Wednesday, 05 December 2018

Yesterday (Monday 3^rd December) the Government’s consultation on the impact of plastic straws and drink stirrers on the environment closed. It was open for six weeks and followed Prime Minister Theresa May’s announcement of a future ban at a Commonwealth heads of government summit held in April​.

UKHospitality said it believed a mandatory ban would be problematic if introduced in the intended time frame, while the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) said it supported a ban.

UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said the body was “fully supportive of measures to cut plastic waste”, but that the quick advent of a ban could be difficult for businesses. The trade body highlighted how that voluntary measures are more practical for hospitality businesses.

She said: “Imposing a ban in such a short space of time may undermine measures already in place and increase burdens and costs. Hospitality businesses are leaders in reducing or eliminating the use of single-use plastics. This proactive work is to be encouraged and we support our members in their efforts to reduce waste."

A ban across the entire sector, including retail, has been encouraged by the BBPA, as well as covering all types of plastic straws to ensure consistency.

Chief executive Brigid Simmonds, believes that people within the hospitality industry have a responsibility to promote a reduction in plastic waste. He said: “It is important we all do our bit to reduce plastic waste and that is why we welcome the Government’s proposals to ban plastic straws and stirrers. To help pubs reduce their plastic waste we have already produced guidance for licensees as well.”

Both trade bodies pointed out that plastic straws are still a necessity for people with disabilities and that accessibility to them should still be optional from pubs, which could be effective by the governmental ban.

UKHospitality echoed this sentiment. “It should also be remembered that many of our customers have specific needs for requiring a straw, and a blanket ban on plastic straws could discriminate against them if alternatives are not readily available,” Nicholls said.

Tuesday, 06 November 2018

For many, drinking in the airport is the start if the holiday, no matter what time your flight is. However, round-the-clock drinking at UK airports could become a thing of the past under proposals being put forward by the government.

The Home Office is set to launch a review of licensing laws at airport terminals across the country, which could signal an end to early-morning drinking in airport bars and restaurants.

This follows a call from airlines to crackdown on alcohol sales before flights following a spike in arrests for drunken behaviour, claiming they are saddled with the consequences of intoxicated passengers. Ryanair voiced its concerns about alcohol sales, advocating a two-drink limit per passenger and no alcohol before 10am. In September one of its flight to Ibiza was forced to return to Manchester airport 36 minutes into the journey because of a “disruptive passenger”. Police later arrested a woman on suspicion of being drunk onboard an aircraft.

In September, the airline industry warned that drunk passengers could expect to face fines of up to £80,000 if a plane has to be diverted because of disruptive behaviour. Passengers found drunk on a flight could be fined up to £5,000 and jailed for up to two years for breaching air navigation orders.

Flights to party destinations, including Ibiza, Marbella and Zante experience the most raucous behaviour from excessive drinking. Generally, the larger the group, the greater the chance of antisocial behaviour occurring either prior to take off or during the flight.

Alcohol-fuelled disturbances are on the rise with 417 reports of severe disruption mid-air were counted by the Civil Aviation Authority in 2017, a marked increase from the 195 cases in 2015.

In August last year, an investigation by BBC One’s Panorama revealed there had been a more than 70% increase in arrests relating to drunken behaviour on flights or at UK airports, rising from 225 in the year running up to February 2016 to 387 in the subsequent 12 months.

Tuesday, 30 October 2018

The home office released its annual statistical year review report and found that an overall increase on various licenses being granted.

All statistics within the reported were calculated for the year ending March 31st, 2018.

There was a 5% increase, with 35,600 personal licenses being granted in England and Wales. Birmingham continues to be the licensing authorities (LA) with the highest number of personal licenses at 10,695.

Since March 31st, 2008, there has been a broadly increasing trend of premises licence being granted, having gone up from 195,800 to 212,800. The rate in which premises licences are granted is much slower than others, with only a 1% increase between 2017 and 2018. The South West of England had the highest number of premises licenses per 100,000 of the population 853, with Westminster continuing to be the LA with the highest number of premises licenses with 3,364.

Durham continues to be the LA with the highest number of club premises certificates at 231, however the overall club premises certificates being granted decreased this year. 200 certificates were permitted this year, a 1% decrease from the last year. The overall number of club premises certificates has gradually been decreasing in the last ten years going from 17,600 in 2008 to 14,100 in 2018.

Through the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011, Licensing authorities were given the power to introduce a late-night levy. These allow LAs to raise a contribution from late-opening alcohol suppliers towards policing the night-time economy, and the amount raised by late night levies across seven LA was around £1.7 million.

Cumulative impact areas (CIAs), an area identified as having a specifically high density of businesses, can often struggle to be granted more licence. In this year it was reported that of the 1,107 decisions on applications for new premises licences in CIAS’s 92% were granted and 8% refused (compared with 3% refused outside CIAs).

The report stated that 600 reviews were carried out this year, and of them 212 licenses were revoked. An LA can be asked to review a licence on the grounds of it having an adverse impact on the licensing objectives (i.e. the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety, the prevention of public nuisance, and the protection of children from harm).

Crime and disorder and the protection of children were some of the main reasons for the increase in licenses being revoked with both issues showing an 8% increase in this financial year.

Friday, 08 June 2018

CPL Training Group, a Birkenhead-based training company, has announced that its leadership team is now an equal measure of men and women.

Following a company restructure in April, the CPL leadership team now boasts four women: Louise Sui, managing director, Chelsea Hankin, head of marketing, Alex Higginson, head of finance, and Jo Baldock, head of client services. CPL Training’s commitment to gender equality has developed organically, where individuals have earnt their roles on merit and talent alone.

Louise Sui, managing director, said: “We’ve always had a great balance of men and women in the company, but it makes me incredibly proud to have equality at a leadership level. It’s a testament to our forward-thinking nature. When I started at CPL in 2011, I came in as the commercial manager and was given the platform to express myself. This environment – where your gender isn’t held against you – has allowed for an equal balance and talented women to progress, not to mention a very happy team.”

Daniel Davies, chief executive, said: “At CPL, everyone has earned their position through ability and performance – and not on the basis of their gender. This is something that’s happened naturally over the years, recruiting the best people for the job time and time again. We are delighted to have this diversity; it gives us access to ideas and opinions which can’t always be replicated in a boardroom full of men.”

Friday, 01 June 2018

CPL Training, a hospitality-based training and development company, is set to offer a new premises licence application service with UK law firm TLT. The licensing package, which has been tailored to meet the needs and resources of small and medium-sized operators, will provide clients with access to one of the top licensing law firms in the UK and comes into immediate effect.

The agreement will see TLT deliver a variety of licensing services on behalf of CPL, including applications for new premises licences (including attendance at hearings), minor and major variations, reviews, appeals and interviews under caution.

Paul Chase, head of licensing at CPL Training said: “We are delighted that leading licensing law firm TLT has agreed to make the full range of premises licence applications on our behalf. As part of the agreement, TLT is embedding an experienced licensing practitioner at our Birkenhead offices to ensure a seamless service can be provided for our clients. Our new package and relationship with TLT will enhance the professionalism of our licensing services and make expert advice more accessible to small and medium-sized operators."

Matthew Phipps, partner and head of TLT's licensing team in England & Wales, said: "Licensing is crucial to running a successful hospitality or retail business but is often challenging to navigate, especially as the industry adapts to changing market conditions and new regulation. We have built one of the leading licensing practices in the UK and are pleased to be working with CPL Training to offer its clients this invaluable and comprehensive service."

Wednesday, 23 May 2018

Personal Licence Training UK LTD, otherwise known as PLT Training, has ceased trading and entered liquidation.

CPL Training acted as a supplier to PLT in delivering training courses and qualifications to PLT customers. CPL Training is in no way involved in the management or ownership of this company.

We will support PLT customers, who have attended one of our training courses, in receiving their certificates, but we are unable to assist in gaining refunds for any outstanding services.

We advise anyone affected by this news to attempt to contact the administrator who has been appointed for more information or their payment provider if seeking a refund. Some information which may be useful can be found on Which?: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-can-i-get-my-money-back-if-a-company-goes-bust

Thursday, 19 April 2018

CPL Training has claimed ‘Best Training Provider’ for the second year running in the Morning Advertiser’s Readers’ Choice Awards 2018.

The Readers’ Choice Awards are a result of an extensive survey sent to the licensee audience of the MA, asking them to select their favourite suppliers to the trade. The winning companies are those that the readers believe offer the best customer service, reliability, product range and go the extra mile.

Editor Ed Bedington said: “Congratulations to all of our winners and highly recommended – you are clearly doing a great job and that has been confirmed by those that use your services day in and day out.”

Daniel Davies, chief executive of CPL Training Group, said: “I’d like to thank the publicans who named us as their chosen training provider in this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards. We are always working hard to deliver the best possible service for our customers, and it’s a privilege to be rewarded for our efforts.”

Thursday, 19 April 2018

CPL Training has announced Louise Sui as the company’s managing director. Sui was previously commercial director and has taken up the new role with immediate effect.

Following the sale of CPL Online, the board of directors has appointed Sui to lead CPL Training onto the next stage of development, where she will oversee the introduction of new training and business ventures. Sui joined CPL in 2011 and has delivered expansive growth across the business, including the market share for personal licence training (increased by 75% in the last five years).

Commenting on her new appointment, Sui said: “It’s an exciting time to take the lead at CPL Training. We are going back to our roots by concentrating on face-to-face training. Going forward, our aim is to branch out into new markets, but our priority will always lie within the hospitality industry.”

We want to step up our partnerships with operators to create relevant and valuable training programmes. We are already working alongside a selection of clients to address their skills shortage and support them in managing their estate. I can’t wait to get started and build on our excellent progress.”

Daniel Davies, chief executive of CPL Training Group, said: “Since Louise joined the business seven years ago, she has been instrumental in growing our footprint and securing new business. Louise is passionate about what we do, and it’s only right that she is the person to take us to the next level. We are in a great position to achieve our objectives, and I look forward to what the future brings.”

Thursday, 19 April 2018

On Friday 23rd March 2018, CPL Training Group confirmed the sale of CPL Online to CGA Group, a data and research consultancy in the food and drink sector.

CPL Online founder David Dasher will now be joined in an expanded management team by Jon Collins as Executive Chairman and current CGA Retail Director Jamie Campbell, who brings a wealth of hospitality retail expertise and experience.

“Since 2010, CPL Online has achieved remarkable levels of growth,” said Daniel Davies, Chief Executive of CPL Training Group. “In the last two years, the company’s position has stabilised, and after coming to the end of our five-year plan, we agreed the best direction for CPL Training Group is to focus on our core business model – face-to-face training.” “I am hugely proud over our achievements with CPL Online to date, and I know the CGA team are the right people to build on that legacy. I look forward to working with them as we execute our exciting vision for CPL Training, where we will concentrate on delivering more extensive training programmes.”

Thursday, 05 October 2017

It’s almost Halloween! Anybody can offer a one-off Halloween drinks menu, it’s all about setting yours aside from competitors. Here are a few tricks we think could help:

- Running late and haven’t bought any fake blood? Prepare it yourself by combining corn syrup and red food colouring - you can pour it around the edge of your glass as an easy way to add something unique to the presentation of your drinks!

- The more realistic the décor, the better. Make jelly with a twist… replace half of the water with alcohol and then insert it into clean syringes and place them into the cocktail glasses to make them look like blood samples… Your customers can take the shot from the syringe, as well as it looking scarily brilliant in the glass! Take a look... http://sherrifoxman.typepad.com/daily_party_dish/2010/09/how-to-make-jello-shots-in-syringes-for-halloween.html

- If you’re making a punch bowl, it’s a good idea to add ice. Why not get creative? Pour water into a latex glove and leave it in your freezer for 24 hours. Once you remove the glove, you’ll have a hand-shape ice cube – a brilliant way to impress (or creep out) your customers. Try it! http://www.chicaandjo.com/2010/10/26/halloween-punch/

- A great way to impress your clientele is to add edible accessories to your drinks. You could purchase some black liquorice laces and hang them over the edge of the glass so that they look like spiders legs. Or even pop a few gummy worms, fake teeth or blackberries in the glass – don’t forget, presentation is important too!

- Why be predictable? Spice up your cocktails by adding food dye to your water before pouring it into your ice cube tray and make coloured ice cubes! It’s a simple but effective way to put a twist on your drinks!

- Go the extra mile to show your customers you care by adding something impressive like dry ice to your cocktails before they’re served to give off that ‘smoking’ effect. It looks nifty but remember to follow the safety precautions during the preparation… Read about them here. https://www.tablespoon.com/posts/how-to-mix-spooky-cocktails-with-dry-ice Inspired to change up the presentation of your drinks? It will leave your customers with a lasting impression by exceeding their expectations during the busy period. Give it a go!

Thursday, 05 October 2017

Halloween is right around the corner and kids aren’t the only ones allowed to have fun! If you’re a pub or restaurant owner, you’ll understand the high demand of cocktails during the Halloween period. To make the most of the opportunity, here are 5 of our favourite themed cocktails that you could offer:

1.Blood and Sand

Consisting of scotch, Cherry Heering, sweet vermouth and fresh orange juice, this cocktail has been a customer favourite for almost 100 years! The flavours coalesce to form a rich flavour that will create a demand on your menu. Check out the complete recipe here. https://www.diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/244/blood-and-sand-classic-formula

2. Pumpkin Martini

Containing pumpkin puree and vodka, mixed with pumpkin pie spice, sugar and maple syrup, this fun themed cocktail bursts with piquancy and flavour. It will definitely leave your customers with the taste for more. Here's how to make it. https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/pumpkin-martini

3. Sweet Poison

This stylish drink is not only visually pleasing but tastes great too! Its eye-catching tropical appearance gives no mystery to how it tastes... Combining blue Curaçao, coconut rum, light rum and pineapple juice, this refreshing drink will leave a lasting impression… Try it! http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a43892/sweet-poison-cocktail/

3. Caramel Apple Cocktail

Enchant your clientele this Halloween by mixing caramel vodka, apple juice and butterscotch liqueur, this autumnal cocktail can be served cold or warm and will undoubtedly go down a treat in your venue! Find the full recipe here. http://www.hgtv.com/design/make-and-celebrate/entertaining/seasonal-sip--caramel-apple-cocktail

5. Black Lagoon Cocktail

Don’t be deceived by the dark, bewildering colours of this cocktail. The vodka compliments the lemon juice and rosemary lemon syrup accordingly to create a tangy flavour designed astound its purchaser. Give it a go! http://www.marthastewart.com/314413/black-lagoon-cocktail Halloween is the perfect opportunity to make the most out of the busy period and maximise on success… Why not go the extra mile to impress your customers this year?

Thursday, 05 October 2017

Birkenhead-based CPL Training Group, one of the UK’s leading learning and development companies, has claimed ‘Business of the Year (50+ employees)’ at the Wirral Business Awards 2017.

In a ceremony at the Grade II listed Thornton Manor on 22nd September, Daniel Davies, chief executive of CPL Training Group, said: “Since we began trading, the Wirral’s thriving business community has played an important role in facilitating our growth. So whether it’s sourcing local talent or building business links, this is a key reason why we have always dedicated our time and resources to invest in the local economy.

“This award is fantastic recognition of this commitment – a testament to the hard work of our people and strong support from partners and clients. We hope this success will serve as a platform to increase our local presence across the board.”

In a highly competitive category, which included Typhoo Tea, Capital Reinforcing, and Russell Taylor Group, this award is recognition of CPL’s commitment to invest in business growth, market leadership and sustainability.

Speaking about the qualities of the award winners, Paula Basnett, chief executive of Wirral Chamber of Commerce, said, “This is a night when businesses come together and celebrate with each other success and achievement. This event applauds the work of our business community and showcases just some of the many businesses bringing national and international success to the region.

“The businesses which have reached the final clearly reflect our sector diversity, a diversity which has gained Wirral a reputation of excellence and one which not only innovates but supports success.”

Organised by Wirral Chamber of Commerce, this annual awards event has grown into one of the North West’s largest and most prestigious business events, attracting over 500 key business leaders.

Tuesday, 26 September 2017

On the 26th and 27th September, ExCeL, London will throw open its doors to over 3,000 key decision makers, buyers and business owners from across the hospitality sector. Here, all from under one roof, completely free of charge, visitors will be able to see, test, and touch the technology that will transform the way they run their business, attract customers and set themselves apart from the competition.

Register for your free ticket here… www.restauranttechlive.co.uk/index.asp

Restaurant Tech Live, which runs alongside Bar Tech Live, is Europe's largest exhibition dedicated to the emerging technology and services that are redefining the future of the food and drink sector. The 2017 event will be packed with the products, gadgets and devices that are transforming the look, feel and future of the restaurant and bar scene from the very latest in data capture technology and virtual reality systems to multi-touch kiosks and revolutionary tabletop menus.

Having doubled in size since last year you can now find over 350 suppliers showcasing the most innovative products and services from around the world to help your establishment stand out from the crowd. Be amongst the first to try and test the latest in virtual reality systems, interactive table-top menus, artificial intelligence, data capture technology, multi-touch kiosks and much more. Additionally, you’ll be able to discover the hottest new trends in technology for restaurants, all under one roof, across 6 different conference halls. Not to mention, some of the world’s biggest brands, including the likes of Barclaycard, Worldpay, BT, Yelp, NextMenu and of course, this year we are delighted that CPL Training Group is exhibiting at the show stand 3142.

What’s more, the most progressive event for the hospitality sector provides an unprecedented opportunity for restaurant and bar owners to take advantage of unparalleled networking opportunities with forward-thinking industry professionals from across the globe, sit in on panel sessions led by technology visionaries, take in 150 exclusive seminars from the industry’s most influential innovators and so much more.

Amongst the amazing keynote speaker line-up are some of the world’s top restaurateurs, including John Aizlewood, Market Growth Officer at Pizza Hut; Marcin Korowiecki, Head of Systems at Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group; Vincent McKevitt, Founder and MD of Tossed; and Edin Basic, Founder and Director of Firezza.

The free show provides unique insight into the restaurant and bar scene of tomorrow and is THE event to help you find all the latest products, services, systems, and advancements from across the globe. To book your free ticket, visit www.restauranttechlive.co.uk

The show runs alongside six other leading events for the hospitality sector. For more information simply visit www.horecabusinessshow.com

Thursday, 24 August 2017

One of the best places to be on a hot day is in a beer garden with a light snack, and a glass of your favourite beverage to wash it down. Since it’s summer, and National Eat Outside Day is celebrated on 31st August, we thought we’d share our favourite beer garden snack ideas that are perfect for the occasion!

