Episode 2 Calling Time

The Welsh pub - that traditional haven from domestic conflict,

that oasis of light in the gloom, is under a three pronged attack

from the smoking ban, the recession and cheap supermarket booze.

This series is about the die-hard battle to keep these pubs alive.

Over the past year, we've followed some of those on the front line.

From city centre taverns

to country village inns.

The triumphs...

and the mishaps.

Argh!

SHE GIGGLES

The jubilation...

THEY CHEER

..and the tears.

Everywhere there are pubs boarded up

and you just hope yours is not going to be the next one.

All of them with the same goal -

to keep their locals from calling time.

In this episode, landlady Lorraine continues

the fight to save her pub.

I'd like to be able to say, "Oh, great, the pub's come back to life."

In Porth, pub renovator Tina hits some unexpected hurdles.

Won't just take it or you can't have a license when other places got licenses. I won't accept that.

And one big brewery risks losing it's regulars when it revamps

a traditional old local.

If they change it too much then I'll just go somewhere else.

Returning home to the valleys after a successful career in Spain,

Tina Payne bought The Gateway for a mere £40,000,

but her bargain boozer quickly turned into a financial black hole.

And after nine months of DIY hell, Tina found herself £100,000

our of pocket. She was forced to vamos back to her bar in Spain

to raise more funds to finish the project.

It's now August and Tina's back with a renewed determination

and a new deadline.

I've come back from Spain because the license is due in September

and this has got to be finished, otherwise it'll be 2012

before this place will open.

So I've come back to rush this through now.

I didn't want to go back to Spain, I've done that,

been there, got the t-shirt. This place is another thing.

This is why I'm back.

Anyway, I'm supposed to be painting, aren't I?

To help her reach her deadline, she's recruited

close friend Cherin. Cherin will also manage the pub once it's open.

I didn't think there'd be as much involved

as there has been, to be honest.

Inspired by their partnership, their plans have become ambitious.

They've spotted a gap in the local market for a food venue.

So turning the upstairs into a carvery is now on the menu.

This is a carvery unit.

We did quite a bit of research on the other pubs

and what they were selling and who was doing food and who wasn't.

There isn't another carvery at all in this area.

I'm really getting quite excited now

that I can see things are coming into place.

A cornucopia of hidden problems have caused Tina more time and hard cash

than she'd anticipated. But today's a milestone as the beer pumps

are finally being fitted.

Is that steamer OK?

Hey, they're lovely pumps, aren't they?

-Now you can see it's coming on. Now you can see a future here.

-Yeah.

That first pint's going to taste really nice.

This is the best time and with the flowing of the beer

will be the flowing of the money.

In Cardiff, Brains brewery owns a pub n almost every street corner.

Pubs like The Crwys in Cathays.

This classic city boozer has been pulling pints since 1891

and still retains many traditional features,

including a skittle alley, but times are changing.

The recession is taking it's toll on the pub's beer sales

and in response, the brewery are taking The Crwys back to the drawing board.

Rumours of a radical revamp to their local

are making some regulars nervous.

I've been coming in all my life, I think. Just about.

I don't know what exactly the plans are,

but if they change it too much, I'll just go somewhere else.

I just hope they don't turn it into another student pub.

We wouldn't want to see it turned into something completely new

-just like everything else.

-Yeah, being sensitive

to what it is now, you know, and making sure that

the people who have been coming here for 20 years still enjoy it.

Next day, the work begins.

The imbibers are out and the builders are in.

The blueprints map out a dramatic revamp.

All of the traditional old fittings are going

and the pub will be gutted from top to toe.

The brewery's retail director, Philip Lay, is clear on the pub's new direction.

One of the biggest changes in the market is food.

Food is going to be a much bigger part of the offer,

but that's what's giving growth in the industry.

You have to really be serious about food nowadays

and get people using the business for a different purpose to the one they've traditionally used it for.

We expect it to double its trade when we reopen.

With food being central to the makeover,

it will mean bye-bye skittle alley and hello to

state of the art industrial kitchen unit.

It remains to be seen what the regulars will make of it.

Across Cardiff in the city centre, the brewery runs another pub -

The Old Arcade. With a proud rugby tradition, The Old Arcade

is no more than a James Hook conversion away from the millennium stadium.

Its landlord is Gary Corp.

I've been doing this for coming up nine years.

Nothing changes when you open a pub. It's the same routine every day

except your days off and generally on my days off

I'll sometimes come down and double check everything.

That's what maintains the standards of the pub.

