Latest news with #Debrett's
Metro
26-05-2025
- General
- Metro
‘Snaking' is the phenomenon taking over pubs — but punters say it's diabolical
If there's one thing us Brits are known for, it's queuing. We're fantastic at forming orderly lines for the loo or spending hours standing in succession to get into a popular restaurant. But there's one place where standing one behind the other just isn't right: the pub. Instead, the proper etiquette is simply to waltz straight up to the bar, find a space along it and wait for your turn to make eye contact with whoever is working to indicate that you want another pint. If you don't believe this is the 'correct' way to do it, take it up with the etiquette experts at Debrett's, who insist: 'Although it really does not look like it, a kind of queuing system is in place; everyone is loosely aware of who is in front of them and who has come after them and a competent bar tender will also be keeping an eye on the seemingly anarchic dynamics'. But our slightly chaotic ordering system is under threat, as a new trend has been emerging in boozers up and down the country, a phenomenon Metro is coining as 'snaking'. Instead of standing their ground at the bar, chests puffed out like proud lions, people are snaking their way around the venue like slithery reptiles in single file queues that wind around tables and sometimes even stretch out the door. It might sound like peak Britishness to some, but it's actually driving many Brits mad. So prevalent has this become across the UK that there's now even an entire account on X (formerly Twitter) dedicated to the behaviour. Known as @queuespub, the page has more than 13,000 followers and its description reads: 'A campaign to end the recent phenomenon of queuing single file in pubs. We queue for the bus, or for the checkout, not at bars.' There are snaps of queues in pubs across the nation, as well as images of signs that have been put up at bars, encouraging people to go back to the ways things used to be and spread out if they want to order. Reddit users are also fed up with this new ordering practice, with u/JamesDarlo90 recently turning to the internet to vent his feelings about it. He posted: 'This new phenomenon I've seen of people queuing single file in the pub. I can't get my head around it.' The post garnered hundreds of responses, with many equally as confused and infuriated. A fellow pub goer, u/blainy-o replied: 'Absolutely diabolical behaviour. Spread out along the bar you thick c***s, that's what it's there for.' And u/ThatchersDirtyTaint agreed, writing: 'It's ridiculous and should be ridiculed.' Similarly, u/Aggravating-menu466 replied: 'Wrong, wrong, so very very wrong…' And u/Upper_Push_5860 added: 'Cultural pygmies. A bar is that length for a reason.' Pub owners and landlords are somewhat divided over snaking, with some not seeing an issue and others getting as riled up as punters over it. Callum Murphy, the Landlord of The Newman Arms in Fitzrovia, says he would welcome single file lines in his pub, telling Metro: 'Given the current situation, we believe any pub in England would be happy to have a queue. 'At The Newman Arms, we are delighted to be busy and will always give our guests the best experience possible however they decide to order their drink.' Steven Smith-Hay, the co-founder of Vault City Brewing, admits that seeing straight-line queues form in his taproom feels a 'bit odd', but Andy Kerr, the owner of The Sun Tavern, Parasol and Umbrella London, didn't hold back with his thoughts, branding the practice 'completely idiotic' and 'ridiculous'. Speaking to Metro, Andy said: 'No idea where [this trend] came from or how it started, but it's mental. People queuing up like that goes against everything a British pub is about. Bars are designed for people to stand at them, chat with the bartender, and get served. It's ridiculous. 'I've seen people queue, while others jump the queue, and get served straight away. It's absolute madness. 'If I had this happening in one of my venues, I'd probably throw them out. I like to think my punters are smarter than that, so I don't think it'd happen often, but if it did, it'd get sorted.' He continued: 'It might be a leftover from Covid, but it's time to move on and get back to the way pubs are meant to work. Queues are for Tesco, not the bar!' Dougal Sharp, the founder and master brewer at Innis & Gunn, also believes the phenomenon is a direct result of the pandemic. He claims he's seen some single file lines forming in taprooms in Edinburgh and Glasgow and it's mostly Gen-Z customers who queue like this as they don't know any better. 