A great summer snack would be the Maple Berry Parfait – there are not many foods that are as refreshing as a bowl of fruit. This fruit-based snack is the light treat that you’ll need on a summer’s day: http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/bobby-deen/maple-berry-parfait-2106646

Another one of our favourites is the Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Apples – this healthy substitute for nachos is ideal for the kids in your venue, and it’s delicious too! Interested? Give it a go: http://blog.feelgreatin8.com/dark-chocolate-peanut-butter-apples/

Third on our list is the Chili Lime Baked Chips – we all know that putting a bowl of crisps out for your guests is typical and easy, but this clever trick puts a delicious twist on it. Here’s how to do it: https://wearychef.com/chili-lime-baked-chips

Serrano Wrapped Pear with Goats Cheese is also ideal for National Eat Outside Day – the simplicity of the preparation for this snack does not mirror the incredible taste or presentation: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/serrano-wrapped-pear-goats-cheese

Another outdoor snack that is fitting for the occasion are the Smoked Salmon Rotollos – very easy to make, and very easy to serve; this ‘finger food’ snack is made for summer: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2681/smoked-salmon-rotollos-

Mini Caprese Salad Skewers are the all-around perfect light snack for National Eat Outside Day – this tasty treat is ideal for customers who want to ‘pick’ at the variety and it’s really healthy too: http://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2012/12/mini-caprese-salad-skewers.html#.UN0NxYnjlnc

Last but not least, the Greek Potato Wedges – a little more complex to make than the others, the effort that goes into the preparation is worth the moreish taste. Why not try it out? http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a52074/greek-potato-wedges-recipe/

If your venue has a Beer Garden, we hope that our recommendations have encouraged you to serve your customers handy light snacks during the summer period. Enjoy!

Monday, 14 August 2017

CPL Training Group, the hospitality sector’s largest training company, has scooped an award at the City of Liverpool Business Awards 2017 (COLBA). The Birkenhead-based company claimed the ‘Chief Executive’s Award’, which is chosen by Downtown In Business boss Frank McKenna.

Downtown, a leading private sector lobby group, organises the annual COLBA event to recognise the achievements of leading businesses from across the city region. This year’s gala ceremony was held on Thursday 17th July at Sefton Park’s Palm House, and saw over 220 business leaders in attendance.

Daniel Davies, chief executive of CPL Training Group, said: “We are delighted to have won the Chief Executive’s Award at this year’s COLBA event. Whether it’s investing in local talent or establishing regional links, this award serves as recognition of our contribution to Liverpool’s diverse business sector. On behalf of CPL Training Group, I’d like to thank Frank McKenna and his Downtown team; we look forward to building on our relationship in the future.”

On the evening of the awards, Downtown chief executive Frank McKenna said: “Tonight’s guest list is impressive enough, but the calibre of nominees this evening is spectacular, year on year Liverpool continues to improve and these awards aim to reward those who deserve the recognition. The quality of business leadership in Liverpool never ceases to amaze me, and events like The City of Liverpool Business Awards are designed to recognise just that. Congratulations to all of tonight’s winners and all of the award sponsors."

Monday, 14 August 2017

CPL Training Group, one of the UK’s leading learning and development companies, has been successful in reaching the final stage of the Wirral Business Awards 2017. The Birkenhead-based company is set to compete in the ‘NW Systems Group Business of the Year Award (50+ employees)’, which has a strong focus on exceptional financial returns, growth, market leadership and sustainability.

In the last 12 months, CPL has demonstrated a strong contribution to the Wirral economy – increasing its turnover, workforce (inc. apprentices), local partnerships, commercial space, and charity fundraising. In addition to this, the company has achieved sustainable business growth following consecutive years of investing in research and development and new business ventures.

Daniel Davies, chief executive of CPL Training Group, said: “We are thrilled to be nominated at the Wirral Business Awards, which showcases the very best of our growing business community. The event is always highly competitive and to be shortlisted is a testament to what we’ve achieved in the last 12 months.”

The Wirral Chamber of Commerce organises this annual awards event, which has grown into one of the North West’s largest and most prestigious business events. Set within the walled garden of Thornton Manor, the gala awards ceremony is set to take place on 22nd September and attracts over 500 key business leaders.

Thursday, 06 July 2017

The great thing about tequila is that it can be added to just about any drink and is almost guaranteed to make it even tastier. Tequila Day is celebrated on 24th July, so we thought that, for the occasion, we’d tell you our favourite tequila cocktails varying from popular to under-the-radar, to help you change up your drinks menu!

1. Long Island Iced Tea – this renowned cocktail is famous for its unusual combination of spirits, and its surprisingly satisfying taste. Check out the recipe here.
2. Paloma – known as Mexico’s most loved cocktail, this drink is served on the rocks, the sweet fruity taste of this beverage is guaranteed to give your customers a refreshing kick of flavour. The full recipe is here.
3. Sour Apple Margarita – this tangy cocktail is a sour twist on the popular ‘Margarita’ and is fairly easy to make! It’ll cause a great demand on your revamped drinks menu… Here’s the full recipe: Click!
4. Watermelon Sugar – with a syrupy taste and a summery appearance this tequila-based drink is perfect for drinking in the sun. Check out the full recipe here.
5. Tequila Sunrise – the vibrant appearance of the cocktail is no secret to how it tastes, the sweet and fruity flavours make it a perfect choice for a summer beverage. Find the recipe here.
6. Vampira – created by adding a dash of hot sauce, this mild cocktail is designed for those who enjoy a relatively spicy drink! Try out the full recipe here.
7. Brave Bull – this simple cocktail is made very simply by mixing coffee liqueur and tequila, and it tastes incredible! Check out the step by step video here.
8. Salty Chihuahua – a cocktail that is this refreshing and straightforward to make is bound to be a big hit in the summertime. Why not try it out? Click here.
9. El Diablo – this tasty cocktail will certainly go down a treat on your drinks menu. Who wouldn’t want to try a drink with a name that translates to ‘The Devil?’ Take a look at the recipe here.
10. Patrón Perfect Cosmo Cocktail – this beverage promises a burst of fruity flavours and a thirst-quenching taste that makes it the perfect summer cocktail. The full recipe is here.

Hopefully, our Top 10 Tequila Cocktails have inspired you to celebrate and offer a one off tequila cocktail menu to your customers in honour of Tequila Day – it’ll be sure to be a success!

Tuesday, 13 June 2017

Since Father’s Day is coming up, a great way to impress your customers is to recommend beer to complement their favourite meal. Previously, we told you our Top 3 Classic Father’s Day Meals, and to top it off, we’re going to tell you about the beers we think would pair with them best.

1. Egg and Chips

   As egg and chips is a pretty simple meal, a great way to add more flavour would be by pairing it with a suitable beverage - we would recommend a pale beer.

   A great pairing would be a wheat beer – we suggest Titanic’s ‘Iceberg.’ The pale gold beverage has a burst of citrus flavour, and the sharp taste would complement the meal well.

   Another great match for egg and chips would be an IPA, such as Phoenix ‘West Coast IPA.’ West Coast IPA is another citrusy beer, with a hoppy scent and a bittersweet taste – served with Egg & Chips, it would certainly go down a treat.

2. Steak and Chips

   For steak and chips; with a rich beef flavour, a darker beer would be perfect.

   We recommend Purple Moose’s ‘Dark Side of the Moose.’ The dark bitter ale has a treacly scent with a deliciously crisp taste to top it off, you can’t go wrong with a full-bodied unsweetened beer with a serving of your favourite steak.

   Another ideal complement for steak would be St Peter’s ‘Old Style Porter.’ Served in an English pint, this dark nut-brown beer has a chocolatey aroma that is no mystery to how it tastes – a mixture of old ale, and younger ale, this beer matches steak fantastically.

3. Roast Dinner

   With a roast dinner, you can have any beer essentially, but we believe that a best bitter would lend itself wonderfully.

   A great best bitter that would be a perfect pairing is Fuller’s ‘ESB.’ With a deep chestnut appearance and a powerful fruity aroma, the beverage has an intense marmalade bitterness that would match a roast chicken dinner wonderfully.

   Another ideal pairing for a roast dinner would be Oakham’s ‘JHB.’ The renowned pale and blonde beer has a fruity scent that is balanced out by the layers of bitter taste and mellow fruity flavours.

Here at CPL, we offer a beer styles course that improves your understanding of food and beer pairings, to improve customer experience in your venue. Hopefully, our pairings have encouraged you to upskill your knowledge on beer styles before the busy period. Cheers!

Tuesday, 13 June 2017

21st June is the first day of summer, and here in the UK this means none stop fun in the sun all the way through until September 22nd; the first day of autumn, obviously. We thought that a great way to celebrate the first day of summer would, of course, be by telling you our Top 3 Summer Themed Cocktails to put on the menu in your venue this summer:

1. Lava Flow:

   Ingredients – light rum, Malibu® coconut rum, strawberries, banana, and pineapple juice and coconut cream. This refreshing cocktail is designed for the lovers of fruity beverages. You won’t need to travel to a tropical island when you taste this perfect summer cocktail: Lava Flow recipe

2. Coconut Gin and Tonic:

   Ingredients – gin, coconut water, tonic water and lime juice. Sick of serving the same boring glass of gin and tonic? As well as being really simple to make, it tastes incredible! Why not try spicing things up a bit: Coconut Gin and Tonics recipe

3. Blue Hawaii:

   Ingredients – light rum, Curacao liqueur, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, crushed ice, pineapple slice and a maraschino cherry. This cocktail is not only visually attractive, but also tastes incredible. You can’t go wrong with an iced cocktail in the sun. Check out the recipe here: Blue Hawaiian Cocktail recipe

We hope that our favourite Top 3 Summer Themed Cocktail recommendations have inspired you to put a unique twist on your available drinks - to really impress your customers this year.

Wednesday, 17 May 2017

While potential customers search the internet for the best places to take their dads this Father’s Day; we want you to stand out from the list of pubs/restaurants that they may stumble upon.

People are always looking for discounts, especially on occasions like Father’s Day! A perfect way to attract customers would be to hold a ‘Dads eat free’ or ‘free beer with your meal’ offer. However, no matter what the deal, it’s always the quality of the food that makes the final impression. We’ve decided on our Top 3 Classic Father’s Day Meals, and we’re going to tell you all about them:

1. Steak and Chips: It’s pretty basic, we know, but that doesn’t hide the fact that this meal is a Father’s Day classic. It’s been a stereotype for years that ‘all dads love steak,’ on the most part it’s true – so why miss the opportunity to serve a delicious grub that could make a dad’s day this year? This meal certainly is a fan favourite.
2. Egg and Chips: Although this dish is fairly simple, the typical British meal is as easy to cook as it sounds, but there’s no denying that it tastes amazing. Serve it for lunch or dinner, this light but delicious meal will definitely go down a treat on your menu.
3. Roast Dinner: You can’t go wrong with offering a meal that has been said to be an English tradition dating back to the late middle ages. Allowing your customers to choose what meat they prefer, customise their veg, or have the choice of a vegetarian style Sunday Roast will unquestionably be a big seller in your venue this Father’s Day. You probably expected a list of difficult, upmarket, fancy meals… However, we believe that there’s no better way to impress your customers than an offering of their favourite, traditional meals – why not give it a go?

Wednesday, 17 May 2017

Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s day are all on the longwinded list of holidays that give the hospitality industry opportunities to entice potential customers. Since customers don’t see what goes on behind closed doors during the stages of getting their food to their tables, you’ve got to prove to them that you know exactly how to prepare their food, with one thing: food safety procedures.

Food safety is the way in which food handlers or supervisors prepare, handle and store food to prevent illness. A food safety training course is a legal requirement for this demographic - the minimum level of training required would be covered by a Level 2 food safety course. A Food Standards Agency study found that there are more than 500,000 cases of food poisoning each year caused by known pathogens – this could be suppressed by implementing food safety procedures.

The importance of food safety is often gone unrecognised and underestimated, as we tend to focus mainly on the taste and presentation of our meals. Food safety is an important part of the process, and most of us will experience food poisoning at least once in our lives.

According to World Health Organization, 1 in 10 people fall ill every year from consuming contaminated food, resulting in 420,000 people dying each year. Being the venue that gives their customers food poisoning is far from the image you want, and the last thing you need is to get in trouble for something that can be easily avoided.

Cases such as the 2008-2009 salmonella epidemic show the importance of food safety procedures. The outbreak was traced back to cross-contamination of peanut products, and led to the former peanut plant executive being sentenced to 28 years in prison. The famous quote: ‘prevention is better than cure,’ comes into practice - as the possible results of poor food handling aren’t worth the carelessness.

Here at CPL Training, we deliver courses that enhance knowledge of food safety and educate learners on ways to avoid the possible outcomes that may occur due to poor food handling. If you need any assistance with food safety, contact us today to see how we can help.

Tuesday, 16 May 2017

With Summer on the way, pubs and restaurants can expect to reap the rewards. While the increase in footfall will help hospitality businesses capitalise on sales, it's also a chance to develop new and loyal customers.

To be successful in achieving both, it almost always boils down to one thing – delivering great customer service. Today customers have the tools at their disposal to post anything about your business online. According to Zendesk, 95% of dissatisfied customers tell others about their bad experience.

With this in mind, providing a top quality service is paramount in ensuring that customers post positive experiences. A quick search on Google shows a long list of your competitors. What does this mean? It means businesses need to work harder to keep customers satisfied and ensure they don’t go elsewhere.

Word of mouth is arguably your most powerful tool. One happy customer can equal as many as nine referrals for your business (American Express). If you provide a great service, then people talk, and talk travels fast – making your brand memorable to those who hear about you.

In a customer facing industry like hospitality or licensed retail problems are inevitable. For complaints in particular, dealing with them correctly is able to reduce the amount of problems in the future. Complaints handled with due diligence can still result in a positive customer experience and increase the chances of a customer returning to your venue.

Customer service doesn’t just mean affordable prices. A Xerox report found that 54% of consumers would pay more for better service. This shows that many consumers don’t want to be treated as a number. A memorable experience is what customers want, and many are willing to pay extra to get it.

Here at CPL, we’re specialists in customer service training. Over many years of working side-by-side with licensees, we can help you build a customer service philosophy that delivers consumer loyalty, not just for the busiest periods, but all year round.

Whether it’s e-learning or face-to-face training, contact us today to discuss how customer service training could help you.

Tuesday, 16 May 2017

We can all agree that a glass of straight whisky is an acquired taste… So maybe it’s time to start getting creative and spice it up a bit. A great way to serve whisky would be in a cocktail, here’s our Top 3 Whisky Cocktails to celebrate World Whisky Day on 20th May this year:

1. Seven and Seven – this famous, simple cocktail, consists of just two ingredients: Seagram’s 7 Crown Whiskey and 7-Up soda. For a basic drink, it will certainly bring in a large customer demand due to its popularity. Want to give it a go? Check out the full recipe here: https://www.thespruce.com/seven-and-seven-cocktail-recipe-761496
2. New York Sour – by mixing rye whiskey or bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup and red wine – this sharp cocktail is designed to give your customers a kick and a burst of flavour. Interested in trying it out? Here’s the full recipe: http://www.liquor.com/recipes/new-york-sour-2/#gs.HyNZWN0
3. Mint Julep – containing mint leaves, superfine sugar, seltzer water, crushed ice and bourbon whiskey, this refreshing cocktail is designed to quench your thirst and will without a doubt go down a treat on your drinks menu. Find the full recipe here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/mint-julep-recipe

Hopefully, our Whisky Cocktail recommendations have persuaded you to jazz up your drinks menu for your customers to celebrate World Whisky Day this year!

Friday, 31 March 2017

The women and beer group, Dea Latis, is holding a beer and food tasting evening at The Old Blind School on Hardman Street on Thursday 13th April from 7.30pm.

Led by the award-winning Beer Sommelier and beer training expert, Annabel Smith, guests will enjoy fascinating insight into women’s involvement in beer and brewing as well as sampling six different courses each matched with a different beer. Annabel will explain how to taste beer and how different styles of beer go well with certain types of food.

She said: “Frequently the reason that many women reject beer as a drink of choice is because they have not found the right style of beer to suit their palate. Tasting a range of beers with food is the perfect opportunity to explore the wide range of flavours in beer, and help them make an informed choice when buying beer in the future.”

With the tasting event on the eve of Liverpool’s Food and Drink festival and the Easter weekend the tasting menu will inevitably include some chocolate! Annabel adds: “People are sometimes amazed about how well chocolate goes with beer but we’ve been eschewing Champagne for a great stout or wheat beer for years!”

Established in 2010 as a forum for women who want to understand and learn more about beer, Dea Latis was named after the Celtic goddess of beer and water. The group is united in the belief that beer to far too good to only be enjoyed by men. Since then they have established a network of supporters around the UK and hold regular beer tasting and educational events. The evening in Liverpool is the first one to be held by Dea Latis in the city.

Dea Latis organiser, Lisa Harlow said: “We know that women in Liverpool are already big supporters of our national drink and frankly it’s about time we did something in the city to celebrate the fact!

“We have a great venue who are renowned for their food, we have support from local and regional brewers and local sponsorship from Birkenhead-based CPL Training. With prizes, up for grabs and a free online course about beer styles every guest will learn more about beer as well as having a fun evening.”

Louise Sui, commercial director at CPL Training, said: “As a Merseyside-based company, we are delighted to sponsor this event, which is the first of its kind in Liverpool. Dea Latis has created a strong movement for ‘bringing beer to women’, so this event is a fantastic opportunity to learn and hear from one of the most respect beer sommeliers in the industry.”

Local beers featured in the tasting include Neptune’s Abyss, Mad Hatter’s Liverpool Tart, and, from slightly further afield, Robinson’s Old Tom. Other beers in the line-up include Lagunitas, Freedom Pilsner and Blue Moon.

The Dea Latis pair are keen to point out that it is not a women-only event but clearly want to see women represented in force. Tickets are £25 (plus £2.14 booking fee) per head and available online https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-liver-beerds-tickets-32582692711

Friday, 31 March 2017

CPL Training, the largest training provider in the licensed hospitality sector, has won the ‘Best Training Provider’ at The Morning Advertiser's Readers’ Choice Awards 2017.

The awards, which recognise the best suppliers in the trade, are determined by an extensive set of telephone interviews with 350 publicans. The winners are the companies which readers believe offer the best customer service, reliability, offer the best product range and go the extra mile.

Daniel Davies, chief executive of CPL Training Group, said: “We are delighted to have been voted ‘Best Training Provider’ at the Readers’ Choice Awards. This achievement serves as a great endorsement from licensees up and down the country. We work hard to deliver the best possible service for our customers, and I would like to say a massive thank you for taking the time to vote for us.”

Thursday, 09 March 2017

CPL Training Group, the largest provider of licensed hospitality training, has restructured its current board. David Dasher, managing director of CPL Online, has been appointed chief data officer of CPL Training Group, which is set to come into effect in April 2017. Dasher will work internally and alongside clients to manage data insights, data governance and research and development.

The restructure is part of the company’s strategy to create a unified technology structure, identify revenue opportunities and reduce operating costs. Dasher will still oversee operations at CPL Online, with senior management responsible for the day-to-day running of the business.

Dasher said: “Over the past seven years, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing CPL Online flourish into a leading training and software company. With the promotion of senior management to the board of directors, the business has continued to progress in all areas.