For Gary, it's all about customer service and his loyal regulars.

That's one of our special regulars.

He's a lovely gentlemen. He's a little bit late today.

He normally comes in about 11.

He'll come in and we'll make him a cup of tea or coffee.

We've taken him under our wing.

But Gary's not going to be at The Old Arcade for much longer.

Along with the major revamp, there's going to be a changing of the guard

at The Crwys and it's our Gary

who's been cherry picked to take up the challenge.

It's a big wrench, a move from a pub like The Old Arcade.

It's just about the pub, it's about the people you've met along the way.

And the rapport with some of the customers, they're more like family.

But Gary's not daunted by the task ahead.

They challenges are there, they are quite big,

but I'm sure, if we put the effort in,

I'm sure we can make a successful pub.

Caerleon, a village that has already lost half of its pubs.

Landlady Lorraine has been running her beloved White Hart on her own

since her husband passed away six years ago.

A recent downturn in trade forced her to lay off her cook

and stop serving food. Now she's left fearing

for her future as a publican.

Everywhere you look, there's pubs boarded up. Doesn't matter where you go

and you just hope yours won't be the next one.

Lorraine has a rare night off and catches up with two friends

who are also landlords. Lee and Lee run The Bell in Caerleon,

a gastro pub with a very different outlook

to Lorraine's traditional boozer.

Food is the focus here and, for them, turnover as increased.

But they can still identify with Lorraine's struggle.

-Yours is almost exclusively wet led...

-Yeah.

..ours is food driven. Our sales growth this year is about 27% up

on the same period last year, year to date.

Not many people doing that.

-It takes a lot of hard work.

-You know yourselves

how much you put in between two of you.

You imagine one person trying to do it all.

We put a lot of blood sweat and tears into it.

We've grown our business, but in terms of the profitability,

-it's...it's just not...

-Not there.

The rewards for the effort that you put in just isn't there.

I just can't see a way for it to get better.

It's just bee going down for so long now

-that the days of the British drinking pub are gone.

-Yeah.

If Lorraine is right, then she is boxed in.

Having already closed her kitchen

she has neither the money nor major brewery backing

to reinvent The White Hart as a food led pub.

She has almost nowhere to turn.

At the Old Arcade in Cardiff, Gary and his wife Sue

are getting ready to leave. It's their last chance to say goodbye

so they're throwing a party for their staff and regulars.

This is Nadia, the singer, so we're just giving the girls a hand.

And Nicola. Say "cheese", Nicola.

He's always put on some nice entertainment over the years

so we're going to do some entertainment for him, to say goodbye.

We'll sing him a song in a minute.

It's a rare opportunity for Gary to unwind on the other side of the bar

and savour one last pint at The Old Arcade.

We wanted to make sure that our friends, that we appreciated

the fact that they use the pub and shown it loyalty

and just run over some old good times we've had in the pub.

It's quite a tough night. It's going to be quite emotional.

# I would seek the stars out of the sky for you... #

For Gary's wife, Sue, the reality of the move is also starting to sink in.

I'm starting to get upset now cos we've seen people come in

that we haven't seen for a while.

But it's going to be a good move.

I'm not going to allow myself to get upset too much.

It's a fresh start for us. Next week, hopefully,

we can throw ourselves into The Crwys

and start getting that up and running then.

But Sue's timeframe is optimistic at best.

At The Crwys, the ongoing work had revealed hidden problems

that are causing mounting delays.

The building itself presents challenges,

some which you only find out when you take things down,

like the asbestos issues you get, it adds cost and delays.

But to the brewery, the set backs and added costs

are risks worth taking.

If you don't respond with the right level of investment into these businesses, ultimately

you end up with another pub closed in the UK which isn't

what any of us want. Not every pub can tackle the problems they've got

the way that we can cos you're talking about significant investments

to make the sort of changes that we're trying to make.

This is hundreds of thousands of pounds.

If you're running your business by yourself as a free trader,

it's a real challenge and they do find it very difficult.

That's why a lot of them are folding and going under.

All is not lost for those free traders

who don't have the financial backing of a big brewery, however.

Independent pub consultants like Dai Nicholas offer advice to struggling pubs

and like the brewers, Dai believes food is often the answer.

Pubs just relying on drink sales

are twice as likely to close over the next year than

pubs that are also using food as part of their income stream as well.

It's those pubs that have other reasons

to come there that stand a better chance of surviving through this recession.

And survival doesn't have to mean big money makeovers.

