Batemans has been running cellar service training in its own Windmill Training Centre for five years to over five hundred attendees annually. The cellar service training is attended by all Batemans Brewery staff annually as well as tenants and free trade licensees .

The Brewer has recently become a BII Training Centre and is now running the new Foundation Course which gives excellent guidance on most aspects of running a pub. Topics include; licensing ,financial management, stock control ,cellar management ,customer service ,employment law ,maximising wine sales, fruit machine management, developing a catering operation and promoting your pub.

The attraction of the course is that it is delivered by skilled trainers who have had years of experience in the trade and by Batemans own Profit Partnership (retail) managers. This enables new tenants the opportunity to build up a good relationship with the Batemans team and helps with continuity when the new licensee takes over his or her pub. Emphasis is placed upon fun and variety, with demonstrations, tours around the Visitors Centre, theatre of Beers along with role play and games.

Lesley Young, Manageress of Batemans Visitors Centre, who recently attended the course said: “Though I have been in the pub trade for some years, I found the profit and loss section particularly helpful. But just as importantly the course was fun to be on, the presenters really knew what they were talking about and encouraged group discussions. I found that I have remembered much more than from most courses as I enjoyed the time that I was there.”

The two days are designed to give publicans a basic understanding of all the appropriate areas of the public house business and most importantly the motivation to learn more. The two-day course is competitively priced at £199 per person and includes all food as well as over-night accommodation .

‘Running a Pub Successfully’ is open to anyone wishing to learn more about the industry. The setting is ideal for ‘getting away’. Rather than a faceless boardroom, the course is run out of an old windmill, with a river and paddock on one side, and a real ale brewery on the other. ‘For further information and to book contact: Jane Black 01754 882030 or e-mail jblack@bateman.co.uk.