Last orders for happy hour

As the government gives power to local authorities to ban ‘happy hours’ Matthew Wood investigates the affects such promotions have on Britain’s drinking culture, economy and emergency services.

In these times of financial strain you may find many people across the country taking advantage of the ever increasing cheap drink promotions, or happy hours that numerous bars and pubs use in order to generate custom.

Well this could all be about to change. The government has announced that they will give local authorities the power to ban happy hours or any drink promotions they feel are inappropriate in an attempt to tackle an excessive drinking culture.

Gordon Brown explained: “We are going to bring in a new mandatory code on the sale of alcohol, to tackle binge drinking, targeting the kind of promotions like ‘drink all you can for a fiver.”

An example of such is the ‘women drink free’ promotions that various bars use. While it could be argued some promotions can relieve the financial stress of having a drink or two this particular promotion does nothing but fuel the fire for excessive drinking.

Whether you drink large amounts of alcohol or not, you’re likely to be tempted to indulge in such offers. What is the harm of having another drink when it costs so little? Or in some cases nothing at all. Such offers almost force the consumer into having another drink.

Because of the various happy hours and promotions on offer, there’s no doubt some drinkers will turn from moderate to excessive consumptions of alcohol, not only doing damage to themselves but the economy also. A 2008 report from the NHS showed that the government estimated the health service loses out between £1.4 and £1.7 billion a year through alcohol misuse.

Hospital admissions down to effects of alcohol have also risen significantly in recent years. In 2007 there were 57,142 NHS hospital admissions, resulting in a huge rise of 52% since 1996.

Inevitably the effect of the recession would see a dip in alcohol prices but even previous to the country’s credit crunch the price of alcohol was already at an all time low. Statistics showed that in 2007 alcohol was 69% more affordable than it was in 1980.

Since 2007 - whether it be in bars, pubs or even supermarkets - various promotions have meant alcohol has become even cheaper to purchase. In a sense it is probably not a particular surprise that the government want to put a stop to large consumption of cheap alcohol.

However this is not the first time that happy hours and other such promotions have been ‘banned’. In 2005 the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), which represents 32,000 pubs in Britain said it would put an end to such promotions as ‘drink all you can.’

Mark Hastings, a spokesperson for BBPA, said at the time: “Offers like pay £10 on the door and all drinks are free, drinking games and schemes that encourage people to drink too much too quickly have no place in our sector and we are determined to stamp them out.”

“Responsible promotions do have an important role to play in a pub business and are in the interests of consumers. Irresponsible promotions damage the reputation of the sector, drive down quality and standards and have no place in a well-managed licensed business.”

“I don’t think it’s a silver bullet solution but it will certainly have an impact.”

BBPA’s predicted ‘impact’ has had little effect. For pubs, bars and supermarkets it seems the recession has provided a chance to re-introduce the inviting drink offers to lure back in the consumer, giving people the opportunity to drink more for less.

In fact it is also the large amount of alcohol consumption that is to blame for many crimes across the country. Results from the British Crime Survey showed that 45% of all violent crimes were committed by those under the influence of alcohol. It is dangerous to insinuate that drink promotions are a major cause of violent crimes but for sure they must be a factor.

Is there an explanation behind so many drink promotions in pubs and bars? Keeping customers of course is integral to the cheap drinks, but now more than ever pubs and bars have to keep custom in order to stay afloat themselves. The fact is pubs themselves are a dying breed with 2,000 pubs alone going out of business in 2008.

The increasing number of drink promotions is obviously down to the fact pubs and bars need to keep their custom. Owners are savvy in their approach of keeping in the business, they know customers will succumb to the outrageous drink promotions and happy hours, especially in this time of an economic downturn.

It is not unreasonable to suggest drinks promotions that entice people to drink more than they usually would have to be halted. Despite the current state of the economy, offers that actively encourage customers to drink to excess are designed to maximise custom and profits.

However, now that local councils have the power to ban these promotions, it remains to be seen if and when this policy will be put into practice. You would think lessons would have been learnt in 2005 when the BBPA claimed they would put an end to cheap and affordable drink offers and yet four years on they still exist.

It is now in the hands of the local authorities to help clamp down on Britain’s growing drink culture and help to aid the emergency services along with the NHS, whose jobs and resources are becoming overstretched and strained by the sheer weight of cases involving alcohol misuse.