At the Bird In Hand in near Llanelli, Dai has helped turn

a struggling traditional drinking pub into a profitable business.

With Dai's help and advice, landlord Darryn reopened

the pub's kitchen and income has slowly risen.

I've been here about three month. Implemented food here,

place nice and clean. The plan is to work on that

and build on the food and the beer to get people interested again.

Cos three months ago the pub was only open two days a week.

By offering affordable food in a friendly environment, Darryn's turned the pub around.

For Dai, this recipe to success is simple.

He's gone in there, he's planned ahead,

he's got the product right and he's decided to really give it a go.

He started off with a big rise in sales for the launch,

it dipped slightly after and now he's pushing hard to bring it up

and sales are slowly rising against the trend.

Dai's next visit is to a landlady who has made the opposite choice.

She's recently closed her kitchen down.

Is there any advice Dai can offer when The White Hart's landlady,

Lorraine, likes her traditional boozer just the way it is?

-How are you?

-Hello. Pleased to meet you.

The benefit I've seen in the past with some pubs is, erm,

they have had food and it's been an opportunity for them

to get extra income in, you know.

Because of it being a drinking pub, I only ever did lunch.

It's a small environment. If you've got a load of drinkers in

and you're trying to serve meals around people

stood shoulder to shoulder they're not going to be very happy.

If people are going out to dine, they're going out to dine.

If they're going out to drink, they're going out to drink.

With Lorraine sticking firmly to the traditionalist's stance

that booze and food don't mix,

Dai's struggling for a positive alternative.

In terms of marketing, to get new clients in

or new customers into the pub, your options are quite limited, I suppose.

-Yes.

-Because your costs are tight,

your overheads remain more or less the same.

Yes, your rent and rates are still the same,

your gas and electric's gone up. Gas won't be quite so bad

-now I've shut the kitchen, hopefully.

-Right, yeah.

It'll probably balance out the same now we're not using the kitchen.

So to go out there and start to spend cash on marketing the premises

is just beyond your means currently?

At the end of the month, there's never any money left over.

If you get a bad month or one bad night on a weekend,

that can wipe out everything.

After a good look around and further discussion with Lorraine,

Dai has come to a very clear conclusion

about the pub's prospects.

To turn this pub around

would be very, very difficult and very time-consuming

and very costly, so I would say, currently as it is now,

as a traditional boozer, without somebody in with a food background,

it would make the survival of this business quite bleak.

Without the money or the will to strike out in a bold new direction,

the only question for Lorraine

is how long she can survive this traditional way.

It's mid-September and back up the Rhondda,

the never-ending saga that is the Gateway

has hit yet another hitch.

And this time, it's a biggie.

Tina's applied to the council for her pub licence

and a number of local residents are putting up stiff opposition.

There was about six or seven complaints.

It's not really going to be good for business if you've got

close neighbours who are actually against what you're doing.

The locals' worries are based on the pub's disreputable past,

a colourful time that handyman Rich readily recalls.

There was a lot of trouble around here, fighting after hours

and what have you, so the police decided enough was enough,

just shut them all down.

And getting the licence will take more than just satisfying the locals.

You've got the sound people for the audibility and soundchecks,

environmental health, the fire service,

to make sure, obviously, that you're up to the standards.

They can turn round after doing all this work here and say,

"Actually, no."

So it is a really big risk.

Tina has already sunk tens of thousands of pounds

into this project and the risk is all with her.

But she's confident she can win the locals round.

People are a bit nervous about what the pub is going to entail.

But I think if you run something properly and you don't let idiots

and underage people in, I think it'll be OK.

Especially because it's a food venue, I think the licence is going to go through.

But, if it doesn't, if I don't get a licence,

I won't just take it, when other places have got licences.

No, I won't accept that. I will never accept a no.

I don't like thinking about that bit, mind, it'll cost me more money.

But with Tina being Tina, nothing is ever silky smooth.

A sudden call from a workman sends her into a frenzy.

I'm coming down straight away.

Sorry, babe. Sorry. I'll be there now.

-I'm going to have to come back.

-What happened, Tina?

I've locked him in the barn. He's got to pick up his kids.

I'll be back now.

He's got to pick up his kids!

I won't be long.

In Cardiff, Gary and Sue are checking on progress at The Crwys.

There's a grand opening due in six days time

but things are far from finished,

particularly their flagship kitchen.

This is it, all singing, and dancing kitchen.

We are a bit off that today.

There's a long list of missing essentials.