“After strategically assessing the position of both companies, I made the decision to move into this new role, which marks an important step in the direction of the business. Data analytics have become fundamental to our internal and external operations, and this will continue to grow in the future. I’m excited to embark on this new challenge and build on the strong foundations already in place.”

Dasher first came into contact with CPL Training Group in 2009 when his business – Globexlive – was in the process of building a CRM platform for CPL. After establishing a strong relationship with CEO Daniel Davies, Dasher was offered to take the lead with CPL’s new e-learning business – CPL Online. The company is now a multi-service provider and has achieved 100% year-on-year growth since its inception.

Daniel Davies, CPL Training Group’s CEO, said: “David has made a significant impact on the business. Having started with a team of five employees in 2010, David called upon his experience and knowledge to develop CPL Online into the market leading company it is today. The business now has over 120 staff and is in a strong position to continually progress and invest in products and services. As chief data officer, David will play a major role in delivering continual growth and development of both brands. I’m looking forward to seeing the business move onto the next level.”

Monday, 14 November 2016

CPL Training Group has entered into an agreement to acquire a 50% joint-venture share in UK Legion Marketing Limited. The Merseyside-based firm, which trades under the brand names of Training Information Centre (TIC), DHTraining, and Legion, was founded in 2009 by managing director Stuart Green, who spent previous years in a senior management role at CPL Training.

TIC and DHTraining are leading training providers in the licensed hospitality industry. The company’s newest division – Legion – was established in 2016 to deliver sales, marketing and brand promotions, including site openings and market research.

Following CPL’s takeover of abv Training in 2015, the company sought to expand through the acquisition of other training companies. The 50% share will strengthen CPL’s position in the market, as TIC is currently the second largest provider of personal licence training in England and Wales. The three brand names and employees have been retained, including managing director Stuart Green.

“We’re delighted to be joining forces with CPL Training Group, a company with vast experience and knowledge of the licensed trade,” said Green. “Since operations began in 2009, we have gone from strength to strength, and this development is only going to help us continue growth and ensure a sustainable future. Together with CPL, I’m looking forward to leading my team onto the next chapter.”

“UK Legion Marketing is a dynamic company, with great leadership and people,” said Daniel Davies, CEO of CPL Training Group. “Over the years, TIC and DHTraining have each developed a strong identity and a loyal customer base. The newly formed Legion division has also experienced great success working with the sector to promote brands, products and services.

Stuart’s leadership has been a driving force behind this success – increasing turnover by 40% from 2014 to 2015. This deal marks an important step of our future business development plans – representing our ambition to deliver excellence in training and marketing across licensed hospitality.”

Tuesday, 08 November 2016

Birkenhead-based CPL Training Group has announced the growing success of its apprenticeship scheme – two years after it was launched in 2014. This year CPL Training Group has seen 11 apprentices, all from the Merseyside region, pass their qualifications and gain a full-time position with the company.

As a leading provider of training and software services to the licensed hospitality sector, CPL has a wide spectrum of roles available for apprentices on both sides of the business. The latest selection of apprentices have studied a range of different subjects, which include Level 2 in Business Administration, Level 3 in Software and Web Development, Customer Service and Digital Marketing.

Callum Towers, who recently completed his Level 3 in Customer Service with CPL Training, said: "An apprenticeship is hugely useful in a number of ways. Perhaps the most important aspect is the skills you develop through hands on experience; skills you simply cannot gain in a classroom. Being an integral, valued and important part of an active team encouraged me to learn and develop throughout the process."

Recruiting local young adults has always been a key part of CPL Training Group. The scheme, which has already processed 21 Merseyside graduates, was launched to give young adults a chance of developing hands-on experience, whilst working within a growing and vibrant company.

CEO Daniel Davies, who hails from New Brighton, said: “We’re a proud Merseyside company, so naturally, I’ve always been strongly committed to recruiting local talent. It’s one of the main reasons as to why we launched the apprenticeship scheme two years ago. The latest graduates are a testament to the hard work we’ve put in. We’re excited by what they can achieve within their full-time roles.”

The success of the apprenticeship scheme can also be attributed to CPL’s strong partnerships with three main providers – Training Plus Merseyside, Q.A Apprenticeships and Remit. In the forthcoming months, CPL has four other apprentices who are also on course to complete their traineeship.

Tuesday, 08 November 2016

With the achievement of important milestones, the past 12 months has been a great period of success for CPL Online. It’s seen the launches of the company’s LMS mobile app and the ‘Next Generation’ of e-Learning series. In this time period, CPL Online was accredited by the Learning & Performance Institute and the CPD Standards Office. The company was also announced as an ‘Award Honouree’ at the Computerworld Data+ Editors’ Choice Awards.

Speaking about the company’s successful progress, David Dasher, managing director of CPL Online, said: “We are thrilled to be announced as Finalists in the ‘Learning Provider of the Year Award’. The Learning Awards represent the best performers in learning and development from around the globe, so it’s a testament to what we’ve achieved in the past 12 months. We look forward to the next stage of the competition.”

Managing director of the Learning and Performance Institute, Edmund Monk, said: “The heritage and reputation of The Learning Awards is unrivalled. For those who are shortlisted and those who eventually win, the experience often leads to career-changing opportunities as companies and individuals are sought out for their experience and innovation.

The Learning Awards ceremony takes place at the prestigious Dorchester hotel in London’s Park Lane on Thursday 2nd February 2017.

Monday, 03 October 2016

By 2025, Deloitte estimate that 75 percent of the world’s workforce will be made up of Millennials – a generation tasked with growing and driving your organisation towards success.

Unlike their predecessors, Millennials are very particular with their employment options. They have a tendency to view job roles as being incredibly transient for a variety of different reasons. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that employers in all sectors have experienced difficulties with Millennial retention.

This issue, paired with the long history of retention problems associated with the licensed retail and hospitality sector, seems as though it’s a combination heading for disaster. But perhaps what many employers fail to realise is the big difference between Millennials and previous generations.

According to a report by the PwC, Millennials are not motivated by financial reward. Instead, they are driven by the need to gain professional development within every job role.

A report by Indian technology giant, Infosys, also echoed this desire for professional development. The study, which surveyed 1,000 young people, aged 16-25, across nine separate countries, showed that 80 percent of participants viewed learning and development as a paramount aspect to their future success.

In simple terms, if professional development isn’t on the table, they won’t stay around for much longer. But one great positive about working in licensed retail and hospitality sector is the vast range of new skills individuals can learn. It’s not just a case of working a few shifts behind a bar, and suddenly, you’re an expert. There are so many different aspects to master – from maintaining a cellar to visual merchandising.

By providing regular training and a two-way feedback environment, it gives Millennials the chance to achieve new milestones and voice any underlying concerns. Perhaps you have a long-serving team member who’s ready to become a Personal Licence Holder, or maybe a new starter that wants to undertake a Conflict Management e-Learning course.

If you have the resources, then it’s difficult to ignore an individual’s desire to learn new skills and experiences. Of course, no one expects employees to hang around forever, but a consistent flurry of compliance and soft skills training will help your Millennials realise they are in the right place for professional development.

In a world of Facebook and selfies, older generations can be forgiven for thinking Millennials were born with a smartphone at the ready. Unsurprisingly, they have been shaped by technology. Their strong affinity with the digital world sets them apart from previous generations. As a result, Millennials view software technologies as a key enabler to their future success.

Yoh, a talent and outsourcing company in the United States, reports that Millennials have a desire to use work-based software that is fun and intuitive – almost like a video game, which can be used anywhere and on any device. This is also an aspect that goes hand-in-hand with high levels of staff engagement.

Gamification and animation are strong examples – especially within learning and development software. Whether it’s within mobile apps, e-learning courses or career pathways, it gives them the freedom to work in a way which they can relate to – motivating them to change behaviours, develop skills and solve problems.

A large proportion of Millennials entered employment during the economic downturn, but their willingness and determination to succeed remains strong. By providing the right training and software to engage, it will go a long way in retaining your Millennials and increasing productivity in the process.

Monday, 03 October 2016

Two months ago, the UK economy suffered a profound and sustained shock, according to the Bank of England. The Brexit effect was felt immediately and was both significant and tangible. For a few days in late June, it felt as if the UK was in freefall, the future very uncertain.

But as the dust settles, and politics returns to a degree of normality, for many ordinary voters and consumers the Brexit threat has receded. Immediately following the vote, the ALMR moved to reassure its members that nothing would change in the short-term. Nerves have steadied, and the market has begun to stabilise, to settle into a new era where we live with prolonged uncertainty and debate about our future relationship with Europe. Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose!

Despite a shake-up within the Government, any plans to initiate the withdrawal from the EU appears to be unfolding at a slow pace. The latest suggestion is that Article 50 – the formal firing of the starting gun for withdrawal – will not be triggered until late next year and Brexit could be three years away. That delay is helpful in that it ensures a pragmatic and careful period of consideration before negotiations start, but it does mean a drag on future economic growth. The best estimate is that the effect of Brexit will be to knock that back by two years.

The withdrawal will bring challenges but it will also bring opportunities, and the ALMR has been working closely with the Government to ensure that the needs and concerns of the licensed hospitality sector are taken into account. Our immediate concern is the status of existing EU workers and ensuring that staff members have the right to remain, but also ensuring that we have the right migration policy as a whole to meet our future skills needs.

A survey of business leaders in eating and drinking out carried out by CGA Peach in the immediate aftermath of the vote showed that confidence across the sector had crashed. Just 15 percent of CEOs were feeling confident about future growth prospects – down from 75 percent in January of this year. Over half of those companies had downgraded their growth forecasts for the next two years and a fifth had reducted their investment as a result.

In the short-term, pub and restaurant operators are concerned about the effects of the vote on consumer confidence – there are some signs of a fall in discretionary spend – and the fall in sterling leading to rising production costs. However, it is the availability of people which the leading long term worry, with three-quarters of business leaders concerned about this and just over two thirds concerned about skills shortages in their business.

Hospitality and tourism are particularly reliant upon migrant labour with a quarter of the workforce made up on non-UK nationals – split almost equally between EU and non-EU nationals. This compares with just 14 percent in retail and 15 percent in travel. Over the last five years, the number of migrant workers has increased by 22 percent with the majority of this increase coming from EU migrants and almost all of them in bars and restaurants.

Over the last 4 years alone, the restaurant workforce has swelled by 120,000 with 49,000 of those being chefs. Over the next 4 years, we already know we need to recruit another 220,000 to hospitality and with over a quarter of vacancies already considered ‘hard to fill’, battling the skills shortage will be the most significant long-term effect of Brexit.

The ALMR is already working closely with Government to provide solutions for future EU migration and secure a right to remain, but we also need to redress constraints of the current migration system. While EU migration has soared, the traditional routes have all but dried up – Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans have all suffered as a result of a points-based system which focuses on high skills and high wages. Going forward, we need one which is directed at areas of greatest skills shortage and where real training can be delivered.

In the short-term, we also need to see the Government take steps to encourage business and ensure that additional burdens are not placed on employers at this time of uncertainty. In the first instance, we have asked for a pause on the Apprenticeship levy, due to take effect from April 2017, which is currently facing a £1.5bn shortfall in funding originally earmarked to come from the European Social Fund. We have also recommended that a second successive increase in the Minimum Wage in April would not be helpful at this time and that the NLW metrics be reviewed in light of Brexit.

The last six weeks have thrown up a number of uncertainties for the licensed hospitality sector and for UK politics and business in general. These are uncertain times for us all, but the ground-breaking developments of late will provide us with an opportunity to push for a better deal for the UK’s pubs and bars.

Monday, 03 October 2016

We enjoyed a fantastic inaugural National Licensing Week in June (20th – 24th), with a number of job swaps and local activities taking place, together with good social media coverage, despite the European Referendum falling in the same week.

We are already in the process of planning the 2nd National Licensing Week, which will take place 21st – 15th June 2017. Many thanks to everyone who got involved, and we look forward to an even more active week next year. This proven to be a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the role of licensing in everyday lives, and contribution from all licensing practitioners in all areas of licensing. A massive shout out to everyone!

National Licensing Week came about partly as a way to mark the Institute of Licensing’s 20th year. The IoL’s origins go back to January 1996, when a small group of local government licensing practitioners met in the Travellers Rest pub in Cambridge to consider the potential for a professional association for licensing, covering all areas. The result of that initial meeting was the formation of the Local Government Licensing Forum (LGLF), which subsequently in 2003 became an institute to support its aims of being all inclusive and covering all licensing practitioners.

November 1997 saw the first of our National Training Conferences held in November, and now firmly established as the IoL’s signature event. With over 60 sessions presented by a wide variety of excellent speakers and covering all areas of licensing, it isn’t hard to see why.

The event spans 3-days from 16 – 18 November 2016, with most delegates staying at the hotel for the duration. This year, the event will take place at the Holiday Inn, Stratford-upon- Avon, and our guest speakers include Amsterdam’s Night Mayor – Mirik Milan, Alan Miller from the NTIA who will join IoL Patron Philip Kolvin QC on Thursday 17th November. We will also welcome Kate Nicholls (ALMR), Brigid Simmonds (BBPA), Phil Thorley (Thorley Taverns), the Home Office, the Gambling Commission and many more speakers over the course of the 3-days. The event programme is carefully structured to enable delegates to pick which sessions are most relevant to them, and the networking opportunity provided over the 3-days is exceptional.

Monday, 03 October 2016

With the introduction of the Statutory Pubs Code on 21st July, pubcos operating 500 or more pubs have endured a busy period in recent weeks. As they quickly adjusted their business processes to adhere to the new regulations, large pubcos have also seen a change to their learning and development procedures.

Under the Pubs Code, business and area development managers are now required to undertake appropriate training every 12-months, to ensure licensees are receiving sound and contemporary advice on profitable business practices.

Although adhering to ‘appropriate training’ could come in many forms, it’s important for pubcos to view this requirement as a fundamental part of their learning and development processes, and not just a case of ticking a box.

It goes without saying that the role of a business or area development manager requires a diverse set of skills and plenty of experience in the field. They are the crucial piece of the jigsaw to grow and develop a company’s tenanted and leased pubs. As a challenging role, to say the least, managers would benefit from a continuous training scheme, which prepares them for the role and expands their skillset.

The Multiple Licensed Premises Management (MLPM) course is a vocational and transferrable Level 4 qualification (equivalent to a Foundation degree or Higher National Diploma). Not only is it the most applicable course for business and area development managers working for large pubcos, it’s also highly recommended for any individual managing multiple licensed premises.

Daniel Thwaites, which has an estate of more than 280 pubs and is not affected by the newly introduced Pubs Code, has used the MLPM course to train staff in other roles. Thwaites’ Recruitment Manager, Rachel Crossland, recently completed the MLPM course with CPL’s subsidiary, abv Training.

Having already put the skills to good use in her daily role, she said: “The course has definitely been useful for me. I am more informed when out in the trade with area business managers. The profit and loss modules have given me a much higher level of understanding in these areas.

Over the last few weeks I have recruited a new colleague, so the recruitment module has also been put into good practice. I would say that the course would come in useful for anyone in a support role as an enhancement of knowledge beneficial to their current role”

The course consists of five mandatory units, and at least three optional units, which cover a range of topics, including Communication in a Business Environment, Negotiation Skills and Persuasion in the Workplace, Profit, Loss and Budget Control, Profit and Loss in Multiple Retail Premises and Interviewing Skills in Multiple Retail Management. Louise Sui, CPL’s commercial director, said: “Following new legislation affecting pubcos operating 500 or more tied pubs, business and area development managers are now required to undertake appropriate training. The MLPM course fits the bill perfectly for both small and large pubcos. It’s completed over many months of hard work; implementing what they’ve learnt in the classroom into everyday scenarios. It’s a transferrable Level 4 qualification, so it’s a great opportunity to provide a high standard of career development for your employees.”

Monday, 03 October 2016

In approaching the subject of the relationship between beverage alcohol and cancer I am conscious of the fact that I am not a medical scientist, nor an epidemiologist. But I have spent over a decade studying, writing and speaking about the relationship between alcohol and society in all its aspects. I’ve published over 250 articles on the subject and one book – Culture Wars and Moral Panic, the Story of Alcohol and Society.

What I have learned is not to simply trust “the experts”; not to accept appeals to authority, because science can be abused and corrupted by a combination of good intentions and moral certainty and this is particularly true of alcohol science. What follows is a synopsis of the understanding my reading and study has afforded me in respect of alcohol as a cause of cancer. Initially my writing and research on alcohol concentrated on alcohol as a driver of crime and disorder, but over the past seven years alcohol policy and health has been my main focus because, overwhelmingly, it has been “public health” that has led the attack on beverage alcohol. The three strategic thrusts that underpin the “public health” attack on alcohol haven’t changed; it is still the “three As” – availability, affordability and advertising – and it is clear that “healthists” would like all three to be reduced if not eliminated!

However, availability has a demand side as well as a supply side, and attempts to persuade people to drink less (reduce demand) have come to the fore in recent times. In particular, the publication in March 2016 of the Chief Medical Officer’s of Health new ‘low-risk’ drinking guidelines of 14 units a week for both men and women is intended to reduce demand for alcohol by persuading the public to drink less. What has been key to this effort has been a concerted attempt by medical authorities to link alcohol consumption, even at very low levels, with cancer. This in turn has fed into the Chief Medical Officer’s narrative: “There is no safe level of drinking.”

The purpose of this paper is to examine the links between alcohol and cancer, and to unpick and demystify what is being said. What is essential to my task is to explain the difference between ‘correlation’ and ‘causation’. Most of the studies that link drinking alcohol with various cancers are epidemiology studies. ‘Epidemiology’ is about establishing the risk factors for various diseases in a given population. In order to do so epidemiologists look for patterns that associate one thing with another; in other words, they look for statistical correlations. A key problem with epidemiology studies is that they often show correlations that are not causal. For example: smoking tobacco is highly correlated with getting lung cancer (and the correlation is causal); drinking beer is highly correlated with smoking tobacco (a pint and a fag), and therefore, statistically, drinking beer is also highly correlated with lung cancer (but doesn’t cause it).

A more studious example of this confusion between correlation and causation appeared in a recent article published in the journal ‘Addiction’ by an academic, Jennie Connor, from Otago University in New Zealand. She wrote about alcohol as a cause of cancer at seven different sites in the human body. There was nothing new in this article, but the media picked up on it and declared it was a “new study”. The headline read: “Finally, proof that alcohol causes cancer.” Commenting on this opinion piece Hank Campbell from the American Council on Science and Health said “While overuse of alcohol can certainly cause something like fatty liver disease and then cirrhosis, so can too many cheeseburgers. Lots of things can be harmful when misused, that is why the American Council on Science and Health talks about dose-response when environmentalists only want to talk about hazard.”

