Article by James K. Johnson

It’s a tough time for pubs right now! If you are renting, the brewery will be always thinking of ever tougher leasing terms to keep more money in their pockets making it harder and harder for you to fill yours. The government never helps, at every budget raising duty on alcohol and seeing it, along with the other favourite, tobacco, as a soft target for raising tax revenues as they can claim that they are doing it for the good and health of the U.K.’s population. New laws from local government try to ban ‘happy hours’ and attempt to fix lowest prices on landlords. Only the often maligned E.U. coming to the rescue through it’s own laws banning price fixing has so far stopped the U.K. government from pushing through with them. Then of course there was the smoking ban…So the modern publican needs to be very flexible and imaginative in order to promote and establish his or her venue. One way in recent years that pub owners have found new customers is by offering great food as well as a place for drinking. Expanding the services offered can only be good for trade and will attract new clients and keep the present ones interested. Very important in this respect is to make the interior of the pub look warm and inviting. The interior decor, carpeting and furniture should be renewed well before the time it begins to look worn and tatty. Most important is the pub furniture. Customers will expect to be comfortably seated in an attractive environment so the choice of good quality pub chairs and pub tables is key. There is so much choice available now compared with only a few years ago that it’s best to first decide whether to go for a modern look or traditional and whether to use wooden pub chairs and pub tables or opt for metal, or of course combine the two.Traditional pub furniture incorporates some very well known names of pub chairs, for example the Mates, Captains and Bosun’s chairs and the ever popular Wheelback and Windsor chairs, combined with small wooden bar stools. These are ideal bar chairs for drinking and great as restaurant chairs, ideally with the addition of a simply upholstered seatpad to give your diners a bit more comfort. When choosing traditional pub chairs it is important to do some research about the product. In recent years many factories have been opened in the far east making these chairs for the domestic market, that is, dining chairs and tables for people to use at home. As they don’t get the same harsh treatment as a pub or restaurant chair, they have been encouraged to use inferior types of wood for e.g. rubberwood, often with inferior quickly made joints. These chairs are sufficiently strong to last a twelve month guarantee period for domestic use, but will not withstand half that time in a pub. Glued wood to wood joints on rubberwood chairs are poor too as the timber is not very porous. It is quite brittle too, so that screwed joints can often split with only little stress. It is wise to find pub chairs that have been made from European beechwood as this timber has the best qualities for pub furniture manufacture, being both a very hard wood which is resilient to knocks and still supple enough to survive without splitting or the joints loosening if the chair is knocked down regularly- as it is sure to be in a busy pub environment. The best pub chair factories are still to be found in Eastern Europe, Romania, Czech republic and Bulgaria having many famous and long established factories. Ask the furniture supplier that you intend to buy from which timber is used for their pub chairs and which country they come from. For a more modern chair choose styles with simpler vertical or horizontal backrests and straight cut tapered front legs. These chairs often have American sounding names e.g. Boston, Washington or Dallas.Traditional pub tables and bar tables include the Refectory table with simply shaped wooden ends joined by one or two horizontal bars, the Wellington or Trafalgar table with decoratively turned vertical pedestal supports coming off an ‘X’ shaped base along with straightforward rectangular and square four legged pub tables with the legs either turned to give a colonial style appearance or cut straight or with a taper for a simpler and cleaner and more modern ‘Shaker’ style look. For pub tables it is acceptable to use rubberwood in their manufacture since the components are much larger and thicker which of course increases the strength. The important aspect to consider with pub and bar tables is the construction as while the appearance may be good and the table seem strong, the proof is six months later after hundreds of hungry diners have had their lunch from them! For the strongest pub tables go for cast iron, with the Scroll, Bar table, Girlshead or Brittania table being among the most famous. Modern versions of cast iron tables are widely available now too with simple tubular pedestal central supports attached to round or square ridge design bases or domed or pyramid shape bases being available in black or chrome plate. These are ideal restaurant tables too having the best legroom of any table with the tube pedestal centre. Some pub furniture suppliers have their products tested by independent U.K. testing Companies like FIRA, (The Furniture Industry Testing Association). These Companies have machinery that will push twist and abuse tables and chairs in a way that represents the kind of treatment – and mistreatment – that they will receive during regular contract use. They make a full report and if the pub chair or bar table is successful they give a certificate describing the use for which it has been tested. Ask the Company you intend to buy from if they have had their furniture tested by one of the U.K. testing houses. If they have, and they can provide certificates with their Companies and their product’s name on, then you can be reassured that the furniture will last the course.

About the Author

James K. Johnson is a freelance author who has the vast knowledge in designing of pub furniture and bar furniture. For more information he suggests you to visit: http://www.trentpottery.co.uk

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