'We have started seeing more people queuing in a neat little line at the bar and honestly, fair play to them. It's not how things have traditionally worked in pubs, but who's keeping score? 'Some folks missed out on a few formative pub years thanks to lockdowns, so they're just making their own rules – and that's kind of the joy of it.' Dougal isn't bothered by snaking either way as he believes the most important thing is that the pub should be a 'relaxed space where everyone feels welcome' and not somewhere you feel 'worried about breaking secret etiquette'. 'If a queue forms, great. If someone wanders up and catches our eye, that works too. We'll gently keep things flowing – no drama,' he adds. Hospitality workers and bartenders aren't as chill about it though, if the responses to a recent TikTok video from @claireeh19 are anything to go by. The clip showed a long queue inside a pub in Wigan and prompted a woman who claimed to have worked in hospitality for 20 years to urge people not to follow suit. Known only as Becca, she said: 'DO NOT queue like this, it makes it so much harder for us to do our jobs.' As Andy mentioned, a number of punters who feel 'p***ed off' by the queues have been ignoring the lines completely and heading straight for the bar to grab a drink. More often than not, they claimed pub staff had enjoyed their brazen actions and served them right away. u/happyhippohats revealed on Reddit that they always jump a queue like this, saying: 'I normally just walk past them and wait at the bar like a normal person. I'll happily let them get served first if they were there before me but I'm not joining the back of a queue, it's not a post office.' However, it's worth noting that this isn't something every pub or bartender will encourage or appreciate. More Trending In some venues, bar staff are actively encouraging snaking and will send red-faced punters to the back of the line if they try and skip it. This has been the case in several Wetherspoons pubs across the UK, where signs instruct customers to queue in single file at the bar. The chain's founder Tim Martin explained that some Spoons 'prefer it' this way and it can be dependent on the layout of the pub. He previously told The Sun: 'Wetherspoon does not have a specific policy on queuing and, generally, leaves the decision to customers. In some pubs, often due to the location of the bar and positioning of tables in front of it, customers prefer to form a single file queue. View More » 'Traditionally, customers wait along the whole of the bar, enabling them to see the beers on tap, the spirit range and to shoot the breeze with bar staff. Probably, most customers prefer this method.' Do you have a story to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@ MORE: Saudi Arabia to make major change to alcohol rules ahead of World Cup MORE: I tried 50 tinnies and found the best canned drink for summer MORE: Morrisons launches UK supermarket first with brand new £1.50 drinks 'on tap'
CNBC
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
The hottest ticket in Britain's corporate calendar might surprise you
This week saw one of the most important — and perhaps surprising — events in corporate Britain's annual calendar: the gala night of the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Chelsea Flower Show. This traditionally marks the beginning of what, in English high society, is referred to as 'the season.' Coined as such by Debrett's, the publisher and authority on society and etiquette, the summer social whirl was framed around the British royal family, which traditionally remained in London from April to July and from October until Christmas. This meant that Britain's ruling classes and key movers and shakers did the same — participating in balls, parties and court presentations. These have largely now faded away, but what remains is a series of sporting and cultural events where the great and good continue to get together. Highlights include opera at the Glyndebourne Festival; flat racing at the Epsom Derby, Royal Ascot and Glorious Goodwood meetings; rowing at the Henley Royal Regatta; yachting at Cowes and, of course, tennis at Wimbledon. All these events see gatherings of corporate chieftains, their bankers, lawyers and other advisors, but none brings together quite as many key figures, in a short space of