We're merry chefs. We've got our friers, the ovens.

The service areas, still some more of them,

kitchen sinks, dry store racking.

Nothing's set up at the moment, just bringing it in very slowly.

We're hoping to be doing 4,000 to 5,000 a week on food

which on the type of menu we're going to be doing is a lot of food.

Still a lot to do, finishing off. They'll be working 24 hours soon.

HE LAUGHS

That's the trouble when you're setting up, all you do is pick holes.

With an opening imminent and big brewery bucks riding on it

being a success, the man at the top seems remarkably chilled.

You've just really got to calm down and just take your time

and if something needs to be put off till tomorrow,

unfortunately, it has to be put off.

At the end of the day, you just end up making mistakes.

I'm sure it'll happen. I'll probably lose about two stone.

That wouldn't be a bad thing.

As the boys from Tex Services keep telling me.

It's not just at The Crwys where food is at the centre of a rebrand.

The brewery is so convinced food equals money, they've opened a cookery school at their HQ.

Sue and The Crwys's catering crew are the latest students to be put through their paces.

Cheesy bread.

-Lamb cawl, is it?

-Yes.

Apple sauce.

-How do you do them? Grill them?

-No, you've got to fry them.

It's just so we can taste the food, be able to explain it to customers

and really just to know how to do it.

There's an eclectic and exotic menu to get to grips with,

but it's not just nachos and naan bread preoccupying them.

It's nice to start, it just feels like it's taking forever

just to get there, really.

Gary's been up there every single day.

I do just want to get in there now and get settled.

But it's still pretty nerve wracking, especially for me, anyway.

Back in Porth, Tina and Cherin wilfully struggle on,

but the still unresolved issue of the pub licence hangs in the air

like a mocking spectre.

People think I'm mad cos I've spent so much money

and I still don't know if I can get the licence.

It's been a massive gamble, spending so much time doing it, sweat and tears.

If I don't have the licence, I don't know what I'm going to do

cos I've got rid of my other income in Spain so I can't go back there.

Thinking about it, it does make me think, "Oh my God, if I don't..."

It's a lot of money to spend.

It's a pub with no beer and a pub with no licence for music.

I'm stumped really, aren't I?

Rather than back down, Tina and Cherin are going all out

to satisfy the council's pub licensing criteria.

A few more grand is being thrown into a CCTV system.

One obviously to cover this area cos there was a lot of trouble

in the past with fighting, so that's particularly important.

Noise control is another strict licensing condition.

The council require an independent assessment that The Gateway's soundproofing is foolproof.

We're going to have to get a band for ten minutes

for her to stand outside with the monitor and go, "Uh-huh."

That's going to cost about 400 quid.

You don't get your licence without it.

-When's the band got to be here?

-It's got to be sometime next week.

Even if they persuade the council everything's ticketyboo,

and licence worthy, they've still got to convince the neighbours.

Most people are of the opinion that it's going to be run the same way it was before.

To try to prove to them it's going to be run properly is hard work.

There've tunnel vision. They're not going to give anybody a chance.

Over the next few days, work on The Gateway pushes on

in anticipation of satisfying all of the council's licensing criteria.

As ever though, there's a hitch.

At such short notice, Cherin's unable to find a group

or a sound engineer to come out and put the soundproofing to the test.

In a land where every other person is in a band,

this is a sorry state of affairs.

So that I could go forward with the council,

is there anyone you could recommend

that could possibly do it today? No?

Is there any possibility or hope on this earth that a chappie

or lady could come out today to do that?

No? No way? Right, OK.

That's just shot that idea down in flames.

Whilst Cherin continues bashing for bands,

Tina's trying to stay in the neighbours' good books by sprucing up the backyard.

She's more than a little offended

that they think she plans on running a doss-house.

I'm not going to run a drug den or anything stupid.

I can't understand why people would think that one would spend

all this money on having a pub that would serve these people.

They haven't got no money anyway. They wouldn't be in my place.

I'm definitely a fighter. I work better if things go wrong.

In the battle to find a band, a sound engineer, anyone,

Cherin's getting desperate.

Have I got any chance whatsoever of getting you

anywhere near this pub in the foreseeable very near future?

I'll stick a really pretty, pretty, pretty please on the end of it

cos I am a desperate woman.

Cheers, thanks. Bye.

He liked my cheek so hopefully...

Well, I said ASAP.

So at long last, Cherin can call Tina with some good news.

TELEPHONE RINGS

Hi.

Yee-hah.

So we've got a band and a sound engineer?

