The Star, Godalming

Typical? No. Plc's aren't proactive and would prefer not to give you the choice that we offer. Actually for many years we couldn't and it really was grim! Greedy King ? Well we survive, despite them and their prices.

22 Dec 2009 21:54

The Star, Godalming

Quick response. To avoid confusion, we are not a Free House. However we have an agreement with our landlords to sell a number of Ales a week of our choice. Unfortunately there are moments when these either sell out, or sell in a logistical manner ( especially at weekends ) that means our offer becomes more restricted. Our cellar is tiny and the barrels are already double stacked. Whilst we would love to be totally Free, what we have today is better than was on offer up and until 3 years ago, when for 16 years we were trapped in mediocre land, with no choice! The concept of choice is not fully understood in PLC land so to have acheived what we have is a bit of a breakthrough. So, sorry your choice was limited, but we do our utmost to keep a balance between Free and Tied products. Cheers.

16 Nov 2009 16:35

The Star, Godalming

Felt an urge to answer thommoi and petergoesrock. Beer choice has always been restricted here by the brewery, namely Greene King, Morlands,Courage, it is only recently our brewery rep the 16th in 15 years has actually agreed to let us do the Christmas selection and a beer festival.Breweries don't understand the meaning of competition either in variety or pricing,within their tied estate. I was able to hold my prices at The Red Lion for 4 years because my wholesalers actually wanted to help and grow the business. Prices; Our prices have gone up due to increases by The Chancellor, Greene King, Waverley Borough Council business rates, Our Gas and Electricity suppliers, Our Rubbish collectors [we don't even get our bins emptied for our business rates],all our other wholesalers and suppliers,Red Tape costs[smoking, health and safety, fire safety, the new licensing regime, more staff training], and probably last but not least the cost of our recent development. Smokey; Well as regulars, you are obviously aware that old building ,low ceilings, don't go with smoking that's why the builders are creating the smoker area outside! Roll on June 1. PIKEY TYPES/ SUSPECT CLIENTELE which one are you? We cater for a whole range of clientele 18 to over 80, and certainly don't get the gassings and knife threats that seem to occur in the rest of town. You may not like what we offer, that's your choice, you can drink elsewhere, or accept that we are a business that fails or succeeds on what we offer. We are not a FREEHOUSE AS WE WERE AT THE RED LION, and THE RED IS NO LONGER FREE. We happen however to be doing pretty well because the majority of our CUSTOMERS DO LIKE THE SMALL VARIETY OF CASK ALE, the EXTENSIVE VARIETY OF CIDERS DRAUGHT AND BOTTLED, AND THE BELGIAN BEER LIST,apart from all the other products drink and food that we offer. Just bear in mind that we actually care about you Guys!

28 Mar 2007 00:42