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 safe, secure 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 best 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.
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 best practice guide. Others such as the Portman Group, The British Institute of Innkeeping, The British Beer and Pubs Association, 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 Best 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 nearly 3,500 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 Wetherspoons Ltd and a final revision in 2006 which is currently in use.
Members of the Committee have represented Pubwatch in many seminars and meetings on Licensing reform and more recently the issue of Social Responsibility. Support 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 publish and distribute our 27th edition in February 2009 with a circulation exceeding 21.000 thanks to funding from various sponsors with the British Institute of Innkeeping and British Beer & Pubs Association being the current sponsors.
The Laurel Pub Co, sponsored a national competition for the best Pubwatch, which was first awarded in March 2002 at the Savoy Hotel at the Morning Advertiser industry Awards ceremony. This is now awarded annually at the Responsible Drinks Retailing awards in November.
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. Budweiser Budvar and the Unique Pub Company sponsored this event. The evaluation indicates 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 fifth was held at Weston Super Mare on 12th February 2008 and once again was a full house that saw some innovative approaches to pubwatch issues displayed and discussed. The sixth, held at Harrogate on 10th February 2009 also had a full house again despite some of the worst weather seen for years and was sponsored by the Police Standards Unit at the Home Office. The seventh conference was held on 9th February at the Whittlebury Hotel in Northamptonshire with a capacity attendance and excellent feedback on the content.
We introduced corporate membership thanks to some tremendous support from Anheuser Busch and in 2006 saw the British Beer and Pubs Association take over the sponsorship on behalf of all its members committing additional funding to support pubwatches.
In 2009 in response to concerns amongst watch members about the way in which assaults on licensees and staff were being dealt with we launched the ‘Court not Caution‘ campaign to get a change in policy within the justice system over the disposal of offenders assaulting such staff. This campaign supported by numerous other bodies has led to an official review which is still in progress.
What has it done?
- Created the first 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 600 new watch schemes.
- Provided advice support and assistance to existing schemes across the country.
- Produced a Best Practice Guide.
- Produced newsletters with 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 maintain a website at www.nationalpubwatch.org.uk.
- Organised five 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.
Assistant Secretary: Frank Marnell
One of the joint chairmen of Chester Pubwatch.
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
Newsletter & Conference: Paul Wotton, a retired police officer now acting as a consultant on drug related issues and training.
Website Manager: M Eidmans QPM, MSc, FCMI
A retired police officer with experience of pubwatch in operation and expertise in risk, crisis and disaster management and past Secretary.
Members:
John Harrington, a journalist on The Morning Advertiser a
publication that supported the creation of National Pubwatch.
David Isaac, a solicitor and previously Licensing Director of J D Wetherspoon.
Joe Gildea, A licensee in Chester who has been involved in Pubwatch for many years.
Nigel Conner, a Licensing solicitor for J D Wetherspoon.
Trevor Pepper, responsible for Coventry City Centre Ambassadors Scheme and the pubwatch link.
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.
Bill Donne, Chair of Reading pubwatch and a licensing consultant, who speaks at many public forums on pubwatch and licensing issues.
Mark Worthington, Community Police Sergeant in Northampton responsible for writing the first codes of practice and involved in supporting pubwatch in Northamptonshire.
Joe Murray, an Inspector in Cumbria Police involved in pubwatch schemes across the county and a number of watch related initiatives.
If you wish to receive the newsletter or our help and support or think we can be of assistance in some way you can contact us
By post National Pubwatch, PO Box 3523, BARNET, EN5 9LQ
By email at admin@nationalpubwatch.org.uk
By phone on 07970 145188
