Kolltviet talks about the value of commuity pubs and shares her thoughts on reopening and Martin Hilton from CPL Learning talks us through how to handle conflict with difficult customers not sticking to the rules. Tune in now!

One of the key challenges of reopening has been on the staffing front, from re-energising long furloughed team members, through to recruiting replacements and training teams back up to speed. The Lock In podcast team take a deep dive into those issues, along with special guests Kate Nicholls of UK Hospitality and Hit Training's Jill Whittaker. We also catch up with top Scottish chef and pub operator Tom Kitchin to get his thoughts on the Scottish reopening and the interesting restrictions! The team also pronounce their verdict on the Line of Duty finale, and why not? Tune in now...

As the industry starts to reopen, the Lock In team take a sideways look to see what trends are starting to emerge in food, drink, operations and consumer behaviour. The achingly hip Heath Ball and his sidekick James Cuthbertson share their insights into what they're seeing along with special guest appearances from CGA's Jonny Jones and Airship's Dan Brookman. Tune in now!

The Lock In team tackle the first week or so of trade, how to handle freezing customers, and speak to special guests Brendan Padfield of the Unruly Pig, and Elaine Wrigley of Atlas Bar to hear their experiences of reopening to date. We also tackle some of the legal challenges operators have been facing with legal eagle James Anderson of Poppleston Allen. Tune in now!

In the latest edition of the podcast, the team discuss the issue of staffing amid reopening alongside conflicting guidance from councils and many other challenges operators are facing and could face in the coming months. The team are also joined by Admiral Taverns CEO Chris Jowsey who discusses the how a possible Covid-status certification scheme would affect staff.

The podcast team look towards the future of the pub and bar trade, and discuss, with special guests Stosi Madi from the Parkers Arms and Clement Ogbonnaya of the Prince of Peckham, how the pandemic crisis is likely to shape operations as we move out of its shadow. We also talk to technology provider Prask Sutton of Wi5 about how he sees technology playing a growing role in operations moving forward. Tune in now!

The Lock In team take a look at the challenges around reopening, from staff to stock levels, and get some top tips on marketing your business from guest marketing whizz Mark McCulloch. The team also get to grips with business minister Paul Scully and ask him what exactly this Government has against the pub trade. Tune in now!

We're talking finance and funding in this week's episode of the Lock In podcast. From the growing rent debt problem to thoughts on how to crowd funding, the podcast team speak to a couple of special guests on the topics and also discuss how consumer spending is likely to change and how operators can cut costs and boost margins. And James gets his legs out...

It has been a year to the day when the Prime Minister told customers to avoid going to the pub. The podcast team take a wry look at what has turned out to be an unprecedented year of challenge and struggle, which has brought out the best and the worst in the sector, and reflect on some of the lessons learnt. We also speak to a couple of suppliers, Aubrey Allen's Russell Allen and Hairy Dog Brewery's Jim Nolan, to get their view on the year. Tune in now.