Globe Bar - Q&A

[Plain Peter]

Can't see where the problem is, i.e. the vast majority aren't either bothered about a pint or a pie.

Meet Peter, he's in charge of marketing!
I think the idea is to try and encourage more people to become interested in a pie and a pint!

Can we have a new smiley icon please, you know the one, the fisherman
As they got the catering so perfectly right at Crusty, you really would have expected such an important part of the match-day experience would have had the smoothest of transitions.
Hearing things like we don't know how many are going to turn-up, or the pie warmer is only small are a bit lame.

[casey jones]

FFS! Give the the man a chance, at least he has had the balls to come on here and directly attempt to answer any moans/whinges/questions you my have. Good on him.

[Keith]

soz no, like its a good idea to queue for match tickets, then re queue to get in, a novel concept would be to have hot food, and drinks behind the counter for the staff to sell to punters before the half time whistle, dans weak excuses , (we did not know how many were coming, the pie warmer is only small etc), are frankly, a bit wishy washy

Dan has come on here in good faith and has recognised that there are issues to be addressed, so let's give him the chance. He's asked for customer feedback let's try and keep it constructive.

[mrpotatohead]

yeah wow constructive indeed not blinkered yeah wow

[Dan.Campbell]

this thread started by well meaning dan seems to be concentrating on the wright and lord suite, and the globe grill, which do not pose too many problems for the majority of fans, the other areas ie the plant room, the mbw terrace facilities and the away end are the main areas that dan needs to tell us the improvements in the pipeline, ynow, the areas where two thirds of our fans are treat like cattle, so come on dan, tell us about them bits, plant room having no hot food , guiness, cider, caffreys etc, BEFORE HALF TIME, so come on dan, what plans are in place for ordinary fans who actually watch the game

The thread title does say "Globe Bar" I will offer as much knowledge as i can with regards to the concourses but i don't directly work on them. Obviously having no hot food is something that can be dealt with quite easily and there is no excuse for not having enough food. When i say about where the food is cooked and the size of the heaters i'm not trying to make up excuses for the club, i'm quite simply stating facts and sometimes it can be hard to transport food mid-game, the main reason being the design flaws of the Globe Arena. Guiness - The thing is there are no Guiness taps on the concourses and instead surgers are used, all alcohol has to be served in plastic cups and there seems to be a problem using the surger and plastic together. Obviously having no taps and putting the surgers on the concourses is just bad planning, we can replace the surgers with pumps so, bear with us. There's no reason why the concourses should be running out of any other alcohol as on numerous occasions i'm the one who has stocked them up, is this a rare occurence?

soz no, like its a good idea to queue for match tickets, then re queue to get in, a novel concept would be to have hot food, and drinks behind the counter for the staff to sell to punters before the half time whistle, dans weak excuses , (we did not know how many were coming, the pie warmer is only small etc), are frankly, a bit wishy washy

I've tried to answer this as much as possible above.

I will say that i quite like the idea of a separate 'stall' if you will that provides you with a receipt after your purchase so you can quickly just go and collect your food/drinks so i will suggest that.

Can i ask you a question... Sometimes there is a beer trailer used behind the MBW stand that sells only alcohol, did this reduce queue sizes? Was it beneficial at all?

[stoyles]

I'm guessing the people who are suggesting pre-pouring drinks in advance haven't run or worked in a bar before? .

Well sorry to disappoint you Dan, but yes I have. I also attend many functions, major hospitality events and parties with many hundreds of people needing service where they have multi pouring devices in action. The punters are happy that the queues move swiftly at busy times. Whatever business you are in, it is never a good idea to assume things

It doesn't disappoint me although i'm very surprised that you have been places that pre-pour pints because it's almost unheard of, unless by "multi pouring devices" you mean something else?

Every function/bar/event is completely different and in my honest opinion having worked the bars at the Globe it simply isn't worth the hassle. One complaining customer would add extra time to the service when another customer could be getting served not only that but if no-one wants that pint it is then wastage and the club simply can't afford to be throwing drinks away.

