Loss of advert board costs Bridgnorth pub landlord dearly
Tuesday 6th July 2010, 9:01AM BST.
A Shropshire pub landlord claims he has lost hundreds of pounds in trade after an A-board advertising his business was removed.
Bryn Masterman, who runs the Old Castle Pub in Bridgnorth, said his evening trade had slumped by up to 50 per cent since the council took away the A-board. He said the sign helped bring trade to West Castle Street by directing visitors down the road and “hopefully” to his pub.
The sign, which had been placed at the top of West Castle Street at the bottom of the High Street, was removed by Shropshire Council on June 29.
He said: “We had a letter on the Tuesday to say it was being removed and it was. We have since retrieved the sign from the council but we have not put it back.”
Mr Masterman said the sign was helpful in the evenings when people might not necessarily know they were open and offering meals. He said he had lost between a third and half of his evening trade, which was about a couple of hundred pounds.
Mr Masterman said weekends were better for business because of visitors going to the Severn Valley Railway.
Angry
He said since the sign had been taken down he had had no correspondence from the council.
Mr Masterman said they had had a meeting with the council, which was supposed to come back to traders with further information, but claimed it had not. He said: “I am very angry about the way they have gone about it without consultation, without taking businesses’ individual needs into account.”
Mr Masterman said they felt they were losing out when there were chains like Costa Coffee, Wetherspoons and Subway coming into the town. He said: “It’s very difficult when you are not able to compete with them.”
Gareth Proffitt, Shropshire Council spokesman said today: “Under its pilot A-board policy, which is operating in Bridgnorth and Ludlow, Shropshire Council reserves the right to remove an A-board, after giving prior notice to the board owner.”
Shropshire Council introduced the pilot scheme in a bid to address concerns about advertising boards obstructing the pavement.
By Lisa Rowley
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Although I do sympathise with this gentleman’s predicament and also appreciate how hard it must be to get trade to visit the slightly harder to see/get to businesses do please also consider just how hard it would be to get past all these A boards littering the pavements in a wheelchair.
I have lost count of the times I could not get through and had to cross the road into traffic endagering my life just to be able to pass a board.
Would it not be possible to have a placard fastened to a lamppost perhaps? That would help people notice and not be blocking the footpaths
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Sorry but they can be a hazard – a right pain for wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs etc.
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Which would you prefer? A vibrant, busy town with a variety of shops and welcoming pubs employing local people, selling local produce and attracting tourists and their money, or empty, boarded-up units, pound shops and charity shops,nowhere to take your friends and relatives when they come to stay, vandalism, tumbleweed and empty pavements to manoeuvre your wheelchair, pushchair around? You don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone! Support your local traders. This is the community in which you live. Go round the A boards, it’s no big deal. They direct people to the traders off the beaten track.
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It’s unfortunate for Mr Masterman’s business, but the Old Castle has been in business in Bridgnorth for hundreds of years – well before the age of the A board.
If every business that’s slightly off the beaten track were allowed to erect advertising boards at strategic locations, the result would be a bit of a nightmare.
Rather than looking for excuses for loss of business, perhaps Mr Masterman should spend some time and effort on promoting his business by other means. I frequent many pubs that aren’t reliant on street advertising to capture passing trade, they’ve built up a well-earned reputation and gain most of their trade by word of mouth, not A boards.
One example he might like to consider – a web site with an up to date menu and list of cask ales on tap. That’s exactly the kind of thing I look for if I want to eat and drink at a decent pub in a town I’m unfamiliar with, and I bet I’m not the only one. For inspiration, he should see how Brunning and Price advertise their pub businesses.
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