So, it appears that the purpose of Connor’s opinion piece, and others like it, is to promote the idea that it is plausible to represent the (weak) correlations between drinking alcohol and developing certain cancers that have been observed in population studies, as constituting evidence that drinking alcohol increases your risk of cancers because it causes them. The conclusion that it does is based almost entirely on epidemiology studies that show that drinkers have slightly higher rates of some specific cancers. Commenting on this methodology Professor Byron Sharp of the University of South Australia wrote:

“A more sober analysis would adopt the epidemiologists’ rule of not considering risk assessments of less than a factor of 3 as indicating any causality (see Taubes, G. 1995. ‘Epidemiology faces its limits.’ Science, 269:5221, 164-69). Unlike smoking, alcohol and cancer studies seldom report risk estimates anywhere near this level.”

My understanding is that there are hundreds of different cancers, but most epidemiologists use the medical convention of labelling a cancer according to where the tumour occurs. So, for the purpose of this discussion we might categorise cancers as follows:

• Oral/throat/oesophagus (aerodigestive cancers);
• Liver cancer;
• Colorectal; and
• Breast cancer.

What is often lacking in epidemiology studies that find statistical correlations between alcohol drinking and the cancers above, is any reference to the possible biological mechanisms by means of which alcohol might cause these cancers. Alcohol has been shown not to be carcinogenic in animal tests, and the evidence that ethyl alcohol itself is carcinogenic in relation to human cells is weak. And the epidemiology shows associations with only some cancers not others (indeed drinking seems to be associated with less of some cancers).

So, what can we say about the relationship between alcohol and these cancers?

A possible biological mechanism in relation to aerodigestive cancers, is that bacteria in the mouth and digestive tract convert alcohol to acetaldehyde, which is a carcinogen. This may provide a plausible explanation where acetaldehyde comes into direct contact with tissue, as in oral/throat cancers, which are very rare. So for oral/ throat cancers we have the highest correlations in epidemiology data (though nothing like the magnitude for smoking), and we have a plausible mechanism (the culprit being acetaldehyde). But these cancers are extremely rare, and rarely fatal. As Professor Byron Sharp notes:

“This is by far the best case for making a causal connection between drinking alcohol and a cancer. Though it must be noted that aerodigestive cancers are rare (e.g., a tiny 0.3 percent of US deaths are from oral cancers, and most are caused by smoking, age and genes) even though most of the population drinks alcohol.”

In relation to liver cancer, it is highly unlikely that acetaldehyde is the biological mechanism except in cases where the drinker is consuming very large quantities of alcohol. This is because the liver is very efficient at breaking down acetaldehyde.

Most of the deaths that arise from very heavy drinking in the UK occur in relation to alcoholic liver disease or cirrhosis of the liver, where the average consumption of sufferers is 200 units of alcohol a week (the equivalent of a 75cl bottle of Scotch a day). Alcoholic liver disease is often confused or conflated with liver cancer in the popular press. Liver cancer is a rare, though deadly disease. It may be that alcoholic liver disease increases the risk of developing a liver cancer, but actually most cases of it are caused by viral hepatitis, obesity, diabetes or genetic predisposition. Very few drinkers develop liver cancer, so the degree of absolute risk is tiny and probably only for long-term alcoholics or for those with liver damage from hepatitis or other diseases.

In relation to colorectal cancer and potential biological mechanisms: from my reading of the research it appears that the flora of the human gut is highly complex, and whilst some faecal bacteria has been shown to convert alcohol into acetaldehyde, other bacteria has been shown to break it down. There is no settled science around the issue of a biological mechanism linking alcohol with colorectal cancer. Further research is needed. In addition, alcohol is absorbed in the stomach and small intestine which makes it harder to explain how alcohol might reach the colon where it could be converted to acetaldehyde by bacteria.

In relation to breast cancer, which is what drives public health claims that “there is no safe level of drinking”, the lifetime risk of a female ‘never drinker’ developing breast cancer is just under 10 percent. For women who regularly drink moderate amounts of alcohol, it elevates to just over 10 percent. But 90 percent of breast cancer is not fatal and meta-analysis shows no link between moderate consumption of alcohol and breast cancer mortality, nor its recurrence (Gou et al 2013).

A large study which followed up women with breast cancer correlated with better chances of survival if they were regular drinkers before diagnosis. If they altered their drinking after diagnosis this had no link to their chance of dying from breast cancer, but an increase in drinking was associated with an overall increase in life expectancy, largely due to substantially fewer heart disease deaths among those who increased their alcohol consumption (Newcomb et al 2013). This is strong causal evidence that alcohol prevents heart disease, and seriously undermines the proposition that alcohol causes breast cancer.

The modest degree of increased risk for alcohol drinkers may simply be down to a confounding factor: namely drinkers are more likely to screen for breast cancers, which results in more diagnoses (Mu and Mukamal 2016).

For the categories of cancer referenced above the evidence that light drinking is a causal factor is extremely poor, whereas the evidence is much more convincing that the regular consumption of moderate amounts of alcohol reduces heart disease, diabetes, dementia and overall mortality. There are numerous meta-analyses of population studies, supported by plausible biological mechanisms, that show the protective effects of moderate drinking in relation to heart disease.

Finally, there is a paradox that is worthy of consideration: to the extent that regular, moderate consumption of alcohol is correlated with longer life, as compared with the lower life expectancy of ‘never drinkers’, this does, by definition, increase their lifetime risk of cancer. Why? Because for most cancers age is the dominant risk factor. Half of all colorectal cancers occur in people aged over 70 years old; half of breast cancer is for women aged over 62. Moderate drinkers live longer, largely due to reduced levels of heart disease, diabetes and dementia and will therefore have to get more cancer. Everyone has to die of something.

In conclusion, I would say that the scientific evidence suggests alcohol might cause a few cancers, but at low levels of consumption the evidence is extremely weak; the cancers are rare and the elevated risk of dying is tiny. It is wrong to misrepresent this evidence and unethical to use it to scare the public.

Monday, 03 October 2016

As the summer months draw to a close, it’s that time of the year where businesses in the hospitality and licensed retail sector begin preparations for Christmas and New Year. If you are looking for new products and services ahead of the festive period, there is a myriad of suppliers available to businesses within hospitality and licensed retail, which makes it difficult to know where to begin and who to trust.

The British Institute of Innkeeping has recently launched a new service, which demonstrates their commitment to continually add new benefits for its members. The new service, BII Marketplace aims to ease the stress of searching for new suppliers – not just over the busy months, but all year round.

Launched as part of a brand new website, BII Marketplace is an extensive online directory of hand-picked suppliers that deliver the best-in-class products and services. As expected, the Marketplace is complete with suppliers from a range of different services. Members now have access to a diverse and growing pool of exclusive money saving deals, which covers finance, stocktaking, property, technology, utilities, cellar equipment, food, drink and health and safety.

The new website features a ‘My BII’ section, which is each member’s personal homepage. It’s tailored geographically to reflect their location and is the main hub to access to all benefits and services. Suppliers are closely monitored through regular feedback and mystery customer reports to ensure they meet highest standards and offer great value for money.

Over many years of working closely with suppliers up and down the country, the BII has developed an enviable list of trusted regional and national partners – all of which are now available on the Marketplace. The BII is also growing this list to ensure members have an unrivalled directory of the best suppliers in the industry.

The founding partners of BII Marketplace are some of the biggest firms in the industry, including PXL Insurance, CPL Training Group, Beond, Coca- Cola, JLT Employee Benefits, First Data and Merchant Money.

Monday, 03 October 2016

By Glynn Davis

Normally when my home town of Doncaster hits the news it is for rather unpleasant reasons like corrupt town councillors, record breaking unemployment levels, lowest ranked educational standards, or shocking mistakes made by social workers. (Just to clarify, some of these I’ve made up – the town’s not that bad).

Thankfully some good news emerged recently. Doncaster was rated the best for people having the highest chance of receiving a perfect pint of beer. The survey from Cask Marque and Vianet found people in the town are likely to receive four perfect pints out of every five they buy in contrast to the country’s worst performing town/city, Reading, where it is 50/50 whether you receive a perfect or poor pint.

Armed with this interesting fact it seemed a perfect time to return to the town to gauge the quality of its beer but also to see how it has adapted its offer to today’s drinkers and whether the craft beer revolution seen in our major cities is impacting on this secondary town. It has been some years since I’ve spent a Saturday evening in Doncaster town centre and I have no reason to believe what I experienced would be dramatically different in other towns and cities of a similar size and demographic characteristics.

The overriding conclusion was the obvious polarisation that has occurred among its drinking establishments. At the one end are a high proportion of pubs offering a high-octane mix of swift intoxication and ear-splitting music. These would clearly be defined as good-time-bars and the town centre has more than its fair share of them. That there are plenty of such places is not that surprising because when I was younger many of the town’s old school boozers were making the first shifts towards appealing to the younger end of the market by stripping out their original interiors and cranking up the sound systems. There just seems to be a few more of them nowadays.

But what you also now see in the town – at the polar opposite of these music-led bars and pubs – is the beer revolution having its effect and helping bring some interesting additions to Doncaster town centre. The Marketplace Alehouse is only a couple of years old and is probably at the vanguard of beer drinking in the town – but without overdoing it to the point that it is reverential. It started out as a bottle shop with a modest amount of space for drinking inside but it has morphed into being predominantly a bar – with a number of tables and five kegs and five casks as well as an interesting mix of tapas and sharing platters.

This is just the sort of place that is beginning to appear in secondary towns around the country that mix cafe/bar/pub/bottle shop to create a relaxed enjoyable environment. But what about the quality of the beer? Was it perfect or not? On this visit the Hops & Dreams from The Brew Foundation tasted just as it should (one out of one perfect). The town now also has its own brewpub (from Doncaster Brewery), which recently opened in a former retail unit on a secondary pitch that has been fitted out on an extremely limited budget. It is very much like the micro-pubs that are springing up around the country. It has a bit of a Working Men’s Club look and feel about it but this can be forgotten because it has six beers on offer that are produced only a few feet away from the bar. A brewpub is something Doncaster has not had for the best part of 30 years and it says a lot about the appetite for locally produced beers and provenance. As for the quality – the Stirling Coffee Stout was perfect to my taste (two out of two).

Sticking with the calm end of the drinking rainbow two old stalwarts of the Doncaster drinking scene, The Mason’s Arms and The Plough are still delivering on their promise of being traditional pubs but this is where the squeeze is happening in the market. It is clear the former has moved with the times somewhat by enhancing its treasured interior with some feminine touches like fairy lights, mix-and-match furniture and a decent wine list. But in contrast, the latter continues to plough its own furrow and as such there was not a female customer in sight on my visit. Sadly there have to be some questions asked about the sustainability of rigidly sticking to the old ways.

While it doesn’t need to join the ranks of the nightclub-lite bars a makeover like the Mason’s might be a route to securing its future. As for the beer, the Tetley’s in The Mason’s adhered to the Cask Marque survey, and the same could be said for the Barnsley Bitter from Acorn Brewery served at The Plough (four out of four).

The visit to The Three Horseshoes, on the edge of town, proved Cask Marque and Vianet had got it spot on. Maybe going for Wolf Rock Red IPA from Sharp’s was pushing it a little as it did look to be a rather unusual beer among the largely bog standard mix on offer in this very traditional locals pub. So it proved and I sent it back as undrinkable (four out of five).

The fact the barman took it back without hesitation and with an apology probably says more than any survey about how things are progressing for the better in our pubs up and down the country. The last time I was drinking in Doncaster town centre, if I’d merely hinted to the licensee that he was selling imperfect ale I’d have been shown the door, followed by his boot firmly exerting pressure on my backside, and just for good measure the locals would have likely chased me down the road.

Glynn Davis is a regular columnist for Propel and a leading commentator on retail trends.

Monday, 03 October 2016

For those of us who are trained first aiders, ask yourself whether you would ever have the confidence to perform CPR on a stranger or loved one? It’s a question all of us should think about, and at the same time, it’s also a question most of us are reluctant to ponder.

A YouGov study conducted in 2014 for the British Heart Foundation revealed the competency of first aiders. Only 22 percent said they would have the confidence to perform CPR on a stranger, with 29 percent saying they would for friends or family. Of course, no one really knows their actions until an incident unfolds in front of them.

Carl Bowers, a chef from Canvey Island, was put in this situation merely one week after completing an Emergency First Aid at Work course from CPL Training. On Monday 4th July shortly after 10am, Carl was leaving Canvey Island in his car, when he encountered a van driver who had suffered a cardiac arrest at a busy junction near Basildon.

Speaking to CPL Training, Carl said: “I was driving my car when I noticed a white van in front of me that wasn’t driving normal. He was slowing down at green lights and started to roll back towards my car. So I overtook him to look into his window, and he was slumped over the steering wheel. I quickly did a U-turn because alarm bells were ringing.”

I opened the van door, and there he was gasping for air every 20 seconds or so. Within seconds he just stopped breathing. Another fella pulled up next to me, and we managed to get him out of the van onto a soft area by the roadside. We then performed mouth-to-mouth CPR.”

Carl kick-started the man's heart in those crucial minutes whilst emergency services raced to the scene. Soon after, his heart crashed once more as the air ambulance, police and fire brigade arrived at the busy junction. Paramedics shocked him four times to get him back into sinus rhythm and then took him to the nearby Basildon Hospital.

Admitting that he normally would have been completely out of his comfort zone, Carl believes his recent first aid training spurred him on to act fast and undertake the necessary procedures immediately.

“The training gave me the intelligence to know exactly what to do and what to look for. If I hadn’t have done the course, I would have been a fish out of water. The training I received from Dave [the trainer] gave me the confidence. From the moment I opened the van door, I knew what was going to happen – especially seeing his gasps of air. Dave explained that 9 times out of 10 during a cardiac arrest things like that occur. The training played a major, major part in why the man is going to make a full recovery,” added Carl.

The van driver, who was in his 40s, underwent immediate heart surgery and stayed in the intensive care unit for three days. Carl, who took some days off work to reflect on the incident, was called on Thursday of that week to be told the man will make a full recovery. As statistics from the YouGov study suggest, the need to increase awareness and provide high-quality training is paramount in creating more life-savers like Carl. Although the vast majority of first aiders will go through their lives without having to perform CPR, Carl's story puts things into perspective – demonstrating how it can happen to anyone, at any time.

Monday, 15 August 2016

CPL Training, the UK’s leading provider of licensed retail and hospitality training, is set to deliver a free training course that will see individuals gain the Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing (ARAR). Sponsored by the world’s second largest brewer – SABMiller – the aim of the training initiative is to spread knowledge and awareness regarding the responsible sale and consumption of alcohol. The ARAR course will be available in CPL’s training centres across Liverpool, Wirral and Manchester, from the beginning of September 2016 to the end of January 2017.

SABMiller has pledged to train 10,000 individuals by the end of 2016 as part of their Scholars programme. As part of the eligibility requirements, learners must be aged 18 or older and have been employed within the licensed retail sector for a minimum of 6-months. The course is available to staff working in tenanted/leased pubs, bars and other types of licensed outlets, with the exception of managed companies.

By studying the main points of licensing law, the ARAR course will allow delegates to develop a clear overview of the responsibilities associated with the retail sale of alcohol, which includes underage sales and serving persons who are drunk. It is an ideal platform for individuals seeking to further their career in the licensed retail and hospitality sector.

Daniel Davies, Chief Executive of CPL Training Group, welcomed the programme: “We’re delighted to be delivering the Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing once again this year. Thanks to sponsors – SABMiller – this training programme is completely free to delegates, promoting awareness surrounding the responsible sale and consumption of alcohol. I’m pleased to announce the ARAR course will be available in Liverpool, Wirral, Manchester, including surrounding areas. We look forward to training the selected delegates at our centres.”

Monday, 27 June 2016

Collette Morris, Executive Assistant to the CEO at CPL Training Group, will cycle over 300-miles in four days from London to Paris, in aid of Wirral Hospice St John’s. She is taking on the challenge in remembrance of her loving mum, Sue, who sadly passed away in the care of the Clatterbridge-based facility.

The Skyline London to Paris Tour de France Cycle 2016 takes place from 20th-24th July. Collette, who signed up for the challenge in July last year, has been training hard for the past nine months and hopes to raise over £2,000.

Day one of the route starts in Crystal Palace and heads south through the rural roads of Kent – eventually concluding at the port of Dover. After arriving in Calais via the Channel ferry, the following days cover over 200-miles through medieval towns and villages, with two stops at Abbeville and Beauvais. The final day of cycling is dominated by the looming cityscape of Paris – Eiffel Tower in plain sight.

Collette, who is from Wallasey, said: “When I saw the opportunity to take part and raise some money for Wirral Hospice St John’s, I decided it was something that I had to do.”

She added: “During the four-month period between her diagnosis and passing, mum spent most of her time in the care of St John’s Hospice. In the simplest terms, they gave us peace of mind knowing mum was getting the best car she possibly could, and in a place where she felt safe and could have her loved ones around her.”

Wirral Hospice St John’s is a specialist facility that provides free care and support to patients with life-limiting illnesses. The hospice costs approximately £3.5m a year to run, with the majority of funding coming from local individuals, companies, community groups and charitable trusts.

To help Collette reach the £2,000 target, please visit: www.justgiving.com/Collette-Morris3 

Wednesday, 08 June 2016

With people expected to flock to the pub to watch the world’s biggest sporting events, the unique sense of camaraderie amongst pub-goers makes it one of the most enjoyable times of the year to visit your local.

To drive business to your venue during the summer months, take a look at CPL’s top 5 tips to ensure you’re maximising your chances of success.

1. Advertise your events.

Summer 2016 is set to be dominated by sporting events in June, July and August. If you hold a TV licence for sports channels, make sure your customers know what you’re showing! Start advertising on signs, posters, social media and your website. Publicans love a tipple whilst watching their sport. Better yet, they love a place to watch it where the atmosphere is buzzing.

2. Train your staff

If customers don't have a good experience at your pub, they won't return in a hurry. Training your staff is key to providing customers with the best service. Do they know how to change a barrel? Are they trained in food safety? Do you have enough Personal Licence Holders? They are all major factors in the successful running of any licensed premises – especially when you’re expecting an influx of customers for the busy summer ahead.

3. Utilise social media

Although social media has already been mentioned, the importance of using these platforms should not be understated. 59% of the population actively use social media in the UK – that’s 38 million people. You may already have a social media presence, but does your pub post regularly? Produce good, responsive content for these dynamic platforms? It can be the catalyst to drive sales in your premises. If you’re not sure where to start, CPL Training has recently launched face-to-face Social Media courses – specifically for business use.

4. Make the most of your outdoor space

Before deciding what to do with your outdoor areas, make sure you check the conditions of your premises licence or consider obtaining a temporary events notice. Whether it’s varnishing the old picnic tables or setting up an outdoor bar, it’s important to utilise every last inch of your exterior space. If you’re broadcasting the big sporting events, give customers a reason to stay after it ends – good result or not. Live entertainment, BBQs or even something just as simple as a pool table or table tennis will keep the bar busy until last orders.