I completely agree that there are different routes that can be taken with regards to faster, more efficient service but i don't feel pre-pouring pints is the right way forward in regards to the concourses or the bar & grill. Obviously this isn't a problem in the Wright & Lord suite as you can pre-order drinks (now you know)

these problems cant be solved within the current designs, the bar and grill needed to be much larger with a bigger serving area and more staff and same goes for all serving areas

[Suffolk Shrimp]

I'm guessing the people who are suggesting pre-pouring drinks in advance haven't run or worked in a bar before?

I have been a landlord in Suffolk for the past 12 years, and have been at my current pub for over 8 years, we were voted CAMRA's Suffolk Pub of the Year in 2007 and finished third in the East of England Pub of the year competition in the same year.

I regularly use the pre-pour option both in the pub and also at various outside functions we do, as someone said you don't have to pre-pour half the keg, but just 8-10 'pints' just to help with the initial rush.

[Tablespider]

There are people who complain about perfectly good pints of bitter and larger, never mind if they see you essentially 'topping up' a pre-poured pint.

Then they don't buy a ticket and queue in the usual manner, exactly as happens in the Wright stand at present, you can order in advance and its waiting for you, or you can go to the bar and order "fresh", surely?

[Tablespider]

They enjoy the pre-match entertainment.

Have I missed something, or is this simply a reference to the bar being open. Even on the "official Grand Opening" the "pre match entertainment" was conspicuous by its absence. Maybe this too is an area that could be looked at...?

[wijit]

I'm guessing the people who are suggesting pre-pouring drinks in advance haven't run or worked in a bar before?

I have been a landlord in Suffolk for the past 12 years, and have been at my current pub for over 8 years, we were voted CAMRA's Suffolk Pub of the Year in 2007 and finished third in the East of England Pub of the year competition in the same year.

I regularly use the pre-pour option both in the pub and also at various outside functions we do, as someone said you don't have to pre-pour half the keg, but just 8-10 'pints' just to help with the initial rush.

I think there's a substantial difference between a pub and a football ground. Unless of course you have a beer garden of some 2500 people.
Would 8-10 pre-poured pints make a good enough difference toi queuing? nah, not likely. I'd suggest though, that if you need to have a pint in 15 minutes and still get back to your place on the terrace then the problem lies with you, not the club.

[Suffolk Shrimp]

I think there's a substantial difference between a pub and a football ground. Unless of course you have a beer garden of some 2500 people.
Would 8-10 pre-poured pints make a good enough difference toi queuing? nah, not likely. I'd suggest though, that if you need to have a pint in 15 minutes and still get back to your place on the terrace then the problem lies with you, not the club.

But there is never 2500 people in one bar at any one time probably 75-100 people tops, the pre-poured pints would just help with that initial rush of people at 3.45, and as for having a pint at half time I've never had one so I'm not particularly bothered but I am bothered about the club not making the most of a captive audience. It wont be long before people start giving up trying to get a pint or a pie or a cup of tea at half time, and I'm sure its already happening!

[SPARKYM]

I Think you lot need to cast your minds back to the North stand drinking establishment
in a que under a make shift canopy in Pissing rain for a overpriced can of Stella

Globe whatever its TEETHING problems is a masssive improvement in my opinion

[seasonsinthesun]

I think there's a substantial difference between a pub and a football ground. Unless of course you have a beer garden of some 2500 people.
Would 8-10 pre-poured pints make a good enough difference toi queuing? nah, not likely. I'd suggest though, that if you need to have a pint in 15 minutes and still get back to your place on the terrace then the problem lies with you, not the club.

But there is never 2500 people in one bar at any one time probably 75-100 people tops, the pre-poured pints would just help with that initial rush of people at 3.45, and as for having a pint at half time I've never had one so I'm not particularly bothered but I am bothered about the club not making the most of a captive audience. It wont be long before people start giving up trying to get a pint or a pie or a cup of tea at half time, and I'm sure its already happening!

And I am one of them. Always used to have the chips and gravy or pie and peas at Christie
at half time but now?? Just stay in my seat, don't see the point of queueing up for poor food and equally poor service. The club might not be that bothered, but if there are a couple of hundred who feel the same as me, then that's the club losing money.

[marky No.1]

What you need is a pre owned prawns sandwich

[wijit]

I think there's a substantial difference between a pub and a football ground. Unless of course you have a beer garden of some 2500 people.
Would 8-10 pre-poured pints make a good enough difference toi queuing? nah, not likely. I'd suggest though, that if you need to have a pint in 15 minutes and still get back to your place on the terrace then the problem lies with you, not the club.