time, as the Chelsea gala night: two hours of champagne (this year's bubbles were supplied by Pommery), canapes and networking over displays carefully cultivated by hundreds of professional gardeners and landscape architects. Tickets for the gala, which runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (the King, who is patron of the RHS, visits earlier in the afternoon), cost £620 ($827) while those for the gala dinner which follows on site go for £885. Many of the City's top bankers can be spotted there: recent attendees have included Anthony Gutman, co-chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs International; Russell Chambers, the former head of investment banking at Credit Suisse and Charlie Nunn, chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group. Leading business figures also regularly attend, including the likes of John Browne, the former chief executive of BP; Martin Sorrell, the advertising kingpin and Nigel Wilson, the former chief executive of Legal & General. Top politicians and policymakers can also be spotted at the event: George Osborne was a regular attendee when he was chancellor of the exchequer, while last year both Jeremy Hunt, then the chancellor, and Rachel Reeves, then his shadow, were guests of one of the U.K.'s major lenders. While the cultivation of plants is central to Chelsea, the cultivation of client relationships is also paramount. Headline sponsors of the event have included Merrill Lynch Investment Managers (now part of BlackRock) and asset manager M&G Investments. The seeds sown, too, are not necessarily of the horticultural kind. For example, the 2018 sale of data provider Refinitiv (since acquired by the London Stock Exchange Group) by Thomson Reuters to Blackstone is said to have had its origins in a meeting between David Craig, the Refinitiv chief executive, and Joseph Baratta, Blackstone's head of private equity, at the 2013 gala night. Long-time attendees grumble that the event does not have quite the pull it used to. There are arguably fewer bankers present than there were 15 years ago which, according to some, reflects caps on the value of corporate hospitality some business people are now allowed to accept. There is also a school of thought that modern CEOs are more likely to be seen competing in triathlons and, when they do accept invitations, it is likely to be for a more egalitarian and less elitist event such as, say, a Premier League football match. This year's gala suggested there may be some truth to that. From the C-suite, there were certainly more FTSE 100 chairs than CEOs in attendance, although several individuals who have in the last year stepped down from such roles were spotted among the blooms. Among the main talking points, a few common themes emerged. One was the uncertainty that continues to stalk businesses in the United States due to a combination of factors, chiefly President Donald Trump's tariffs, which several attendees suggested may benefit the U.K. if it drives capital and business investment elsewhere. Another is the impact that continues to be felt by Chancellor Rachel Reeves' decision to abolish the so-called 'non-dom' rules which enabled U.K. residents who declared their permanent home as being overseas to avoid U.K. tax on their foreign income and gains. It is credited with having driven hundreds of wealthy individuals out of the U.K. and harmed entrepreneurship in the process. The third theme, though, was altogether more surprising. The mood music surrounding the U.K. economy during the last 12 months has been unremittingly bleak. Yet there were, on Monday evening, an unexpectedly high number of corporate chiefs who, when questioned how their business was faring, answered along the lines of: 'I probably shouldn't say this, given the backdrop, but we're actually doing better than I expected so far this year.' The U.K. economy still faces headwinds, not least Reeves's recent increase in employer's national insurance contributions, which makes it more expensive to hire people. There is also a sense that the GDP figures for the first quarter of the year were flattered by stockpiling of goods and strong export figures ahead of Trump's tariffs kicking in. However, leaving the show on Monday evening, there was a strong sense that these surprisingly strong figures may not have been a flash in the pan.
West Australian
16-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Belle Taylor: How much cash should you gift at a wedding?
