Your New Favourite Coffee Shop Pays its Taxes

Massive amounts of righteous indignation have rained down on the heads of the bosses of Starbucks, Amazon and Google these past few weeks as the British public began to realise the extent to which these American companies  buy into Leona Helmsley's maxim that "only the little people pay taxes."

It will be interesting though to see whether people can be bothered to change their behaviour.  These companies happen to be very good at what they do, and brand loyalty among their customers is high.  

Lets consider then, the place of Starbucks on our hightstreet, and whether caffeine addicts might consider turning elsewhere for their daily cup of joe and free wifi access.  I believe there is a real alternative lifestyle choice staring us in the face.  One which, if adopted, can help to revitalise a struggling industry and ensure that traditional community hubs retain their well-deserved place in our towns and cities. 

I'm talking about the local pub.

If you go into a Starbucks in London or Beijing, you are pretty much guaranteed a standardised experience. You are buying a slice of the 'Central Perk' lifestyle, and are willing to pay over the odds for it.  Hell, its affordable right... even if £3 is a lot to pay for a coffee.  Its an affordable little luxury, a taste of aspiration. Can pubs compete with this, coming up with a new 'customer offer' in order to grab a slice of the action? I'd like to think they can, as I'd much rather put my money into  local companies that pays their taxes. I also ask the question because, according to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) in their April 2012 report, over 300 pubs closed their doors for good between September 2011 – March 2012. Twelve now close across Britain every week – eight in suburban areas, and four in rural areas.  So there is a lot at stake. But there is also real opportunity here, if the pubs themselves wish to take it.  We already value our local boozer for what it is.  We know it pays their taxes, and we'd be mortified if it closed down.  So it already has a headstart in our affections.  We are onside if they want to take the leap.

Many pubs already serve coffee of course, and some of this is really quite decent.  But the experience of going into a pub for a coffee can be a bit hit and miss. The pub may or may not have wifi, or free newspapers to read. The decor may be perfectly warm and and the furniture inviting, but geared towards evening drinking and gastropub dining.  Many will have comfy sofas - so they are ahead of the game in that respect in their bid to offer a Central Perk-style experience. But the food menu itself will be very much geared towards the restaurant and barsnack end of the spectrum rather than anything vaguely similar to the 21st century coffeeshop.

So, what do pubs need to do to reposition themselves as coffeeshop by day, pub and restaurant by night?  Here are my 'Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares'-style observations.

- Ensure you have a proper coffee bar, set up in view of the customer.  Like any addict, the ritual is everything....watching and hearing the hit of caffeine being prepared  is all part of the experience.

- Consider partnering with a popular coffee brand at a brewery level in order to standardise your coffeeshop offer at a regional or national level.  Even BP garages these days have standardised "Wild Bean Cafe" branding across their forecourts in order to communicate that a standard, quality product is on offer.  Publicise your new brand, for  example 'Hot Joe Cafe at the Ship and Mitre' beyond just your usual customers.   

- Have a daytime coffeeshop menu alongside your other offers.  Source locally for prized fresh bakery products.  Starbuck in London don't offer beigels from Brick Lane for example.  A good reason for pubs in the area to do so.

- Offer quality, free wifi.

- Run a loyalty card scheme

- Neutralise your bar environment of booze-related paraphernalia as much as you can without throwing the baby out with the bathwater.  Make the pub as inviting as you can to the home worker who wants to get out the house for a couple of hours as well as the stay at home parents who want a welcoming place to meet up with friends.

So far, so obvious.  I know there are pubs who have done all of this already.  I'm not a publican, so have no idea if the trade journals are full of this kind of talk.  But it really does seem to me, as a fan of coffee and a fan of the tradtional pub, that there really is an opportunity to bring the two together, allowing caffeine to give the local boozer a shot in the arm in the same way as gastrofood did a decade or so ago.  And if our local pubs stay open as a result, then that can only be a good thing.