But there is never 2500 people in one bar at any one time probably 75-100 people tops, the pre-poured pints would just help with that initial rush of people at 3.45, and as for having a pint at half time I've never had one so I'm not particularly bothered but I am bothered about the club not making the most of a captive audience. It wont be long before people start giving up trying to get a pint or a pie or a cup of tea at half time, and I'm sure its already happening!

And I am one of them. Always used to have the chips and gravy or pie and peas at Christie
at half time but now?? Just stay in my seat, don't see the point of queueing up for poor food and equally poor service. The club might not be that bothered, but if there are a couple of hundred who feel the same as me, then that's the club losing money.

My point was that they couldn't second guess how many will go in. If it's a lot and they have 8-10 pints ready it will hardly make a dent in the queue, if hardly any go in (comparatively) then it'd not really make a difference to the waiting time. As for food, the queues aren't as bad as they were at the Pie so to complain about that is a pretty poor show. the only people who had no real trouble with the queues were already close by, so now just set off a little earlier. Instead of sitting complaining why not be a bit more constructive? Support for our club isn't just on the terrace, we like the club for more than that, and if you have a miracle cure share it!

[Sammy h]

I Think you lot need to cast your minds back to the North stand drinking establishment
in a que under a make shift canopy in Pissing rain for a overpriced can of Stella

Globe whatever its TEETHING problems is a masssive improvement in my opinion

Pre and Post match maybe. At half time though it is just the same isn't it?

What happens when it pisses it down? I can't see people rushing to the back of the stand can you?

[alwaysright]

With all the money the club is now raking in surely they can afford to build some cover at the back of the home stand ?????

[Gnasher]

My point was that they couldn't second guess how many will go in

Why not? It's not as if they haven't sold beer & pies at a football match before, is it?

[Christies Child]

My point was that they couldn't second guess how many will go in

Why not? It's not as if they haven't sold beer & pies at a football match before, is it?

...and therein lies the problem because I don't think that Carlton Caterers have. Remember that the previous refreshment sellers at CP where used to the external catering for the supporters at the club over many years.

[Gnasher]

If Carlton Caterers haven't bothered to talk to the Christie Crew about football catering and gone into it thinking they know what they're doing then they deserve all the flack they're getting. Even pay a days consultancy to work through how they used to do it, very successfully. I'm also sure Pig Butty or whatever the van registration was is still around, they got it right as well in the rest of the ground.

[mrpotatohead]

If you are still around dan, can you tell us the monthly target for the grill and bar

the figure being bandied around is a tad optimistic if true

[Sammy h]

A tad unrelated, but the weekly target for the community sports pitches is 10k. Apparently they are currently taking 3k on average.

Which I think isn't bad. All i can say is WOW.

[mrpotatohead]

10k a week wow, that sound a tad optimistic, if each activity costs someone 2 quid a visit thats 5000 visits a week

10 k a week at the globe bar would equate to selling 476 pints a day at 3 quid each, omg no

[Keith]

Globe whatever its TEETHING problems is a masssive improvement in my opinion

I always had pie & peas at Christie Park, either before the match or at half time. At The Globe, for the first few games the queues were too long to have a chance to get one, so I didn't bother, then at the last game I attended I had a pie which was over cooked & rock hard with pea-water instead of mushy peas. I won't bother again. I know of people who queued in 'the wrong line', who on reaching the front were told it was the beer queue. With no time to join the other, they returned to their place empty handed and now they won't get food.

It's all very well saying "teething problems" but if the best answer is to keep losing customers until they can 'cope' then it's probably not the best way to respond to customer feedback!

I used to respond to people who complained about the food at places like Southport, that it really isn't that difficult to go an hour & half without food and drink. Sadly that is fast becoming the advice for visiting The Globe

[mrpotatohead]

popped into the precinct next to the mitchell on the way to the last match and the butchers are getting in on the action, absolutely huge hot beef or pork and onion barms, and a range of other hot snacks, beautiful, went in today for lunch and got a great big portion of hotpot, tomorrows special is chicen casserole with herby dumplings for 2 pounds and fifty pence

they wont be opening on tuesday nights though