Navigating the dos and don'ts of modern etiquette can come with plenty of potential pitfalls. Is it weird to answer the Instagram story of a casual acquaintance? Is it crass to use ChatGPT to compose a note for your colleague's leaving card? And exactly how much money do you gift at a wedding? That last question is one I have been asked a few times lately. Mainly from people a little older than myself who, upon receiving a wedding invitation, are shocked to discover gift registries have gone the way of the dodo and instead couples now ask for cold, hard cash to start their married life together. It's a sensible idea. These days around 83 per cent of Australian couples live together before marrying, that's up from 16 per cent in 1975. We all want to make sure our intended doesn't leave toothpaste on the sink or nail clippings in the bed before saying 'I do'. Modern brides and grooms aren't hoping to score a new toaster and fine china at their nuptials. Instead they want to fund their honeymoon or recoup some of the astronomical cost of the wedding, which these days sits upwards of $30,000 (and that's a budget wedding). The answer to the 'how much?' question, if you're wondering, is supposed to be the cost of your meal. If you're thinking, 'The last time I ate out I got a banh mi and a soft drink for $12.50' then . . . not that. I threw the question out to the floor in the office and was hit with a wave of dissenting opinions. 'Depends if it's a good friend or your least favourite cousin,' one person mused. 'Fifty dollars a head,' was another, although further investigation revealed this person hadn't been to a wedding since 2009. That might be why. 'One hundred dollars per person,' was another response, which everyone agreed seemed closer to the mark. Although bear in mind this was a group of tight-arse journalists — we count our teabags around here — so maybe revise that figure upwards a little. But it seems just as most of us have started to get our heads around wishing wells in lieu of gift registries, a new trend has popped up. I'm not one to consult Debrett's every time I leave the house but this one has got me clutching my pearls just a little. Couples have started putting bank details on their wedding invitations so people can just transfer them cash. Some even have QR codes so guests can scan and send money directly to their accounts. In the words of Seymour Skinner: am I so out of touch? No. It's the children who are wrong. Or maybe the children just know their mates. Because recently a clip went viral on TikTok of a bride bemoaning that after her wedding of 120 people she and her groom received only four gifts and 12 cards. Maybe without explicitly spelling out what the expectations were, many guests simply turned up empty-handed. Can we blame COVID? The pandemic years put a halt to big weddings as everyone got a little shy about getting up close and personal on a dance floor. This new generation of couples getting hitched is navigating a wedding landscape where the old rules simply are not in the collective memory of their peers. If you've never been to a wedding then how would you know that putting your bank details on the wedding invite is a bit crass? Or that you shouldn't turn up empty-handed. If you are new to the world of weddings, or it's been a hot minute since you were invited to one, remember: the done thing is $100 a head. Stick to the dress code and when the DJ drops Toto's Africa, dancing is compulsory. And if you still baulk at giving cash, the least you can do is rock up with a card that has a nice message inside — even if you do get ChatGPT to write it.
Perth Now
16-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Would you put bank details on a wedding invitation?
Navigating the dos and don'ts of modern etiquette can come with plenty of potential pitfalls. Is it weird to answer the Instagram story of a casual acquaintance? Is it crass to use ChatGPT to compose a note for your colleague's leaving card? And exactly how much money do you gift at a wedding? That last question is one I have been asked a few times lately. Mainly from people a little older than myself who, upon receiving a wedding invitation, are shocked to discover gift registries have gone the way of the dodo and instead couples now ask for cold, hard cash to start their married life together. It's a sensible idea. These days around 83 per cent of Australian couples live together before marrying, that's up from 16 per cent in 1975. We all want to make sure our intended doesn't leave toothpaste on the sink or nail clippings in the bed before saying 'I do'. Modern brides and grooms aren't hoping to score a new toaster and fine china at their nuptials. Instead they want to fund their honeymoon or recoup some of the astronomical cost of the wedding, which these days sits upwards of $30,000 (and that's a budget wedding). The answer to the 'how much?' question, if you're wondering, is supposed to be the cost of your meal. If you're thinking, 'The last time I ate out I got a banh mi and a soft drink for $12.50' then . . . not that. I threw the question out to the floor in the office and was hit with a wave of dissenting opinions. 'Depends if it's a good friend or your least favourite cousin,' one person mused. 'Fifty dollars a head,' was another, although further investigation revealed this person hadn't been to a wedding since 2009. That might be why. 'One hundred dollars per person,' was another response, which everyone agreed seemed closer to the mark. Although bear in mind this was a group of tight-arse journalists — we count our teabags around here — so maybe revise that figure upwards a little. But it seems just as most of us have started to get our heads around wishing wells in lieu of gift registries, a new trend has popped up. I'm not one to consult Debrett's every time I leave the house but this one has got me clutching my pearls just a little. Couples have started putting bank details on their wedding invitations so people can just transfer them cash. Some even have QR codes so guests can scan and send money directly to their accounts. In the words of Seymour Skinner: am I so out of touch? No. It's the children who are wrong. Or maybe the children just know their mates. Because recently a clip went viral on TikTok of a bride bemoaning that after her wedding of 120 people she and her groom received only four gifts and 12 cards. Maybe without explicitly spelling out what the expectations were, many guests simply turned up empty-handed. Can we blame COVID? The pandemic years put a halt to big weddings as everyone got a little shy about getting up close and personal on a dance floor. This new generation of couples getting hitched is navigating a wedding landscape where the old rules simply are not in the collective memory of their peers. If you've never been to a wedding then how would you know that putting your bank details on the wedding invite is a bit crass? Or that you shouldn't turn up empty-handed. If you are new to the world of weddings, or it's been a hot minute since you were invited to one, remember: the done thing is $100 a head. Stick to the dress code and when the DJ drops Toto's Africa, dancing is compulsory. And if you still baulk at giving cash, the least you can do is rock up with a card that has a nice message inside — even if you do get ChatGPT to write it.