5. Revamp your food and drink menu

Adding a summer vibe to your food and drink menu is always a good motive to attract customers. The prospect of sipping a cosmopolitan or tucking into a barbequed rib-eye is very appealing to many pub-goers. If that isn’t your cup of tea, then consider refreshing your Sunday menu. The great Sunday roast has always been a pub favourite, but the summer often sees a demand for more adventurous dishes. It can often create a buzz around your site – it’s worth a thought!

Monday, 09 May 2016

Paul Chase, a leading commentator on alcohol and health policy, is delivering a talk to The British Guild of Beer Writers – titled ‘The Chief Medical Officer’s New Low-Risk Alcohol Drinking Guidelines – Evidence-Based Policy, or Policy-Based Evidence?’

The Cock & Lion Pub (Wigmore Street, London) has been announced as the venue for this talk, which will take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday 11th May – admission is free of charge.

Chase, who is a director at CPL Training – the leading provider of Personal Licence training, will discuss the new guidelines for low-risk drinking – introduced in January this year by England’s Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies.

It is the first time the UK’s sensible drinking message has been revised since 1995. The draconian new advice, which concluded that there is “no safe limit for alcohol consumption,” has been widely questioned in the media. As a leading expert and the author of “Culture Wars and Moral Panic, the story of alcohol and society”, Paul will provide a critique of the evidence presented to support the new guidelines. He will examine how the many studies showing significant health benefits from moderate alcohol consumption have been ignored in the publishing advice – representing an anti-alcohol public health agenda instead of the peer-reviewed scientific research.

Please contact Angie Armitage at Cask Marque to apply for tickets: angie@cask-marque.co.uk

Thursday, 05 May 2016

CPL Training Group has been announced as the sponsor for the ‘Scottish Training Award’ at the BII Scotland Awards 2016. After claiming this Award in 2015, this year’s ceremony will take place on the 22^nd May at the Crown Plaza Hotel, Glasgow.

The 2016 edition celebrates the 30th anniversary of the BII’s operations in Scotland. With over 400 guests in attendance, it’s expected to provide an increased competitive edge across all categories.

Last year, CPL Training Group beat off tough competition from the likes of GTG Training, The George Hotel in Edinburgh, and the Tennent’s Training Academy. The Merseyside-based company achieved short-list success in 2015 after being nominated by the owner of Cheers Café Bar & Tavern, Dennis Forsyth. Situated in the seaside town of Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Dennis has used CPL Online’s e-Learning courses to conduct staff training since 2012.

Tuesday, 19 April 2016

Diverse and forward-thinking – CPL Training Group is the leading provider of hospitality training and online business solutions in the United Kingdom. With a talented and ever-growing workforce, the company recently surpassed 150 employees – a significant milestone that represents impressive growth within CPL Training and CPL Online. As a result of continuous developments, CPL Training Group holds an annual Staff Information Day. It’s a unique opportunity to discuss company progress, strategies and upcoming events.

The 7^th annual Staff Information Day will take place on Friday 22^nd April at the Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool (ACC Liverpool), Kings Dock. The event features presentations from CEO – Daniel Davies, Commercial Director – Louise Sui, Group HR Manager – Lisa Graham, Marketing Manager – Chelsea Hankin, and Managing Director of CPL Online – David Dasher. This year’s guest speakers include two leading figures within the hospitality industry – Peter Martin, VP of CGA Peach and Keith Knowles, CEO of Beds & Bars.

Presentations aside, delegates can expect a special demonstration that involves audience interaction around 3:20 PM (to be revealed). Food will be served towards the end of the day at 5:10 PM in the foyer. The event is scheduled to conclude just before 6 PM, after which attendees are invited to make the short distance over to Albert Dock for reception drinks at PanAm Bar & Restaurant.

It’s already been a busy 2016 for the Merseyside-based company. CPL Online witnessed the launch and CPD accreditation of their ‘Next Gen’ e-Learning courses. From gamification to 2D/3D animation, the range of engaging and stimulating features represents an unrivalled user experience. The ‘Next Gen’ courses were also built and developed for mobile usage – the fastest growing form of e-Learning.

At CPL Training, the 'Good to Talk' campaign was put into action – incentivising customers to call for cheaper rates. Moving forward, CPL Training Group is developing new innovations and projects across the hospitality sector (more on this at the event). This year also marks the company’s first ever football charity match at Prenton Park – home of Tranmere Rovers. The new ‘Merseyside Derby’ will see CPL Training and CPL Online go head-to-head in aid of The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity.

Tuesday, 19 April 2016

The Merseyside Derby, El Clásico, the Old Firm – we all know the world's biggest footballing rivalries, but until now, there’s one that’s slipped under the radar. The most anticipated game of the season is set to be hosted by CPL Training Group, the UK’s leading provider of hospitality training. The company’s two divisions, CPL Training and CPL Online, will go head to head in a football match in aid of The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity.

Home of Tranmere Rovers FC, the 16,500-seater stadium – Prenton Park has been announced as the venue to hold this spectacle on Saturday 14th May 2016. As a ticketed event – charged at £5 per person, all proceeds will be donated to The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity to improve patient experience, fund research, and develop the latest treatments and innovations in cancer treatment. The event is open to all friends and family and anyone interested in raising money for a vital and outstanding cause.

The match is a tale of two teams, one rivalry – reminiscent of Liverpool vs. Everton, but instead of being divided by Stanley Park - it’s Tower Road in Birkenhead. CPL Training is expected to field a strong outfit and will look for inspiration from Captain and event organiser, Kurt Roberts. With a larger pool of players at their disposal, CPL Online also has an impressive line-up, with Captain, Andy Rannard dubbed as their star player. As the company’s first charity football event, it’s likely to be an evenly matched game at Prenton Park.

CPL’s nominated charity, The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity is one of the largest networked cancer centres in the UK, offering pioneering chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and proton therapy treatments. According to Cancer Research UK, 1 in 2 people born after 1960 will be diagnosed with some form of cancer during their lifetime. As a Wirral-based organisation, Clatterbridge is close to many of our hearts at CPL, and we know first-hand about the life-saving treatments and support this charity provides in difficult times.

Tickets are available to pre-order by contacting the CPL events team: events@cpltg.com. Tickets will also be available on match day at the Main Stand turnstiles. The gates open at 11:15 am, with the match kicking off at 11:45 am.

If you are unable to attend the event, please feel free to make a donation on CPL Training Group’s JustGiving page: https://www.justgiving.com/CPLTGCharityFootball. You can also text ‘CPLG66’ to 70070 for your £5 donation.

Tuesday, 05 January 2016

PUB16, the only trade show dedicated to the UK pub industry, is back and open for registration following a successful launch in 2015. Taking place at Olympia, London, on 9 and 10 February 2016, PUB16 returns bigger and bolder, with more exhibitors, more insight and more big names.

Representing the £22bn UK pub industry, PUB16 is supported by some of the leading organisations in the sector, including the Association of Licenced Multiple Retailers (ALMR), British Institute of Innkeeping (BII), British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), along with leading pubco operators Punch Taverns and Enterprise Inns.

The must-attend event for anyone connected to the on trade, PUB16 features an exciting line-up of free-to-attend business sessions and panel discussions tailored to the aspiring pub owner and operator eager to build profits. Showcasing more than 150 hand-picked exhibitors presenting a wide range of products and services covering craft brewers and beer, premium wines, spirits and soft drinks, bar and kitchenware, design, technology and marketing support, PUB16 is a one-stop-shop of ideas from bar to business.

Recruit – Train – Retain, a key feature area of the show, offers straight-talking advice on how to manage staff, recruitment and tenancy, with advice from industry leaders, Springboard, People First and Hit Training. The Taste Table provides food and drink matching inspiration, advice and training and Sophie’s Bar expertly guides you through some of UK’s best regional brewers, introduced by acclaimed beer sommelier Sophie Atherton.

Commenting on what PUB16 means to the sector, Tim Foster, Director of the entrepreneurial Yummy Pub Co, says: “PUB16 is where the industry’s leaders and tastemakers gather to exchange ideas face-to-face, learn from each other, strive to improve their business and strengthen their hold on the market.”

With nearly 90% of last year’s attendees stating they will return again this year, PUB16 promises to be the not-to-be missed trade event for the UK’s pub owners, proprietors and directors.

For more information on PUB16 and to register to attend for free, visit www.thepubshow.co.uk.

CPL Training will be exhibiting at PUB16 and can be found at stand 187b in the ‘Recruit-Train-Retain’ feature area.

Monday, 10 August 2015

New research, recently published by CGA Strategy, has highlighted the big opportunity for coffee shops to capitalise on the sale of alcohol. 

CGA questioned nearly 1,800 customers in June and found cocktails would be the preferred alcoholic drink in coffee shops with 31% of those surveyed stating this. Sparkling wine came in as the second most popular option with 26% saying they would like to drink this in coffee shops. 

The demand for alcohol in coffee shops in strongest among young people with 27% of those aged 35 and under stating they would be likely, or very likely, to drink alcohol in coffee shops if it were available. The research found that 25% would be the national average. 

Those coffee shops that choose to begin selling alcohol have the opportunity to increase footfall and open up the occasions that people would visit. Seventeen percent of people who do not currently visit coffee shops said that they would be likely to visit if alcohol was made available.

Gui Chipchase, Head of Licensing, for CPL Training said “I’m increasingly seeing businesses, such as coffee shops, contacting me with requests for licensing services. It appears that more hospitality businesses, who have previously not sold alcohol, are now seeing the potential benefits and increased revenue which could be potentially generated by making it available to customers at their venues. With Pubs and Bars becoming increasingly broadened in their offering, it makes sense that businesses such as coffee shops would look to adapt in order to compete.” 

Friday, 10 July 2015

CPL Training Limited has acquired abv Training, one of the leading hospitality training companies in the UK, strengthening the company’s portfolio of training and e-learning products.  

The acquisition, sum undisclosed, is the first for CPL Training Group following the announcement of its intention to further strengthen UK market share through acquiring both training and software businesses. abv Training will become a wholly owned subsidiary of CPL Training Limited, with both the brand name and employees being retained.

Speaking following the acquisition Daniel Davies, CEO of CPL Training Group said, “As a competitor of CPL Training Group, we have watched abv Training with interest over the years. The company has established a strong brand over the last decade, building a talented pool of training staff.  This acquisition is an excellent fit for CPL Training and we look forward to welcoming the team from abv and continuing the legacy of its founders by delivering excellence in training across the hospitality sector.”

Commenting on the sale, abv Training Founder Cathryn Hawbrook said, “This move represents the next stage in the development of abv Training and I am delighted that the abv brand will continue to lead the way in delivering exceptional service within the field of hospitality training.”

abv Training was established in 2001 by the late David Hawbrook CMBii and his wife Cathryn Hawbrook. The company offers face-to-face and e-learning training, delivering compliance courses including Personal Licence; APLH and SCPLH, as well as a range of soft skills training including customer service.

Thursday, 21 May 2015

CPL Training Group, the leading provider of licensed retail and hospitality training across the UK, has been announced as the winner of the Scottish Training Award at the 2015 BII Scotland Awards.

The ceremony, which was held on Sunday 17th May at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Glasgow celebrated the licensed trade in Scotland with nine awards given out on the night. The training provider beat off stiff competiton from GTG Training, The George Hotel in Edinburgh and Tennents Training Academy.

CPL Training Group were nominated for the accolade by the owner of the Aberdeenshire based Cheers Café Bar & Tavern, Dennis Forsyth, who has used CPL Online as part of his staff training process since 2012.

“Winning this award, is not only a success for CPL Training Group, but also for our clients. It’s great to see that so many people, like Dennis can benefit and win awards too, with the help of our training systems,” said Daniel Davies, CPL Training Group’s CEO.

“We are thrilled to have won and be recognised by those in the Scottish licensed retail sector. We look forward to continuing to work with and develop top of the range training opportunities for our Scottish clients in the future,” added Daniel.

Thursday, 23 April 2015

CPL Training Group has been shortlisted for the Employer of the Year award at the City of Liverpool Business Awards, which is hosted by Downtown in Business Liverpool.

The Wirral-based company, who offer multi-platform training solutions that are utilised by hospitality and licensed retail sector, has been selected from companies across Merseyside. Also on the shortlist are Carringtons Catering and The Mothership Group. 

CPL Training Group’s shortlisting for this award is an acknowledgement of the growth of one of The Wirral’s biggest business success stories, who provide solutions for blue chip clients such as drinks businesses Coca Cola and Carlsberg and media corporation BSKYB. 

Established in 1991, the company, led by CEO Daniel Davies started out providing face-to-face training courses for licensees at four regional centres around the UK. This quickly expanded to over 70 locations nationwide, which currently provide training to over 30,000 learners annually. In 2010 CPL Online was established and is now the leading provider of e-learning courses and online business system solutions to the licensed retail sector. It provides 40 courses to over 600,000 learners a year, as well as delivering quality bespoke services and products to its clients.

An ideal candidate for this award, the company has experienced phenomenal growth, with the workforce doubling in the past two years. CPL is also committed to developing young talent and currently has 21 apprentices in various roles across the business. 

Daniel Davies, CPL Training Group’s CEO said, “It’s an honour to be recognised and to be shortlisted for this award. As the company has grown over the past few years, we have put a huge investment in people, recruiting the brightest talent, found here on the Wirral. I strongly believe that this is has enabled us to remain instrumental in our award-winning innovation.”

The winner of the award will be announced at the eleventh annual City of Liverpool Business Awards gala dinner on Thursday 16th July at Sefton Park Palm House.

Voting is open to the public and will close on Friday 12th June at 5pm.

http://www.downtowninbusiness.com/liverpool/events/city-liverpool-business-awards-2015/city-of-liverpool-business-awards-2015-votes/

Monday, 02 March 2015

Our team of trainers are quite used to carrying our training courses in far flung parts of the UK and in unusual settings. From as far north as the Scottish mountains near Inverness to the Southern coastal town of Plymouth in Devon, they experience some of the most unique parts of the British Isles in their quest to deliver licensed training. But it was conducting a training course a little closer to home that gave CPL Training's Steve Moss his most impressive vista of all time

Last month Steve visited one the UK's highest restaurants, Panoramic 34, on the 34th floor of Liverpool's West Tower to deliver the SABMillar sponsored BIIAB Level 1 Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing. Set 300 feet above sea level, with ceiling to floor windows offering breathtaking 360° views, Panoramic 34 offers its customers a fine dining experience in an unforgettable setting.

The free of charge half-day course was delivered to 12 Panoramic employees covering the main points of licensing law, how to recognise the responsibilities associated with the retail sale of alcohol and how to confront any concerns surrounding underage sales or persons who appear drunk. "Panoramic 34 is a business with ethics and our reputation matters", said its general manager David Beaufort-Dysart. "Although it would be rare for our staff to have to deal with someone who was heavily intoxicated, we feel it best that they're prepared for every eventuality."

"We are an extremely busy venue with a 70 seater restaurant and 40 seater bar," he added. "We have up to 400 covers every Saturday and are now fully booked at weekends for months. With such a high volume of traffic, we must ensure we are fully in control and deliver on our responsibility to our guests."

"Ensuring our staff have sufficient product knowledge is of great importance and completing training such as the Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing is another excellent way for our staff to improve their knowledge", continued David. "We want our staff to be confident in their roles and feel they can handle any eventuality. It's about providing them with the skills, knowledge and tools to deliver."

"I worked for a few years in Australia where Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) training is mandatory for all persons involved in the sale or supply of alcohol; and I was recently reflecting on this training and wondering if there was something similar available in the UK. A couple days later, I received a call from CPL Training regarding the ARAR course and immediately signed up to have our FOH team members complete the training in house."

"Liverpool has had a surge of great concepts emerge over the past few years and Panoramic34 would like to encourage others to complete similar training to show that Liverpool is not just a vibrant destination, but we are also a city of responsible traders", concluded David.

"The course is extremely useful and it covers a hugely important topic," said CPL Training Steve Moss. "Understanding the responsibility of selling alcohol and the potential far-reaching implications for both the customer and retailer if licensing law is breached is vital. Businesses like Panoramic 34 who go above and beyond to ensure their employees are equipped with the very best training courses available demonstrate best practice to other licensed retailers.  I found their staff extremely engaged in the subject and showed a mature understanding of the issues. Of course, from my point of view I can honestly say it was the most spectacular setting I've ever delivered a course too!" concluded Steve.

Monday, 23 February 2015

Congratulations to CPL Training Group's CEO, Dan Davies who last month was appointed Chairman of The Institute of Licensing. Dan took over the reins of the membership and training organisation for licensing professionals from Jon Collins who after four years in the role has relocated to the United States. Jon said of Dan’s appointment "We are delighted to welcome Daniel to the Board of the Institute of Licensing. His skills and expertise will add to the strength of the Board and will help move the Institute forward."

Dan is supported in the driving seat by existing Vice-Chairmen Myles Bebbington and Barrister Gary Grant QC. On his appointment Dan hinted at his plans for IOL saying "There are exciting times ahead for the Institute of Licensing and I look forward to using my expertise in business to bring fresh, entrepreneurial ideas to the Institute whilst ensuring it remains focussed and relevant."

Endorsements for Dan in the role have come from across the industry. Tim Hulme, Chief Executive of the British Institute of Innkeeping said, "At a time of great change for our industry, I can think of no one better placed than Dan Davies in leading the IOL through its next period of change. His entrepreneurialism and understanding of the regulatory environment will offer a different dimension to the Institute and the BII looks forward to working more closely with their team."

Kate Nicholls, Chief Executive of ALMR added, “The Institute of Licensing is a unique forum which brings together the trade, the legal and enforcement communities to discuss licensing law and the regulatory environment. We are delighted that Dan has taken up the post of Chairman as with his background, passion and determination he will help to galvanise debate and translate it into practical partnership solutions. We already work closely with Dan and CPL to promote professional standard and look forward to working closely with him in his new role.”

Whilst Brigid Simmons, Chief Executive of BBPA commented, “I am absolutely delighted that Daniel is taking up this new post. He brings with him a wealth of hugely relevant experience, and I look forward to working with him in his new role. When it comes to ensuring that the Licensing Act works effectively at safeguarding responsible retailing, working in partnership with others has never been more important.”

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

Birkenhead lad Aaron Bretland recently made his dream come true by competing in the Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships last month in Edinburgh, thanks to sponsorship support including Birkenhead based national training company, CPL Training Group. He successfully took home a bronze medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships held in Scotland,

Aaron, who is just 15 years old, took up the Korean martial arts sport eight years ago after being the victim of a spate of bullying. “He’s never looked back,” said Dot Bretland, Aaron’s grandmother and his biggest supporter. “He really took to the sport and it’s now his passion. He’s very talented and is hugely committed, training every evening after school”, she added. “It is a massive honour to compete for your Country and Aaron is very excited.”

Last year Aaron became British National Champion and last month, when he competed in the Under 55 weight category.

