Demand management and stock control in the licensed trade; is it so simple?

Towers, Neil and Pratten, John D. (2000) Demand management and stock control in the licensed trade; is it so simple? Control (Journal of the Institute of Operations Management), 26 (8). pp. 20-22. ISSN 0266-1713

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Abstract

There are about 60,000 public houses in the UK and more than half of these operate as small businesses. By 1990 businesses with less than 200 employees accounted for nearly a third of total UK employment [6] with the consequential effect that supply of goods from supplier through producer to customer using small businesses has become more significant over time. While the large brewers operate their houses by employing well trained managers and other staff, most of the proprietors of the small businesses have little or no formal training themselves, and have minimal knowledge of effective stock control. Moreover, they are unaware of any need for such knowledge. This article uses the comparative case study approach to illustrate demand management and stock control in a leased public house run as a small business, and a brewery managed public house.