Telegraph
03-04-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Six pints for £50: How the soaring cost of a pint is killing off the pub round
The etiquette bible Debrett's says we should do it. The late philosopher Roger Scruton called it 'one of the great British institutions'. And we've all tutted at friends who have slyly ducked out of this sacred national ritual. I'm not talking about queuing, obsessing about the weather or standing up for the national anthem. I'm talking about getting a round in at the pub – and it's a British tradition that's under threat because of soaring beer prices. The average price of a pint is set to rise by 21 pence to more than £5 for the first time in history, according to the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA). This might come as news to Londoners and residents of other big cities, where a pint regularly costs £8. But added to other cost-of-living pressures, the time-honoured notion of standing a round of drinks for the entire group you're with is dying. When four pints of lager and a packet of cigarettes can set you back £50, you can see why. 'Younger people can't afford to buy rounds anymore,' says Luke Bird, 30, the manager of the Four Quarters pub in Peckham, south London. 'Everyone's just far more price-conscious. If there's a two-for-one deal, people will maybe pair up. We do shots deals – five for £15 – and that's usually helpful if people want to do something communal.' Sir Tim Martin, the founder and chairman of Wetherspoons, which has around 800 boozers in the UK, says people are buying full rounds less regularly in his pubs. 'I suspect yes, in general. Unfortunately, statistics show that pubs have lost half their beer trade to supermarkets since the year 2000, a staggering decline. Inevitably, as the price gap for a pint has widened between pubs and supermarkets, due mainly to the punitive tax inequality, round-buying has declined,' Martin says. As beer prices get frothier than a badly pulled pint of mild, people's behaviour is likely to change further. 'A £5 pint as standard might mean that people can't afford a night out at their local,' Ash Corbett-Collins, the chairman of the Campaign for Real Ale, tells me, although he adds that the price rises are 'no surprise'. The cost of a pint is rising because of Rachel Reeves's Budget announcements from last autumn – the reduction in business rates relief for pubs, the increase in their Employer National Insurance rates and rises to the national minimum wage – coming into effect at the start of April, the BBPA says. In London, the average price of beer will be heading towards £6 a pint but in many London pubs, the cost has long breached £7 and a round of five pints can be pushing £40. Separate research lays bare the stark economic and social realities facing pubs and drinkers alike. The average spend per person per pub visit has risen by an eye-watering 55 per cent in just two years, to £23.97 (including food), according to figures from Lumina Intelligence's Eating and Drinking Out Panel and its Pub & Bar Market Report 2024. Regular pub-goers visit a pub just 1.2 times a week, and a fifth of them never or rarely drink alcohol, a figure that's predicted to rise as Britons become more health-conscious. It's no surprise that an average of 34 UK pubs are closing every month. The aversion to rounds is most pronounced among young people; not because they're stingy but because they tend to have less money. Plus, young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 (and particularly young men) are more likely to be non-drinkers than the rest of society, according to both Lumina and Drinkaware. This 'Generation Z' age bracket is particularly mindful of alcohol's potential harm: young adult drinkers are significantly more likely to experience anxiety or depression compared with drinkers aged 25 and over, Drinkaware says. Therefore a series of alternative drinking trends has emerged among the youth – and few of them involve wobbling across a sticky pub floor with a clinking tray of alcoholic drinks. Mindful consumption, sober curiosity, zebra striping and bookending may sound like album titles you might find in a dusty jukebox. But they're actually Gen Z drinking routines. 