Admiral Taverns Celebrates 100th Meet The Pro’ Pool Evening
Admiral Taverns set to celebrate its 100th ‘Meet the Pro’ pool event at The Falcon in Hull on Thursday 25th September. The event will provide local pool teams with the opportunity to play against IPA pool professionals, Connor Jones and Clint Lanson.
The initiative was launched in 2022 across Admiral’s Leased & Tenanted and Proper Pubs estates to give customers the opportunity to play against a professional. In turn, this helps pubs drive footfall, and increase sales.
Admiral provides extensive support for participating pubs to ensure licensees have the tools they need to host a successful pool pro evening. This includes organising attendance from a professional pool player, POS materials, bespoke advice from the licensee’s Business Development Manager, a comprehensive guide on maximising the opportunity and, where necessary, investing in new or upgraded pool facilities.
Since launching the initiative, events have been held across Admiral’s estate with some fantastic feedback received from both licensees and customers. For example, The Six Bells in Kidlington secured enough signups to form three pool teams having previously struggled to form one as a result of hosting a pool pro evening.
Over in Farnborough, The Hawley Arms – following a £270,000 refurbishment – hosted a series of events that were so popular the pub hit maximum capacity. In addition, other pubs have used the evenings to further engage their communities by hosting competitions in advance of the main event to decide who will play against a professional.
Due to the ‘Meet the Pro’ evenings, pool facilities across Admiral’s estate have increased by 20%, highlighting the importance and popularity of hosting regular pub entertainment.
Chris Jowsey, CEO of Admiral Taverns, commented:
“I am delighted that we will soon be celebrating our 100th ‘Meet the Pro’ pool event. Not only does it showcase the success of this fantastic initiative, but it also stands testament to the important role pubs play in community life.
Pubs are the cornerstone of their local areas, providing residents with thriving social hubs all year round, and it’s events like these that help publicans in their mission to bring people together. By equipping licensees and operators with the materials required to host their own ‘Meet the Pro’ events, we have enabled them to drive footfall and maximise community engagement throughout the year.
I’d like to give a special thanks to our Head of Machines here at Admiral, Tony Guy, who orchestrated the pool pro series and brought the events to life. Without him, none of this would have been possible. I’d also like to thank the fantastic licensees and operators that have hosted a pool pro event so far and for their continued efforts to bring their local communities together.”
Connor Jones, IPA Pool Pro, said:
“Admiral’s pool exhibition nights are a pleasure to be a part of – I’m made to feel very welcome wherever we go! It’s also great to see the impact they have on the local community and the way these evenings bring people together. I feel honoured to be able to get involved in something so unique and special.”
Kerrie Whittingham, Licensee of The Hawley Arms, commented:
“I’ve loved hosting our pool pro evenings over at The Hawley Arms and it’s been great to see how much the community enjoys them. I still can’t believe we managed to completely pack the pub out the very first time we held one! It’s a great initiative, backed by fantastic support from Admiral, and I look forward to organising another one soon.”