Daniel Davies, CPL Training Group’s CEO said “The team at CPL Training Group are very proud of Aaron and his achievements at the Commonwealth Taekwondo Championships. He’s an inspiration to other young people as he’s shown that with hard work and commitment you really can achieve great heights”

 A black belt competitor, Aaron has reached 2^nd grade Dan, a grading for those with black belt.  As well as daily training sessions overseen by Lisa and Peter Hankin at the TKD Academy in Liverpool, Aaron trains for several days every month with the British Training Squad in Manchester. Earlier this year, he trained with French, English and Spanish Taekwondo champions at a training base in Majorca, as well as competed in both Austria and Holland.

Aaron is supported, by CPL Training Group, who’s CEO, Daniel Davies, first found out about Aaron through his grandmother at their local Asda. Dot was packing bags at the checkout in return for donations towards Aaron’s taekwondo funding when the two met. Since then, Davies and the team at CPL Training Group have followed Aaron’s progress and supported him with funds for training and equipment.  “We are grateful to Dan and the team at CPL Training Group for all their support for Aaron. They recognised in him a young lad with drive and determination as well as great potential. CPL Training Group, alongside other supporters are helping to make his dream come true”, concluded Dot.

Friday, 10 October 2014

CPL Online, part of the CPL Training Group, has recruited nine new apprentices to join their swiftly growing team.

The recruitment is part of a strategy by the company to develop talented young individuals from the Wirral and surrounding areas and steer them into technical and creative roles within the organisation.

Two of the recruits, James Marshall and Megan Jones have joined the business as part of a joint apprenticeship initiative between CPL Online and Microsoft and are undertaking a Microsoft Level 3 – IT Systems & Networking Apprenticeship. The placement which sees them working within IT Support, is a twelve month programme and in addition to on the job training, includes three separate blocks of three-week training sessions delivered at QA’s training centre in Manchester.

David Dasher, Director of CPL Online said, “The programme turns problem solvers into skilled PC builders, data defenders and cloud controllers and is designed to give James and Megan a strong technical grounding, combined with mentoring and assessment in the workplace.”

Further apprenticeships have been offered to candidates in ELearning and Software and Web Development. Charlotte Jones joins as an ELearning Support Apprentice working towards a Business Level 3 Apprenticeship. The training will provide Charlotte with a range of skills in IT, Administration, Customer Service and Complaints Handling that will see her develop into an efficient and capable member of the support team.

Five recruits, James San, Emily Powis, Owen Bayley, Sean Davies and Shane Farmer also recently joined as apprentices under QA’s Software and Web Development, Level 3 Programme, whilst Louise Jones is undertaking a Software and Web Development Level 3 Apprenticeship.

“The programme our Software Apprentices will follow with give them technical grounding and practical project experience what will see them develop into coding masters!” added Dasher.

Explaining CPL Online’s decision to offer apprentice schemes Dasher said, “There is a huge pool of talent on the Wirral and through these apprenticeships we can offer a first step for young people looking to develop careers in a whole range of business areas. We are committed to supporting young people get onto the career ladder and have seen over the years that some of our most creative and technically brilliant coders and developers started with us straight from school or college.”

CPL Online will be offering a further four apprenticeship placements to start before the end of the year.

Tuesday, 12 August 2014

Friday, 25 July 2014

It might not be Formula One but it's affectionately known as 'Blue Thunder' and certainly draws the eye!

No not, a supercar, a jet or even 007's Aston Martin. 'Blue Thunder', is actually the CPL Training Car and last weekend it carried out a very important mission. Together with two special CPL agents, Elle Emmanuel and Gui Chipchase, it took part in Britain’s Biggest Pub Tour (BBPT), transporting a giant Pledge Passport from Yates’s in Lancaster, 178 miles to First Edition on Bank Street in Kilmarnock.

Britain's Biggest Pub Tour is currently taking place across the UK in aid of Variety, the Children's Charity. Organised by Stonegate Pub Company, a client of CPL’s, it’s the largest pub tour ever attempted in the UK by a national pub operator and encompasses each of Stonegate's 620 pubs and bars visiting towns and cities as far flung as Isle of Wight to Aberdeen.

Keen to get involved in BBPT, CPL Training Group, the UK's leading training provider for the hospitality industry, volunteered to take part in a leg of the tour transporting the BBPT Passport on Saturday 12th July. Leaving Lancaster at 1pm, Blue Thunder and his team reached Kilmarnock at 5.50pm to a rapturous reception.

"Blue Thunder is not exactly speedy but he certainly turned a few heads when we arrived in Kilmarnock, especially with the passport inside nearly as big as the car itself! It’s been fantastic to have been involved with Britain’s Biggest Pub Tour. The teams and their customers at each of the pubs were hugely enthusiastic and there is a real buzz of excitement about the challenge", said Elle.

Whilst in Kilmarnock Elle and Gui took the opportunity to hand deliver the Personal Licence to First Edition’s General Manager who carried out his training via CPL Training. His name? William Wallace, of course!

CEO of CPL Training Daniel Davies commented, "Stonegate never does things by halves and this charity challenge is no different. It's hugely ambitious but the enthusiasm of the whole company and all its 12,000 employees shines through. Congratulations to Stonegate for smashing its own £100,000 target and being well on the way to doubling it."

Lee Woolley, Head of Learning and Development at Stonegate Pub Company and committee member for BBPT challenge said, "Thanks to CPL Training Group for stepping up and getting involved. They are never fazed when we ask them to do something a bit off the wall and this is certainly one of them!"

Friday, 11 July 2014

The HR team continues to go from strength to strength as Melanie Douglas graduates today, courtesy of CPL Training Group.

CPL has provided Mel with full sponsorship through her fast-track Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Human Resource Management qualification, to become a full associate member of the CIPD.

Studying at Wirral Met, Mel has previously completed a CIPD certificate qualification in 2013 and following this intense eight month programme, plans to continue onto the post-graduate qualification in Human Resource Management (MSc) at LJMU later on this year.

Joining CPL in 2012 as PA to Daniel Davies, Mel was promoted to HR Administrator in May 2013, joining Lisa Graham (Group HR Manager) to form the brand new HR team. Over the past twelve months, she has gained invaluable hands on experience, to expand her knowledge and skills and has become a fully rounded member of the department.

Lisa commented 'It has been fantastic to see the professional growth and development of Mel in her new role over the last twelve months. HR is considered to be a dark art amongst the industry and she has proved to be a complete natural. Starting from scratch, we have focussed on a vast range of internal projects and although the learning curve has been steep, she has excelled in every area. She's an invaluable member of not only the team but the wider group and we will continue to support her to achieve all she is capable of.'

Well done Mel!

Wednesday, 18 June 2014

CPL Online has developed an innovative bespoke e-learning career development programme for Spirit Pub Company.

A new approach to career development, the 'Career Pathway', based on Spirit Pub Company's award-winning Training Tree learning and development programme, allows users to proactively develop their own role, working their way across relevant routes and pathways. A combination of e-learning, film and games, delegates visit and complete task-based branches with the ultimate goal of achieving compliancy within a specific area of learning.

Spirit Pub Company operate an estate of over 1,200 pubs nationwide and are committed to developing new and innovative ways of supporting staff in their professional development.

David Dasher, CPL Online's Managing Director, has worked closely with the Spirit team throughout the eight month development programme. David said: "It's always great to be presented with a fresh challenge that means a new way of working for our own internal team. Spirit wanted to take the e-learning concept a stage further and apply that to their internal career pathway development programme and it’s worked incredibly well!"

"Individuals are able to pursue their ambitions online and demonstrate their abilities and willingness to learn through this bespoke console. This has been a major programme and a first for us - it's great to see it now in place and rolled out to over 13,000 of Spirit's staff across the UK.”

The Training Tree design is visually bold, bright and engaging, yet is functional, forming part of the programme's interactive menu. Staff can access their appraisals, e-learning courses, company policies and more from the Career Pathway, enabling people to not only carry out mandatory training, but to understand and manage their own progression within Spirit. Over thirty bespoke online training modules have also been created for Spirit that aid employees in their induction to the pubco.

Spirit brands include Chef & Brewer Pub Co, Fayre & Square, John Barras Pub Co, Flaming Grill Pubs, Good Night Inns, Taylor Walker and the Wacky Warehouse. Mark Peters, Head of Learning and Development at Spirit Pub Company said: "Our ambition is to be the No.1 Hospitality Company in the UK. A business is little without its people and we are committed to employing a team that want to stay with us, develop professionally and pursue their ambitions with us. This new console based learning will ultimately help us achieve that."

Wednesday, 02 April 2014

HTML5 will be the new standardised markup language in the next few years and it is designed to deliver almost everything you want to do online; from animation to apps, music to movies.

Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is a system that enables programmers to achieve font, colour, graphic and hyperlink effects on web pages.

The HTML5 working group includes Apple, Google, Microsoft, Mozilla and hundreds of other vendors - including CPL Online.

We are upgrading over 35 e-learning courses, which were previous created in Microsoft Silverlight, to HTML5 by building them in Adobe Edge. At CPL we strive to expand our business alongside growing technology, which renovates and improves every single day. When the courses are available in HTML5 you will be able to do your training on all major browsers (Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer) as usual but now on any platform you want, including tablets, smartphones and desktops.

The HTML5 e-Learning courses will be available soon - so keep your eyes peeled for our advanced products on your favourite devices!

Monday, 24 March 2014

The Essentials of Pub Management (EPM) course is supporting the licensing sector to help new pub owners make more of their business.

EPM is a three-day course aimed at people taking on a tenanted or leased pub. It has been developed by CPL Training in partnership with North West Regional Inns, who are the primary supplier of the course to candidates and they have been trialling the blended training approach with a dozen new licensees for the past year.

Gary Laycock, Chief Executive of North West Regional Inns said: "Up and coming licensees found the course really helpful and it has provided guidance when they have been starting up their new pubs. The mix of face-to-face training and e-learning really kept people motivated."

The course is completely tailored towards the licensing sector and has already been approved by a number of pubcos. EPM shows candidates how to operate their business, covering important topics such as finance, pricing, stock control, customer service, contracts, cellar training, employment law and product knowledge.

Daniel Davies, Chief Executive of the CPL Training Group said: "The ethos of the course is 'business basics first' – we are providing people with the foundation to build great pubs on."

The course is available at £450 plus VAT and the package includes examinations and certificates. As part of a special offer a second place can be booked for £250 plus VAT if booked together through CPL Training.

Tuesday, 11 March 2014

David Jones, the Training, Scheduling & Co-ordination Manager at CPL Training has completed his Masters in History.

David received his good news from the Open University and he has been awarded a Pass with Merit in his Masters. His final dissertation was a study on the development of bell-ringing in Wirral between 1880 and 1915, investigating the impact of the so-called 'Belfry Reform' movement and links to wider religious trends.

Bell-ringing is David's hobby outside of work, so to write the dissertation on a topic that he enjoys was a pleasurable affair. David said: "I had been thinking of doing a Masters since finishing my undergraduate degree back in 2003. Although History was only 50% of my first degree, it was the part that interested me most. I have always enjoyed pushing myself mentally so I thought it was a good time to do it."

The study of History has also been beneficial to David's role within the company as it has improved his analytical and critical thinking skills.

Everyone in CPL congratulates David on his achievement and wishes him all the best with his future studies.

Wednesday, 05 March 2014

Kevin Sambrook, a Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Approved Programme Provider (APP) has been nominated for the Educator of the Year award.

The Riedel Trophy for the WSET Educator of the Year is awarded to an individual or company making a significant contribution to WSET courses and qualifications in the past year, whilst achieving superlative results in WSET programmes and demonstrating innovation in education.

Kevin has grown his student numbers primarily through being flexible and successfully selling his services as a tutor in just two years. Brunning & Price Pubs, Armit Wines and Harvey Nichols in Manchester are all using his services to deliver predominantly the Level 2 Award in Wines & Spirits and over 50% of his students achieved Merit or Distinction. More specifically, Kevin has trained employees from Living Ventures Restaurants Ltd and the Musgrave Group on behalf of CPL Training.

Being one of the eleven finalists for the prestigious award is something to take pride in, as the nominees were selected from an international pool of hopefuls. CPL is extremely proud to have Kevin as a WSET APP and we hope he goes on to be an even greater success in the future.

Tuesday, 04 March 2014

CPL Online is celebrating a major milestone having delivered 500,000 online training courses.

The business, part of CPL Training Group, was launched four years ago and has grown rapidly to become of one of the largest training providers of its type in the UK. CPL Online already counts leading brands including Coca-Cola, Carlsberg and Heineken and almost all of the UK's leading pub companies as key customers.

David Dasher, Managing Director of CPL Online said: "This is an amazing milestone for us! Whilst we recognised there was a definite gap in the market for a dynamic and technology driven online training provider, we didn't expect this level of demand."

"Awareness of the business grew organically and began initially with the CPL traditional core customer base; the licensing trade. Diversification continued fairly quickly thereafter and we now operate across almost all sectors. Typically, we now deliver around 20 courses for each client, many of whom approached us initially with a single one-off project."

The CPL Online courses range from standard compliancy training to complete bespoke for customers needing specific training. All courses are fully interactive and contain graphics, animation, videos, audio and games.

David added: "Our ability to deliver at every level and for every need has helped spur our growth on. Diversity, flexibility and innovation are most defeinitley key drivers for us and we are becoming recognised as leaders in our field. We're all incredibly proud of our achievements and are already working our way towards one the million mark!"

Tuesday, 04 March 2014

One of the UK's leading training companies, abv Training, has rolled out a range of 28 high quality e-learning courses designed for professionals in the licensed and hospitality trades who do not have the time to attend tutor-led programmes.

The firm has partnered with internationally-renowned company, the CPL Training Group, to offer courses providing qualifications in licensing, bar and cellar skills, safety and compliance, service skills and management.

Students can access their packages via a dedicated online console on the abv Training website and they are able to learn at their own pace.

The courses are highly interactive with 3D animation, graphics, video, audio and gaming technology to help learners become fully engaged with their programme.

Frazer Grant, CEO at abv Training, said: "Our e-learning project is market-leading and we are really looking forward to offering such a great package."

"Businesses are now looking to diversify the range of learning solutions to enable accessibility. E-learning gives people the opportunity to learn at their own pace, in their spare time and attain a qualification which can really help progress their career and benefit the establishment where they work."

Daniel Davies, CEO at the CPL Training Group, said: "We are really excited to be working with abv Training on their e-learning project."

Tuesday, 31 December 2013

This year’s awards ceremony saw a twist with some hellish Staff awards intermingled with the usual heavenly Directors, with a few surprises thrown in along the way. We commend Lisa Graham and Mel Douglas for their impeccable song choices for each award!

Here's a list of this year’s winners...

Newcomer of the Year: Adam Houston

Dapper Chap Award: James Hendy

Most Glamorous Female: Gill Dasher

Rising Star Award: Cath Gillett, Tim Aldous, Cathy Kay

Smile Award: Liam Bell

Unsung Hero: Lorna Dutton

Cool in the Gang Award: Kim Waters

Funniest Moment of the Year: Alan Leech doing the Harlem Shake in his PJs with a bin on his head!

Best Trainer Award: Aileen McDonald

Good Samaritan Award: Michelle Lyons

Sales Person of the Year (CPL & TIC): Rob Griffiths, Antony O’Toole, Emma Simons

Diva of the Year: Steph Lewis

Innovation Award: Azure Team (Giles Drake, Adam Evans, Ant Millar)

Megaphone Award: Peter Moss

Bleep Award: Sophie Moss

Achievement Award: Accounts Team (Andrea Mulcaster, Steve Walker, Kim Waters, Kurt Roberts, Liam Bell, Alex Higginson)

Coolest Geek Award: Phil George

Iron Man Award: David Dasher (presented to him by Iron Man himself, Barry Graham)

Director’s Award: Andrew Rannard

On behalf of everyone at CPL we would all like to thank our directors for hosting the night and wish them all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! The pictures from the 2013 Christmas Party will be available soon on CPLe-learning and CPL Training’s Facebook pages.

Friday, 20 December 2013

The CPL Training Group has just released figures for its market share for Q3 2013 in respect of the personal licence qualification, the APLH. Paul Chase, CPL Training's Director and Head of UK Compliance reports: "In Q3 2013 we achieved a record 31.1% of the personal licence training market. In this quarter 4,040 people sat and passed the APLH qualification in England and Wales with us. We are naturally delighted at this result, which reflects our growing corporate client base from across the licensed retail sector, as well as the ongoing support of SME licensed premises in England and Wales. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers for their support and to wish them the compliments of the season."

Tuesday, 17 December 2013

Stonegate Pub Company has been shortlisted in the HR Distinction Awards in two categories: Distinction in People Development; and Distinction in Innovative Use of Technology, for its bespoke online intranet system 'Elsa', developed in partnership with the CPL Training Group, which houses a wealth of training and company information, along with all 12,000 employees' professional development records.

Tim Painter, human resources director at Stonegate, said: "Our employees are vital to the success of our business, and having happy, motivated people is of the utmost importance. We take great pride in their development and ensure that there is a range of reward and recognition schemes that benefit everyone. Being recognised for the work that we do for and with our people is just fantastic. It's a real testament to the whole company who contribute towards making our business such a success."

The winners of the HR Distinction Awards will be unveiled at a ceremony in Birmingham in February and CPL are routing for Stonegate to win!

Thursday, 28 November 2013

CPL Online is looking to take on at least five new Animators to help boost its growing team as the demand for custom e-learning courses by high-profile clients such as Coca Cola, Carlsberg and Star Pubs & Bars (Heineken) continues to rise. A recruitment campaign aimed at talented and enthusiastic animators, however, has still not attracted enough applicants to meet demand.

Animators form a crucial part of the e-learning process, bringing content to life through engaging imagery and interactivity, encouraging e-learning users retain important information - which is exactly what clients want from courses.

David Dasher, Managing Director of CPL Online said: "We've been surprised by the lack of response to our recruitment drive. Liverpool is a city renowned for its creativity but people are still looking to Manchester and Leeds to pursue opportunities. We're ready to recruit now and want to hear from anybody with a background in animation who's looking for a new opportunity or to kick start their career after leaving education.

Dasher continued: "CPL Online is one of the largest companies of its kind in Merseyside and we're growing rapidly. Whilst we're looking to recruit from a resource perspective, we also want people on board who can bring new, innovative and forward thinking ideas and skills. In return CPL Online offers the chance to work in an engaging atmosphere on rewarding projects that allows them to explore their own talent and abilities."

Previous experience in animation is necessary to be part of the online animation team and applicants will need in-depth knowledge on animation that can be presented in an online or print portfolio.

Since launching just four years ago, the firm now employs a team of 50 people due to a rapid and continuing client demand. The expansion has seen staff intake double in the past six months, a figure that is expected to continue to rise as new clients come on board.

There are currently three positions left in CPL Online for the role of junior animator. To apply for the role please send your CV to Melanie Douglas: melanie.douglas@cpltraining.co.uk.