Yes!

At the end of a rainbow, there's light.

Will The Gateway pass the sound test?

Will Tina and Cherin finally get to open up?

They'll find out soon enough.

Cardiff, it's G-Day at the Crwys, the grand opening,

the usual last-minute fluffing is taking place

and Gary is in the thick of it.

Little bits and pieces to do and we're nearly there.

I haven't stopped since six o'clock this morning.

I haven't had a sandwich. This is what we've been striving for.

It'll be lovely just to open the doors and serve the general public.

That's what it's about. Can't wait to meet the regulars and attract new clientele.

It's close to zero hour and everything's ready for the launch.

Gary's got opening night nerves, but he's eager to meet his public.

Can you turn the music up now, please? Only a touch.

Let's go and open the doors, then.

-All right, love. Are you OK? We're just about there.

-Are you?

Welcome to the Crwys. I know you're regulars. I hope everything's fine.

The Crwys has been transformed.

Its modern decor, a world away from the snug nooks and crannies of its previous incarnation.

Outside, the welcoming beer garden is a Shangri-La for exhaling smokers.

And the skittle alley is a gastro kitchen now. But what do the old regulars make of it all?

Walked in here, not sure what we were going to find.

Told...two months ago now?

-That's right.

-..that it was closing down and being renovated. But impressed with what we've found.

15 years ago, I worked in this place.

A bizarre little place. Tiled ugly floors, a really old pub.

I find this quite phenomenal to see.

And I like the new landlord. He's made us all feel welcome.

I would like the music turned down!

-Turn the music down.

-I wish he'd turn the music down.

I've been drinking here a long time

and I was a bit wary about what Brains were going to do to it.

But I got to be honest, this is...supreme!

It's one of the best looking places I've been in for a long time.

Really good crowd in, lots of regulars, all pretty much

seem to be impressed, especially with the garden and decor.

I'm trying to reassure them it's going to stay as a community pub,

it's not going to suddenly try and change the type of clientele.

They understand that change needs to happen for these pubs to survive.

It keeps the pub open and keeps people in the pubs.

Whilst Gary and the Crwys enjoy a successful re-launch,

at the White Hart, there have been no last minute miracles.

Trade is so low that barmaid Natasha

now spends much of her shift reading.

Having spent the bulk of her working life behind a bar,

Lorraine has finally decided to accept the inevitable.

I'm just not capable of doing it any more.

It's the end of my life, really. 37 years running pubs is a long time.

What do I do for the rest of my life?

I'd like to be able to say in six months,

I'd come back and see the place absolutely buzzing and I hope I can.

To be able to walk in and just say, "Oh, great!

"The pub's come back to life."

But I don't know. Nobody knows what's round the corner.

The job has got the better of me. Worn me out completely.

So...they can't rebuild me.

Some would say - good!

Lorraine has decided to retire.

A dignified exit for the dignified old school landlady

whose traditional old boozer has fallen out of fashion and out of time.

In Porth, Tina fights on.

The neo-classical jazz ensemble they scrambled to find

are in for the council soundcheck.

But it's not going to plan.

The audio levels are higher than expected and apparently,

the band can be heard from next door.

And that means it's "No" for the licence.

I don't know if we'll be able to have bands.

We're not allowed to do it, but I'm not going to give up, babes.

The verdict has left Tina and Cherin in a difficult place.

But with so much time invested and money spent,

Tina believes that there's no choice other than to soldier on.

November 2011 and at the Groundhog Day that is the Gateway, Tina and Cherin,

having already worked through Plans A-Y, are optimistically moving on to Plan Z.

This has cost mega bucks, this foam. We've done double the thickness.

It's like a big sound barrier, hopefully to drop at least 10db.

It's going to open and it's going to be fun and it's going to be better than it was before.

Get this audibility test done again. We're quite confident with that.

And then hopefully have the licence and be open before Christmas.

I think we should celebrate.

Cheers, me-dears!

15 months and £120,000 later, Tina's pub problems keep rolling on.

Who knows if the Gateway will ever open or if Tina will see her money again?

In the meantime, let's raise a glass with Tina and any other colourful can-do maverick out there

doing their bit to keep Welsh pubs alive.

Coming up in the next episode - four friends from Carmarthen take over their local,

but their ambitions don't just lay in pulling pints. They're going into the business of making them too.

-The beer may be a bit too strong. It's not what we want.

-Got to get it right. No ifs or buts.

But will their DIY beer make or break their fledgling brewery business?

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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