About Us
What is National Pubwatch?
National Pubwatch is an entirely voluntary organisation set up to support existing pubwatches and encourage the creation of new pubwatch schemes with the key aim of achieving a safer and responsibly led social drinking environment in all licensed premises throughout the UK helping to reduce alcohol-related crime.
What does it do?
Through a database of watches and people involved in Pubwatch it provides good practice and other related information circulated by means of a newsletter and a Good Practice Guide. Advice can be provided on problem issues and how to actually go about setting up a watch. In addition members of its Committee attend seminars and meetings to give presentations on Pubwatch and raise issues of concern found by pubwatch schemes at a national level with government and other agencies in an attempt to resolve them.
Over time we have obtained a limited degree of funding from a number of trade related organisations and some of our activities have been sponsored by outside companies. Vodafone paging for example funded the production of our first Good Practice Guide. Others such as the Portman Group, The British Institute of Innkeeping(BII), The British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), Yates group and Greene King have sponsored editions of our newsletter. We also receive support and news coverage from one of our earliest supporters the trade paper, The Morning Advertiser.
Our Good Practice Guide, that deals with starting and running watches, was launched together with a special pager scheme, ‘Pub alert’ at a trade exhibition in April 1999. It has proved very successful with over 8,000 copies supplied to licensees, police, town centre managers and watch co-ordinators throughout the country with requests still coming in every week. The booklet was revised and re-printed with a lot of additional information in it in 2001. A further revised edition was printed in autumn 2003 thanks to sponsorship by J D Wetherspoon Ltd and in 2006 it was further revised and published thanks to sponsorship by the BBPA.
Members of the Committee have represented Pubwatch in many seminars and meetings on Licensing reform and the issue of Social Responsibility. Support for its work has been forthcoming from over 40 members of the House of Commons as well as Ministers and officials at the Home Office and DCMS with whom we liaise.
Our first newsletter was published in January 2000 and we published and distributed our 20th edition in April 2007 with a circulation exceeding 19,000 thanks to funding from various sponsors with the BII being the current sponsor.
We organized the first national Conference for Pubwatch held in Clerkenwell in London on 4th November 2003 which included a number of workshops to look at the issues that concern watches. Budweiswer Budvar and the Unique Pub Company sponsored this event. The evaluation indicated that all the 120 delegates that attended, rated the day highly. We ran our second conference on 6th April 2005 at Wycombe University to a sell out audience of over 200, thanks to sponsorship from the Government Office for the South East. The third was held in February 2006 at Chester racecourse with some 250 people in attendance and our fourth was held on 20th February 2007 at Coventry again with 250 delegates. The feedback and evaluation continues to show that these conferences achieve the needs of delegates.
We have introduced corporate membership thanks to some tremendous support from Anheuser Busch and 2006 saw the BBPA take over the sponsorship on behalf of all its members committing additional funding to support pubwatches for the next three years.
What has it done?
- Created the only national database of watches in the UK.
- Provided a national voice for the concerns and problems facing schemes that are trying to prevent crime and violence in and around licensed premises.
- Assisted in the creation of over 400 new watch schemes.
- Provided advice support and assistance to existing schemes across the country.
- Produced a Good Practice Guide.
- Produced newsletters disseminating advice and good practice information.
- Encouraged and supported several Pub companies to adopt positive policies towards pubwatch and their estate.
- Opened links with industry bodies and the Home Office.
- Obtained parliamentary support for Pubwatch.
- Produced a logo for national use.
- Produced window stickers and posters for use by watches.
- Provided support for various industry initiatives on social responsibility.
- Made all local authorities and police services in England & Wales aware of the support it can provide for watch schemes and Community Safety crime & disorder plans.
- Produced and maintains a website at www.nationalpubwatch.org.uk.
- Organised four national conferences for pubwatches.
- Raised the profile of Pubwatch generally.
The National Pubwatch Committee
Chairman: Steve Baker
A partnerships officer with Thames Valley police at Aylesbury who has had considerable experience of Pubwatch.
Secretary: M Eidmans QPM, MSc, FCMI
A retired police officer with experience of pubwatch in operation and expertise in risk, crisis and disaster management.
Secretary Designate: Nigel Bailey LLB(hons)
A retired police officer from Cheshire Constabulary with special interest in Pubwatch and involvement in watch schemes in Crewe & Nantwich. Now a lecturer in Public Services.
Treasurer: Tom Watson
A retired police officer with extensive licensing and pubwatch knowledge and operational experience who now operates as a licensing consultant.
Deputy Treasurer: Phil Garside JP, FBII
A Licensee, SIA registered and a Licensing Appeals Magistrate
Members:
John Harrington, a journalist on The Morning Advertiser a trade publication that supported the creation of National Pubwatch.
David Isaac, a solicitor and previously Licensing Director of J D Wetherspoon’s.
Paul Wotton, a retired police officer now acting as a consultant on drug related issues and training.
Trevor Pepper, responsible for Coventry City Centre Ambassadors Scheme and the pubwatch link.
Frank Marnell, one of the joint chairmen of Chester Pubwatch.
John McNamara CMBII, Chief Executive of the BII, a supporter of pubwatch for over 4 years.
Dr Martin Rawlings MBE, Director Pubs & leisure at the British Beer & Pub Association an active supporter for many years.
Dave Daly FBII, President of NALHM, a licensee and active member of Blackpool pubwatch.
Bruce Thomas, Head of Security for Greene King Pub Co.
Sue Togay, Assistant Town Centres Manager, Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council, Personal Licence Holder and founder member of the successful S.C.O.O.T Retail Watch.