Monday, 25 November 2013

Paul Chase, Director and Head of UK Compliance at CPL Training, wrote to various industry representatives, to enlist help in persuading the Government not to abolish the personal licence system in favour of a patchwork quilt of local licensing authority training and vetting conditions.

To read the letter containing all 14 signatures of the industry representatives, please download the PDF here.

Thursday, 14 November 2013

The CPL Training Group’s Finance Director Peter Moss was a nominee at the Finance Director Awards 2013 – and he won!

Peter won the award for the Best Finance Director of an Ltd Company (under £12 million turnover) last night at the Crowne Plaza, Liverpool – and rightly so after all the time and effort he's put in to developing the CPL Training Group.

Peter Moss said upon the receival of his award: "Only I'm allowed to make me look bad – so therefore my team's aim is to make me look good. It must be working."

Everyone at CPL is extremely proud of their Finance Director and offers their congratulations!

Thursday, 07 November 2013

CPL Training, the UK's largest licensed retail training provider, has voiced its opposition to plans to abolish personal license holders. The company has argued that the move will be a retrograde step that will create huge complexity for multi-site operators.

In a submission to the Home Office, which is carrying out a consultation on the plan, the company stated: "Currently we have a coherent, national, qualification-based personal licence system that is well understood, and which creates a minimum standard that applies to all licensed premises. To replace this with the local conditioning of premises licences will hugely increase complexity and cost. If the purpose of the proposed change is to enable the targeting of national training and vetting benchmarks, then in excess of 400 local licensing authorities will have to decide on what basis to divide premises into high and low risk. It will vary from one authority to another; and different types of premises and categories of staff will be caught by the local application of national training and vetting benchmarks. For multiple-site operators this creates huge complexity and cost in terms of managing compliance with a patchwork quilt of local training conditions. And given that blanket premise licence conditions cannot be imposed, any new licensing policy in a given authority’s area would require each and every premises licence to be reviewed in order to impose "targeted training conditions" – at a cost that has not been calculated."

CPL Training argues that moves to cut down Red Tape are to be welcomed but the "Government's proposal to abolish the personal licence is an ill-considered, unwanted reform".

The company's submission said: "It is reminiscent of the proposal to abolish the Security Industry Authority as part of the "bonfire of quangos". In the end the SIA was reprieved after protests from the private security industry that had heavily invested in its provisions. Our sector has heavily invested in the personal licence system. We earnestly hope that investment will not be wasted and the Government will not enact this reform."

CPL Training reported that between the start of 2005 and the first six months of 2013, 574,565 learners have sat and passed the personal licence qualification in England and Wales. Currently between 12,000 and 14,000 learners per quarter sit and pass the APLH qualification – approximately 55,000 per year.

It added: "This is an unprecedented level of training and qualification in licensing law and responsible alcohol retailing that would never have been achieved without a legally mandated, qualification-based personal licence system. We find it incomprehensible that this level of training will be discarded in favour of an uncertain local application of national training and vetting benchmarks through conditioning of licences. This is a retrograde step that takes us back to the situation that preceded the introduction of the NLC in 1992."

Wednesday, 06 November 2013

The Christmas Party is fast approaching and both Mel and Sarahmarie are currently busy organising the event to ensure all who attend have a fabulous evening! The invitations will be circulated to all over the next few weeks, giving you all of the details you will need to know.

Following CPL tradition, during our Christmas Party on Friday 20th December, the directors will be presenting a selection of employees with awards to celebrate outstanding achievements throughout the year.

However this year, in line with our Heaven & Hell themed Party, we have devised an 'X-Factor' style twist also introducing a new Alternative Awards category. All employees are invited to nominate their colleagues and Directors for as many categories as they wish by no later than Friday 29th November 2013.

Sealed nomination boxes are located in each building so that staff can anonymously submit their nominations. One will be situated by the coffee machine in CPL Training and the other is located in the staff room in CPL Online.

Awards Categories are as follows below;
1. Diva of the Year - Think red carpet glamour and Hollywood-style tantrums!
2. Iron Man / Woman Award - Driven by their competitive nature to win at all costs!
3. Funniest moment of the Year - An award for the craziest, funniest or silliest moment!
4. The Dapper Chap Award - A compliment to the guy who looks incredibly smart, sexy and stylish!
5. Most Glamorous Female Award - Charming, beautiful and smart - This lady has it all!
6. The 'Bleep' Award - An expressive person who hasn't quite learnt how to mind their P's & Q's!
7. The Megaphone Award - Ear defenders at the ready when this person is around!
8. The Smile Award - An individual who brings a ray of sunshine to everyone's day with their infectious smile, no matter what the weather.
9. The Good Samaritan Award - The one person who you can always call upon for sound advice.
10. 'Cool in the Gang' Award - Think of the 'coolest kid in school', everyone wants to be in their gang!
11. The Coolest Geek Award - An eccentric and enthusiastic individual who lives and breathes Geek Chic!

The nominations will be drawn up by the HR Department - ready for the big night. Nomination sheets have been emailed to you.

May we remind to you to keep all of your nominations light-hearted and in a friendly manner. You are also only allowed to submit one nomination form per employee and please try not to nominate yourself for an award!

Wednesday, 06 November 2013

The new APLH and SCPLH courses for 2014 are ready to roll!

The Award for Personal Licence Holders (APLH) and the Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders (SCPLH) is held in over 70 venues across the UK, and next year three new venues are being added to our extensive list in Hereford, Portsmouth and Taunton.

Some venues are being replaced, which includes Telford, which will be replacing Shrewsbury; Waltham Abbey is replacing Enfield and the London Docklands will be replacing the Canary Wharf venue.

The APLH and SCPLH qualifications are needed to apply for a personal licence to sell alcohol and advance your career prospects within the licensed retail sector in the UK. As the UK's largest supplier of personal license training, CPL Training are always looking to supply you with more venues closer to your premises' location.

To book an ALPH or SCPLH course near you for 2014, click here.

Thursday, 31 October 2013

This October, 30 true or false questions were asked, and it was up to our online contenders to decide if they were a Trick or a Train.

The stakes were high – out of a possible 13 only seven made it through to the finals by answering all 30 questions correctly before the clock struck Midnight, announcing All Hallow’s Eve.

The seven contender’s names were drawn from a hat, and the winner was... NEAL LEWIS!

We offer our congratulations to Neal and we hope he enjoys spending his £50 worth of highstreet vouchers! And well done to all the runners up who received consolation Halloween treats!

To get involved with our future Facebook competitions, please Like www.facebook.com/cplelearning

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Just one week after claiming the title 'BEER CHAMPION 2013' at the BBPA Awards Diner in London, Robinsons have received another accolade, this time 'FAMILY BUSINESS OF THE YEAR'.

There were a record number of nominations for this year's event, which was once again, a sell-out. The cream of the North West's entrepreneurial crop were all present to enjoy the 12th annual awards ceremony, organised by EN Business Awards and held at The Mere Hotel.

The calibre of entrants was extremely high but it was Robinsons Brewery who walked away with the 'Family Business of the Year' award (sponsored by Lancaster University Management School).

It is no secret that the Cheshire family brewers have been busy bees of late. In the past 12 months alone Robinsons have rebuilt their time-honoured Victorian brew house, combining cutting edge technology with 175 years brewing expertise; they have launched an innovative new beer and food matching concept with Simon Rimmer, and to top it all off they have enjoyed exponential success (both at home and abroad) with TROOPER, a beer created with Iron Maiden's lead vocalist and real ale aficionado Bruce Dickinson.

Kirsty Hewitt, editor of EN Magazine, said, "Robinsons Brewery is a rare example of a business which has been run by the same family for 175 years.

"One of the UK's biggest independent family breweries, it has gone from humble beginnings in Stockport to a multi-million pound empire boasting more than 340 pubs across the North West."

"The judges were impressed with the company's longevity and its innovative nature. They also said they are looking forward to seeing what Robinsons will do next."

Commenting on the award, William Robinson, Managing Director (Pubs Division) of Robinsons Brewery and member of the sixth generation of the Robinsons family, said:

"We are delighted to win this award – the timing couldn't be more perfect for us. We've been working very hard to raise awareness of Robinsons, both locally and internationally, by communicating better with our customers, bolstering our brands, and boosting our local economy with high quality training courses and a new Visitor Centre. This award is testament to the dedication of each and every tenant, employee and family member here at Robinsons."

A family tradition, and one which has grown over many years, the story of Robinsons – now one of Britain's biggest independent family breweries – is not just about the history of a brewery but of a family which has played (and continues to play) an immensely important role in British Brewing.

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Admiral Taverns says it has now put more than 100 of its licensees through its new package of e-learning that is designed to help staff train at their own pace.

Admiral launched the package with the CPL Training Group on an online platform accessed via the Admiral Taverns website. It has various modules including compliance, stock management and HR, and can be picked up at whatever time suits a licensee for a flat fee of £250 a year. Around 130 people have now accessed the e-learning programme.

Suzanne Smith, head of licensee recruitment and training, said: "I'm delighted that we have reached this milestone so quickly. It’s been a really important and positive move for Admiral as the delivery of training online fits so well with the demands placed upon licensees. We think that is why we are seeing such strong take up of e-learning."

CPL founder and chief executive Daniel Davies said: "We are delighted to be partnering such a respected company as Admiral. It is a great proposition and fits well with the excellent training programmes that Admiral already has in place, making training and development as accessible and as practical as possible for licensees, and also, importantly, for pub staff."

Friday, 18 October 2013

The CPL Training Group’s Finance Director, Peter Moss, has been nominated for the Best FD of an Ltd Company.

The Finance Director of the Year Awards 2013 celebrates the achievements of leading individuals and businesses within the Chester, Liverpool City, North Wales and Warrington regions.

Peter Moss is responsible for the both the strategic and day-to-day financial management of the Group and has over 20 years' experience across the Professional Services, Distribution, Logistics and Retail sectors. He has also held the position of Finance and Operations Director at a number of multi Fast Track 100 award winning companies; however this year we take particular pride in Peter, as he has overseen the development of CPL Online's expansion and has played an integral role in the building's overall design.

Hopefully our FD's achievements will see him win his award on Wednesday 13th November at the Crowne Plaza, Liverpool and we wish him the best of luck in his category!

Friday, 04 October 2013

CPL Training are hoping to enlist your help in persuading the Government not to abolish the personal licence system in favour of a patchwork quilt of local licensing authority training and vetting conditions.

The Government’s proposals, and why they are misguided:

• To abolish the personal licence
• To make the DPS the only person who can authorise alcohol sales on licensed premises, but the DPS wouldn’t hold a licence
• To require a criminal record declaration every time the DPS changes
• To replace a coherent, qualification-based national system of personal licences that delivers consistency and flexibility, particularly when changing the DPS at short notice, with so-called “targeted local alternatives.”
• “Targeted local alternatives” means every licensing authority deciding who needs training and vetting, and in what types of premises, and how often. A postcode lottery of training and vetting that will vary from one area to another and one premises to another, and will lead to heavily-conditioned premises licences and no consistency

For the first time since the Alehouse Act of 1552 the person or persons managing a licensed premises wouldn’t have to hold a licence. Abandoning the personal licence diminishes the status and authority of those managing licensed premises and will lead to a weakening of supervision. 

It is important that you make your views known to the Home Office; otherwise we could be sleepwalking into a nightmare of increased cost and complexity for the sector. 

There are two ways to respond to the consultation and make your opposition known:

1.You can go direct to the online response form here

2.Simply provide a written response that answers the questions contained in the consultation response document and post it to: Alcohol Team, Drugs and Alcohol Unit, Home Office, 4th Floor Fry Buildings, 2 Marsham street, London SW1P 4DF.

But hurry - the closing date for the consultation is the 7th November 2013! 

Wednesday, 02 October 2013

This October 30 true or false questions will be asked - it is up to you to decide if they are a Trick or a Train.

The person who gets each of the 30 questions on CPLe-learning’s Facebook page correct will be entered into a prize draw… the prize being £50 worth of highstreet vouchers!

If more than one person gets all the answers correct, their names will be drawn out of a hat. If no one has answered all the questions correctly, the person with the most correct answers will win the prize.To answer the question, please insert your answer (‘Trick’ – False, ‘Train’ – True) into the comment box attached to each question.

The winner will be announced on Halloween! So get involved this October and get answering to be in for the chance to win: https://www.facebook.com/cplelearning

Tuesday, 01 October 2013

The CPLe-learning website has been re-designed for a more easy-to-use experience so that users can navigate to the courses they need in click.

The first CPLe-learning website went live early in 2012 to provide people with online accessibility to e-learning courses. E-learning courses are still CPL Online's most popular product, and we want to make them as accessible as possible for everyone to enjoy and learn from.

Not only has the CPLe-learning website been upgraded but the compliancy courses are also seeing a re-vamp, which are due to be available for e-learning users in 2014. David Dasher, MD of CPL Online said: "There's two reasons behind the upgrades – one is due to CPL Online's pledge to clients that we will ensure high-quality levels of e-learning courses are maintained, so that e-learning users are training effectively online."

"The second reason is that technology is growing, and our company is growing with it. Our teams at CPL Online are more advanced than ever - as is the technology they use to build courses and other online products on. With the likes of the green screen, audio booth and supercomputer, we ensure everything we create is the best quality we can achieve."

To view the new CPLe-learning website please go to: www.cple-learning.co.uk and for daily updates from the office please follow our Twitter account @cplelearning and 'Like' our Facebook page here: facebook.com/cplelearning

Monday, 30 September 2013

Fahim Choudhary, National Account Manager at CPL Training, has been nominated for the second year in a row for The Livercool Awards 2013.

The Livercool Awards, which are hosted by Downtown Liverpool in Business (DLIB), is returning for its eleventh year to celebrate and reward the success of the business leaders, entrepreneurs and decision makers who have helped the city region's economic growth during the past twelve months. Award categories include Property Personality of the Year, Digital Entrepreneur of the Year and Man & Woman of the Year.

Fahim has been nominated for the Business Development Manager of the Year category once again, and our fingers are crossed for another win! Fahim works extremely hard on his national portfolio and CPL Training’s; constantly ensuring his clients' needs are met all year round.

The awards will be taking place at the Crowne Plaza, Liverpool this November. To vote for Fahim, please follow this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Livercool2013

Wednesday, 25 September 2013

SABMiller launched its UK Scholars Programme in 2009 in partnership with BIIAB. Now entering its fifth year, it provides training and a nationally recognised qualification for people working in UK licensed premises such as pubs and bars, or selling alcohol in shops and other off-sales premises. The purpose of training staff in responsible alcohol retailing is to eradicate sales of alcohol to people aged less than 18 and to people who are drunk.

Scholars Programme objectives

• Encourage a training culture in small businesses
• Give them a helping hand though subsidised training, which gives them strategies for dealing with difficult issues
• Encourage individual bar and shop staff to take personal responsibility
• Discourage irresponsible drinking and reduce its impact on people and communities

The Programme provides participants with the opportunity to gain the BIIAB Level 1 Award in Responsible Alcohol Retailing. Participants must be 18 years of age and have worked in the licensed retail sector for a minimum of six months. As part of the programme outstanding participants will be identified during their training and will be invited to the BII’s Annual Luncheon. The person who demonstrates the greatest commitment, enthusiasm and professionalism in the responsible retailing of alcohol will be awarded the prestigious Retailer of the Year Award at the Annual Luncheon.

More background on the Scholars Programme can be found at: http://biiab.bii.org/documents/933

The financial support of SABMiller is what has made the Scholars Programme possible. SABMiller’s number one commitment is to encourage responsible alcohol retailing and discourage irresponsible drinking throughout the UK. In the first year of the Programme 800 scholars gained their qualification. This year another 1,000 will be given the opportunity to do so. CPL Training is approved to administer BIIAB qualifications and is participating in the delivery of the SABMiller Scholars Programme. We are running courses in Liverpool in October and November.

For further details of the courses contact Rob Griffiths at CPL Training on:

Tel: 0151 650 6910

Mob: 07780 683229

Email: rob.griffiths@cpltraining.co.uk

Friday, 20 September 2013

Voiceovers are integral for CPLe-learning courses, and as the company delves into further advancements with its online products and services CPL Online treated their VO Artists to a state-of-the art sound booth.

The VocalBooth™ was required from Dolphin Music, who provides a wide range of acoustic solutions. The VocalBooth™ provides CPL Online with greater sound control and it is the most popular product for any professional recording or sound isolation… and of course, everyone is loving the "CPL orange" acoustic foam interior to match the company branding.

CPL Online is constantly striving to improve their products, and by hosting all product-developing facilities on-site they are able to produce quality services for clients and provide new and exciting roles for the talented people who work with them.

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

Gain the qualification legally required to refresh your knowledge of licensing law and regulation with the Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders Refresher (SCPLH/R) course.

All existing personal licence holders must take the refresher course as it has to be completed within five years of the Act commencing or commencing from the 1^st September 2009 - whichever the latest date applies to you.

The taught part of the course will cover the most important aspect of licensing law and will refresh and update your knowledge; including licensing objectives, understanding the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005, legal changes since the Act, licences and operating conditions, application procedures and how to protect children from harm.

The course takes four hours to complete and contains a multiple choice question assessment, which is awarded by Education Development International (EDI). You will need to have your course handbook SCPLH: Licensing Act 2005 for reference. For more information and to book a SCPLH/R course near you please follow this link: www.cpltraining.co.uk/training/licensing/scplhr2.aspx

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

The Shard, formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 72-storey skyscraper. It stands at 1,016ft high and it is the tallest building in the European Union - and CPL Training is currently delivering face to face training there.

The two Aqua Restaurant Group restaurant concepts are Aqua Shard on the 31st floor and Hutong on the 33rd floor of the Shard. Over a dozen people are being trained in Award for Personal Licence Holders, Level 2 Food Safety and First Aid. Robert Dunning, HR Director of Aqua Restaurant Group said: "I am very pleased with the quality of the training that has been delivered to the members of staff; all of which have received a 100% pass rate in their courses."

The north-west based company are seeing more clients coming to train with from across the UK and internationally. Daniel Davies, CEO of the CPL Training Group said: "With the likes of Coca Cola, Carlsberg and Vauxhall now training with us we have really become a leader in the training division – and it shows. We now have a lot of clients coming to us from the London area, which reflects our high standards of training."

The Aqua Restaurants have completed their training in preparation for the two openings in the Shard.

To keep up-to-date with the latest APLH/SCPLH dates, please view the CPL Training website www.cpltraining.co.uk or follow @cpltraining on Twitter.

Friday, 12 July 2013

Lisa Graham, HR Manager for the CPL Training Group, has graduated courtesy of CPL.

CPL Training Group has provided Lisa with full sponsorship throughout her fast-track Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Human Resource Management qualification, to become an associate member of the CIPD.