'The cultural norms are shifting in the way people go out. The way people socialise now is very different,' explains Ed Bedington, the editor of pub trade publication The Morning Advertiser and co-presenter of The Lock In podcast. Zebra striping, for example, is the practice of alternating between alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, while bookending is starting and ending the evening with an alcohol-free tipple. This younger generation tends not to go on pub crawls in the way that people once did, Bedington adds. The way they pay for their drinks is also different. 'Young consumers are more likely to set up a tab and pay their way individually. Pre-pandemic, there were lots of mobile phone apps out there that would divide up your bill for you,' says Bedington. This avoids situations where 'you're out with a group of friends and you've had one pint and they've had 15, and everyone's saying, 'Let's split the bill,' and you want to punch someone in the face'. We've all been there, Ed. In 2023, a viral Facebook community started buying drinks for strangers in Wetherspoons pubs in the spirit of altruism. This was done via the chain's app, and all the buyers needed was the drinkers' pub name and table number. But however well-meaning these munificent virtual Mother Teresas were with their secretive 'Spoons spritzes, the fad is unlikely to rescue the round's national decline. Other factors are at play. Given young people's financial constraints, going out these days is more of a special occasion than before. 'Everything is far more events-driven. People have to have a reason to go out. You don't pop out to the pub anymore,' says Bird of the Four Quarters, which draws in eager punters with banks of retro arcade games and regular DJ nights. Bedington says that Gen Z want 'experiential' nights out involving activities such as 'axe throwing' rather than pure drinking. A jar of pickled eggs on the counter is no longer entertainment enough. In the name of research, I put the Great Rounds Debate to my extended family on my wife's side: 19 people aged between their early 20s and their 80s. Different cohorts had different takes. Those over 25 still buy rounds, albeit in groups of three or four if a large gang heads to the pub. Offering the bar staff a drink is also customary for one brother-in-law ('a bit old school'). However, the younger among them confirm that rounds have largely vanished. 'Rounds at the pub are pretty much dead,' says one nephew, a student. 'In a big group it's every man for himself, [largely] because of the price. When the money gets really tight, we end up just bringing flasks and ordering a mixer at the bar.' The irony of the round's demise is that beer prices have actually – slightly unbelievably – fallen relative to those on low wages. In 2000, the national minimum wage was £3.60 an hour and the average pint cost £2, according to the Office for National Statistics. This meant that people could buy 1.8 pints with their hourly pay packet. From next week, the minimum hourly wage is £12.21 and the average pint will cost £5, meaning that people can buy 2.4 pints per hour worked. Woo-hoo. Session? Er, no. When the price of everything else is rocketing (rent, bills, you name it), that extra half-pint seems scant consolation. What's at stake here? The death of the round threatens pubs' roles as what the American urban sociologist Ray Oldenburg termed the 'third place' – informal public gathering spots that are the heart of any community's social vitality. Such places constitute the foundation of a functioning democracy, Oldenburg argued. Wetherspoons' Martin agrees, arguing that pubs bring together all strands of society. 'We should worry. Pubs are a social melting pot. Staying home and staring at the four walls is bad for the state of mind. Dinner parties (VAT-free meals, unlike pubs) are the antithesis of the 'melting pot' and participants tend to belong to similar social groups,' Martin says. Others are less worried. The Morning Advertiser 's Bedington thinks the pendulum will swing back the other way eventually. 'Every generation rebels against the one that went before it. Someone said to me that Generation Z are the ones that had their drunk parents putting them to bed, and they're kicking against that by not drinking. The ones that follow on from there will adopt different habits again,' he says. So let's raise a glass to the traditional pub round – due to make a comeback some time around 2035.
