Licensing Expert

When I fell into the world of Licensing in 1990, I had no idea that it consume my life for the next 20 years and beyond.

Since the beginning of my career as a young trainee manager of the Broadway Boulevard nightclub in Llandudno there have been significant and wholesale changes that has changed the face of the industry and not for the better I hasten to add!

At the risk of sounding a little corny, but when I was younger the bar and club world was a different story. The core ethos hasn't changed, it’s still boy meets girl, dancing, meeting and of course drinking. But was has change significantly are the number of people going out, the amount of money that’s spent. Even in 1988 and those who can remember that far back, may recall the Hitman and Her programme on ITV. You remember the one, Peter Waterman and Michaela Strachan and the then infamous "Wiggy" the black dancer with the blond wig. Clive, his real name and now a good friend of mine is still on the circuit and two hip replacements later, still dancing!!

Anyway back in 1988 the Hitman and Her was a regular at the Palace nightclub in Blackpool. First Leisure’s flag ship venue, 4000 clubbers and a queue snaking a quarter of a mile. Not a cheap place to go either, £5-£10 admission back then but on Hitman nights £15. But Blackpool in 1988 would have 25000 people out in the town on a Saturday night and most would be out all day. Bars tills would overflow with tourist and local’s cash and by 11pm be done and dusted before handing over the mantle to the clubs. The Palace, well Saturday takings alone would range anything from £60-£10000. What operators would give for that now.....?

I am going to keep blogs relatively small and manageable to read and enjoy over a coffee.

Over the next few years I will write blogs not about looking back, but looking forward, how licensing will affect us in the future and how I think we need to change in order to adapt to the change.

The Licensing business has been good to me; I have a partnership in Club Sanuk Blackpool, one of the largest and most successful in the UK. I also own MJR Morgan and produce training and consultancy for the industry.

I will be posting blogs about every aspect of the business, from bars, and door staff to standing out and being different.

I am an expert in marketing, promotion and event management and will post useful tips and tricks to maximise profit.

Effectively this will be an online blog come e-book. "Everything License"........Thanks for reading