CAMRA Launches Recruitment Drive for New Pub and Club Campaigns Committee Panel
The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has issued a call for licensees to join a newly established panel that will help shape its pub and club campaigning work.
The Pub and Club Campaigns Committee is seeking eight licensees from across the trade to sit on the panel, which will act as a sounding board for those responsible for developing CAMRA’s campaigns on pubs and clubs. Members will be asked to provide insight into the day-to-day realities of running a pub, as well as feedback on how government decisions affect trading conditions.
The panel will also consider consumer-facing issues, including choice and business practices within the sector.
According to CAMRA, membership of the organisation is not a requirement to apply, and the campaign group is keen to hear from licensees operating a range of different pub types.
Those interested in joining are being asked to email campaigns@camra.org.uk with a brief overview of their experience and their reasons for wanting to take part. The deadline for applications is Tuesday 14 July.
Purpose and objectives
Under the panel’s terms of reference, its core purpose is to establish and maintain dialogue between CAMRA and licensees, allowing issues of mutual concern within the licensed trade to be discussed, understood and, where appropriate, referred to relevant CAMRA committees.
The group’s objectives include identifying issues of shared interest to licensees and to CAMRA in its role representing consumers. These cover, but are not limited to, consumer choice; business regulation such as the Pubs Code and environmental rules; taxation, including business rates, alcohol duty and VAT; and wider business practices such as stocking, product range, pricing, employment and supply chain issues.
The panel will also be tasked with gathering and sharing information on the effects of legislation and business practices on both the trade and consumers, identifying relevant case work and case law that could support campaigning, and highlighting business practices that negatively affect customer experience. It will additionally explore opportunities for joint campaigning in line with CAMRA’s policies and governance structures, and provide ongoing feedback on CAMRA’s campaigns from a licensee’s perspective.
How the panel will operate
The group is expected to meet quarterly, with all members invited to attend. Between sessions, dialogue will continue via email, and ad-hoc sub-groups may be formed as needed to focus on specific issues.
Alongside the eight licensee representatives recruited through open application, panel membership will include a Group Chair — who will also sit on the Pub and Club Campaigns Committee — CAMRA’s Pub and Club Campaigns Director, and a representative from CAMRA’s Campaigns and Communications Team. Other CAMRA volunteers or staff may also be invited to attend where relevant to specific topics under discussion. A licensee representative from the British Institute of Innkeeping will also sit on the panel.
CAMRA said it is hoping to recruit licensees from a mixture of operating and ownership models, including free houses, tenanted tied pubs regulated under the Pubs Code, tenanted tied pubs not regulated under the Pubs Code, tenanted free-of-tie pubs, managed houses, and “manchise” or retail agreement operations.
Panel membership will be reviewed annually.