Having previously completed a CIPD certificate qualification in 2009, Lisa returned to her studies to match the level of hands-on experience in HR she has obtained throughout the last five years. She enrolled at the Wirral Metropolitan College in 2012 and completed an intense eight month course.

The CIPD Human Resource Management qualification has allowed Lisa to expand her knowledge and skills by focusing on key strategic areas, such as workforce and talent planning, plus meeting the development needs of the CPL Training Group through further engagement with employees.

Lisa graduated at the Floral Pavilion Theatre, New Brighton on 12th July. She said: "My seven year old daughter, Mia, was my special guest on the big day. I wanted to make her proud and thank her for all of her patience and perseverance as I studied for the qualification. I want to be her inspiration so that she works hard and dreams big!"

Lisa has applied to commence her postgraduate qualification in Human Resource Management (MSc) at the University of Liverpool through evening classes, which will commence this September.

Tuesday, 09 July 2013

Sunday 7th July the CPL Racers joined the Race for Life and raised over £400 in donations.

The CPL Racers consisted of women from the CPL Training group and their relatives. An estimated 4,000 women ran the combined 5k and 10k race in Liverpool and another 6,000 people came to support the girls and the cause. The race was held on the hottest day of the year so far, reaching 27°C.

The six girls felt the burn whilst running, jogging and walking through Sefton Park, but they all did it in less than an hour!

The CPL Racers' podium:

1st place: Lisa at 27 minutes

2nd place: Sara at 34 minutes

3rd place: Karen at 35 minutes

4th place: Sarah-Marie at 38 minutes

Joint 5th place: Sophie and Steph at 48 minutes

Lisa Speirs, junior graphic designer at CPL Online and 'gold medal' holder, said: "I really enjoyed the event; the atmosphere of everyone supporting the same cause together was a great feeling. Also, Race for Life has inspired me start training again - now I'm aiming to do the 10k race next year and raise even more money to help beat cancer!"

So, the question on everyone's lips: how much did the CPL Racers raise?

The majority of donations came from people at the CPL Training Group and their family and friends, but some of CPL's clients also donated, including Dennis Forsyth from Cheers Café, Bar & Tavern, Fraserburgh. Plus, a huge chunk of money came from the florists at Karen's workplace Hartley's Nurseries, Lydiate - so a big thanks to everyone that donated to the grand total of £425!

To view the pictures from the day, please view the CPLe-learning Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cplelearning

Friday, 05 July 2013

Two new employees have joined CPL Online this month, adding towards the company's growth.

The new starters are Dennis Anderson, who is joining the course development team to aid in coding e-learning courses; and Nick Street, who will be part of the support team helping all e-learning users with their enquires.

Dennis and Nick are part of a group of new people at CPL Online who have joined this year; five employees began only two months ago across the animation, web development and database design teams. The online training company has been expanding rapidly over the past year and has taken on major companies such as Coca-Cola, Heineken and Carlsberg.

David Dasher, MD of CPL Online said: "Businesses have realised the potential of CPL Online and what we can provide for them; so as the workload grows, as does our need to take on more people. We have been expanding rapidly over the past year and we're very keen to employ talented and innovative people that have just finished university in and around Merseyside."

Employing young creative people whilst presenting opportunities to learn and develop lies at the heart of CPL Online, and the employees reflect this mantra by the excellent work they produce. So welcome and good luck to all CPL Online's new starters!

Wednesday, 03 July 2013

Five students have come to spend their summer holidays at CPL!

Hannah Williams and Sean Breeze are spending several weeks at CPL Online for work experience; plus Joe Lewis, Jennifer Birss and Jacob Baylis are back again to lend a hand to the support and animation teams.

Sean Breeze has been given an eight-week position in the CPL Training Group with the IT team, where he will be helping out with technical issues. Antony Millar, IT director at CPL, said: "I'm certain Sean will benefit massively from being part of our team - we manage a range of systems for CPL and our clients so the skills he will hone will be indispensable for future work."

CPL Online encourages young, talented people to work with them, and over 60% of the company's workforce consists of people under the age of 30. Joe is approaching his final year at Hull University this September, along with Jennifer who has just finished her degree in Human Geography at the University of Leeds - and very recently obtained at 2:1 (congratulations Jen!). Both students have already spent Easter, Christmas and summer breaks at Bridge Court before and it has helped them to how to apply themselves within the working world.

Joe Lewis said: "It's great to be part of a growing sector, and when I come to CPL Online I gain invaluable skills by being involved in a young and invigorating workplace."

Jacob, from Teeside University and Hannah from UCLAN have already spent a few weeks at CPL Online already and are settling fine with the animation team. They are both currently helping to illustrate e-learning courses this summer.

Monday, 01 July 2013

This Monday, David Dasher (managing director's son), Joe Anderson and James Dunleavey of St. Anselm College start their week of work experience at CPL Online.

David and James will be creating a video to document the media skills they will gain from working with the online training business; including getting involved with the new green screen. Joe will be taking lead from his older sister Nikki Anderson and working with the animation team on developing scenes for e-learning courses.

David Dasher, MD of CPL Online said: "It's great that we have some bright, talented kids learning in such an innovative environment this week. I hope David, James and Joe all take their work experience as an opportunity to gain new skills and help further develop themselves as creative and intelligent individuals."

Wednesday, 19 June 2013

The expansion at CPL Online is finally coming to an end, closing with the original (Front) Unit being refurbished.

At the present the Front Unit is being painted and having new flooring put down, but in two weeks' time the foundations will have been laid and all the exciting new technology will be arriving, along with some fancy furniture, including a new boardroom table and large couches.

As described in previous news stories, the Front Unit is to be CPL Online’s client-facing building, which will contain a theatre where online products and services can be demonstrated to customers. Customers can also interact with the online services and products through Smart Boards, which MD of CPL Online David Dasher is thrilled about. To view images of Dasher and his new toys, please take a look at our Facebook photo album entitled “Expansion Continuation”, which can be found via this link: http://www.facebook.com/cplelearning

In addition, the green screen is up and ready in Unit 1. The digital media team (starting soon) cannot wait to use it to help further develop e-learning courses and create in-house company videos.

CPL Online's Grand Opening will be taking place in September and we are expecting local companies, MPs and some of our clients to attend the big reveal. More information on the event will be coming soon!

Friday, 31 May 2013

Race for Life is a British charity that started in 1994 to raise money to fund cancer research. Women take part in the Race for Life for various reasons; some in celebration of surviving a cancer experience. Others take part in memory of a loved one or to give hope to a cancer-free future. But all of those who take part in the Race for Life events share a common goal: to raise money for Cancer Research UK's ground-breaking work and to help save more lives.

This summer the girls across the CPL Training Group will be taking part in the Race for Life Sefton Park 5K race on Sunday 7th July. The target aim is to raise £200, but after a colossal £638.40 was raised for Red Nose Day in March, we are certain that everyone across the CPL Training Group will exceed the target.

To show your support, please donate here: http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/cplracers

To join The CPL Racers, please follow this link

The Group ID code is: SM64926. You will be charged a £15 joining fee, which the proceeds go to the event itself and the Cancer Research charity.

Feel to invite your friends and family to join the CPL Racers too! Together we will bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email sophie.moss@cpltraining.co.uk.

Friday, 10 May 2013

On Friday 3rd May 2013, the CPL Training Group flocked to Floral Pavilion, New Brighton for their annual Staff Information Day presentation.

Staff Information Day reviews the past year and presents employees with the chance to understand more about the company they work for and the results it achieves, all through the medium of presentations and internal networking.

There were five speakers this year, three of which were from external companies. Daniel Davies, CEO of the CPL Training Group, was first to present. His speech explained how we have created a blended learning solution setting CPL apart from other competitors and the ups and downs of the previous year.

Jim Kelly, spokesperson for Palmer & Harvey, talked about why they chose us as their online services provider and the work CPL Online have done for the UK's leading independent and national wholesaler; concentrating on the Focus and Vehicle Management systems.

Lee Woolley, Head of HR at Stonegate, talked about CPL's and Stonegate's "match made in hell/heaven", and how they're looking towards the future by making further staff development innovations with CPL Online.

Paul Charity, MD of Propel Info, spoke of the free-to-air morning briefing newsletter and how they help to promote the CPL Training Group through brand recognition, engagement, news writing, message reinforcement and face-to-face.

David Dasher, MD of CPL Online and infamous for his distinct presentations, talked about the success of CPL Online in the past 12 months and what the future will hold for the online services, products and e-learning courses; which looks like it will be a very exciting future indeed!

The presentations were finished by Daniel Davies with a bid for those to line their stomachs with condiments from the buffet before making their way down the road for drinks in i-Kandy; and thanks very much to Dan for supplying the free bar - cheers to the next year at CPL!

Tuesday, 07 May 2013

Star Pubs & Bars has appointed CPL Online to roll out an e-learning package for all its lessees encompassing 24 accredited staff training and personal development courses.

Star Pubs & Bars lessees are the first of any national leased pub operator to benefit from the e-learning programme which provides them with the high standards and scope of managed pub company training.

The pub operator has used its buying power to secure the package for its lessees at a fraction of the cost they would be able to purchase it for as individuals. For just £250 a year each pub's staff and lessees can access the interactive training from any internet connected computer 24 hours a day completing as many courses as they wish. The modules are grouped into three main areas: compliance (such as Age Verification, Food Hygiene and Health & Safety), soft skills ranging from ‘Up-selling’ to Cellar Management and personal development, including Interview Skills, Staff Appraisals and Time Management courses.

Research of Star Pubs & Bars' lessees has found that sourcing good, affordable staff training was a major challenge. Chris Moore, Star Pubs & Bars property and strategy director, stated: "E-learning is the perfect solution. Courses are designed to be used unsupervised and feature interactive animations, games and voiceovers to make the process easy, accessible and fun. Everyone can do it at a time and place that best suits them and can work at their own pace – ideal for pubs where employees work different shifts. Importantly, nobody is required to leave the pub, a real benefit in a busy customer facing business."

The training brings benefits to lessees on many levels. As well as improving customer service and therefore sales, the package enables them to continue their own personal development and helps with the recruitment and retention of staff.

Moore explains, "Applicants can be required to complete basic training before they are taken on, a great way of identifying committed, enthusiastic candidates. And, once employed, lessees can provide staff with a structured development programme tailored to their individual experience, needs and ambitions."

Star Pubs & Bars anticipates that e-learning will ultimately transform all of its training, enabling it to transfer much of the factual information lessees need to know on line, freeing up time to focus on coaching lessees to gain different skills.

Moore added, "The Star Pubs & Bars estate is built on quality, long term sustainable pub businesses. We believe the key to a thriving pub is excelling in every area. We want to help our lessees have the best pubs, which means they have got to have the best staff; our new e-learning training will enable them to go a long way to achieving this."

Thursday, 02 May 2013

Tuesday, 30 April 2013

Forever Young's

Young's – a pub company operating 125 managed and 76 tenanted pubs have effectively used e-learning in the managed department for the past 9 years as part of a blended approach to the learning and development of their employees.

Young's are looking forward to working with CPL on the Young's Academy offering improved e-learning programmes for employees to gain the knowledge required to be safe and compliant in their role, as well as the additional features of a new internal communications - messaging platform and a bookshelf ensuring relevant information available to all employees dependent on the job role.

The Young's Academy provided by CPL is web based giving convenient access for all users, and we look forward to when messaging and the bookshelf are accessible from mobile devices.

The LMS provided by CPL with the Young's Academy will help senior managers and general managers track all team members learning and development enhancing the succession planning and career development of individuals in an objective way and the development of on line appraisal in the summer will support this further.

A new bespoke console will be available to all Young's Tenanted Pubs complete with 24/7 access to online e-learning courses.

"Geronimo!"

Geronimo Inns, "purveyors of fine pubs, fresh British food, real ales and banter" was acquired by Young's in December 2010 and they still operate a high-quality estate of 34 managed pubs in London. The food-led Inns have their own custom console, separate from Young’s, to retain the special brand feel.

Geronimo Learning will provide all the features the Young's Academy has but in a Geronimo way! All the Geronimo tribe embraced e-learning 2 years ago and like Young's all will benefit from the improved communications and information available to all depending on the job role.

Its true... Young's are a group of individual pubs - individual in terms of décor, offer and atmosphere - however the essence of Young's we believe is our people and having the 4 items listed...

Young's fun fact: did you know that every Young's site must contain the 4 following items: the Young's logo, a grandfather clock, an open fire and a picture of the Queen Mother pulling a pint!

Monday, 25 March 2013

On the 15th March, CPL Training employees arrived to work in their Onesies to raise money and awareness for Comic Relief!

Team Onesie held an eventful day, kicking off with the The Big Weigh In. Cash 4 Your Old Clothes taken in people's unwanted clothing items to places that truly need them in third-world countries, and the money made from the kilos of clothes went straight to the Red Nose Day donation fund. Team Onesie also held a Bake Sale on the Friday afternoon, were their opponents at CPL Online joined them at the battlefield and munched a cake or two, thus aiding with the donations towards Red Nose Day.

The final amount Team Onesie raised was £423.40, reaching 211% of their fundraising target! Plus there are binbags of clothes still being brought in for the Big Weigh In! The On-lie-ins (CPL Online) raised a generous £215 and did the Harlem Shake, which you can watch on YouTube.

Well done to everyone in CPL Training, especially Lisa Graham and Melanie Douglas who organised the event in Egerton House and the licensees who came and bought cakes and donated on the day.

To view all the pictures from the day, check out CPLe-learning's Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cplelearning and our Twitter: @cpltraining

Thank you Team Onesie for your participation and donations to Red Nose Day!

Thursday, 14 March 2013

The Publican Awards, in association with Sky, have been held now for the past 6 years and within that time is has become the biggest event in the pub industry's calendar. The Awards celebrate the achievements of the leading pub companies across a range of categories that reflect the products and services on offer across the British Pub Estate; it's basically the pub equivalent of the Oscars.

CPL Training sponsored the event this year and they will continue to do so for the next two years. More than 1,100 people attended the 2013 ceremony held at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London's Park Lane, which was hosted by comedian and TV star Rob Brydon. The Awards have previously been held by the likes of Jimmy Carr, Alan Car and Justin Lee Collins.

The Publican Awards recognises the achievements of the top pub companies across the 18 categories. A number of the winning and highly commended pubcos receive their training from CPL, including:

Everards: Won Best Tenanted & Leased Pub Company (under 200 sites)

Whiting & Hammond: Highly commended for Best Food Offer (2 - 50 sites)

Brains: Won Best Food Offer (51+ sites)

Brains: Won Best Managed Pub Company (51+ sites)

Anglian Country Inns: Won Best Food Offer (2 - 50 sites)

Admiral Taverns: Won Best Tenanted/Leased Pub Company (200+ sites)

Marstons Inns & Taverns: Highly commended for Best Food Offer (51+ sites)

The Oast House, Manchester, part of the New World Pub Company: Won Best New Site

Beds & Bars: Won Best Pub Employer (2 - 50 sites)

Stonegate: Won Best Pub Employer (51+ sites)

Thwaites Inns of Character: Won Best Accommodation Operator

Daniel Davies, CEO of the CPL Training Group and one of the judges from the night, said: "The Publican Awards is always a great event to be a part of; it gives people the opportunity to network with key industry pubco figures and build invaluable relationships with them. It also gives people the chance to launch new brands and to become associated with a leading corporate event. Plus, it's always good fun and supplies great food and drink! I’m already looking forward to next year’s awards."

CPL would just like to say congratulations to everyone who was nominated at the Awards and good luck for 2014!

Monday, 11 March 2013

Fasthosts has delivered industry-leading hosted IT solutions to businesses for over 13 years. With state-of-the-art technology, dedicated 24/7 support and a team of experts, Fasthosts helps businesses to grow now and in the future.

Fasthosts latest campaign, 'Inspiring Better Business', focuses on their customers and what inspired them to start their business in the first place, plus what impels them to continue to run it today. The campaign also includes what Fasthosts products their customers use and how they have enabled their business to expand.

The CPL Training Group has been involved with the Inspiring Better Business campaign, for the training company uses various Fasthosts products such as their dedicated servers, virtual private servers, managed firewalls and domain name creator. CEO of the CPL Training Group Daniel Davies and IT Director Antony Miller have personally been involved with the Inspiring Better Business campaign by providing the details on the company's history and how Fasthosts' products have impacted on the company's success. And of course, Daniel and Antony have both been pretending to be models for the day for the Fasthosts' photographer.

To learn more about the Inspiring Better Business campaign, follow this link to the Fasthosts website: http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/inspire/showcase/cpl-training-group/

Friday, 08 March 2013

CPL Training Group achieved its highest-ever market share for the Award for Personal Licence Holders qualification - the APLH. In Q4 2012, Ofqual figures revealed that there were 12,875 APLH qualifications awarded, of which CPL trained 3,589 or 27.8 of the total. With the exception of a 1% uplift in Q4 2010, BIIAB's market share has fallen for 15 consecutive quarters from Q2 2009 to an all-time low of 57.3% of the market in Q4 2012.

Commenting on the figures Daniel Davies, CEO of CPL Training said: "CPL provides unrivalled geographical coverage with 72 training venues nationwide at which we conduct nearly 1,000 scheduled APLH courses every year. Our learners come from licensed retail businesses large and small that use us regularly because they know they can rely on us for a top quality course and a reliable personal licence application service."

Tuesday, 26 February 2013

This year CPL Training is supporting Comic Relief by raising money and awareness for the major UK charity.

Comic Relief is a major charity based in the UK, whose mission is to drive positive change through the power of entertainment. Since 1985, Comic Relief has raised over £800,000,000; this money has been used to tackle poverty and social injustice in the UK, Africa and some of the world's poorest countries. Red Nose Day was created in 1988 as part of the Comic Relief campaign. Its creation brought comedy and charity together like never before on live national TV.

CPL Training feels strongly about supporting charities, especially Comic Relief, which has done so much already over the past 28 years. So, on the 15th March all CPL Training employees are Wearing a Onesie to Work! #Team-Onesie are also looking to raise money by holding a Big Weigh In; Cash 4 Your Old Clothes are taking in unwanted clothing items to places that truly need them in third-world countries, and all the money made from the kilos of clothes will go straight to Red Nose Day. CPL Training are also Baking it like Berry by having a bake-sale on the Friday Afternoon, where their opponents at CPL Online ('The On-lie-ins') can join at the battlefield, munch a cake or two and raise even more money for the charity.

By holding this Red Nose Day event we intend to achieve (and hope to exceed) our goal of raising £200 on Red Nose Day (and beating our sister company!). So tell your friends, your family, and your colleagues to support #Team-Onesie by sponsoring our Red Nose Day page here: http://my.rednoseday.com/sponsor/TeamOnesie

And don't forget to grab a Red Nose from Lisa Graham in Egerton House for a minimum donation of £1!

Thank you.

Tuesday, 26 February 2013

CPL Online, part of the CPL Training Group, has launched a sophisticated new website!

Vibrant and interactive, the new site promotes the company's new online services and products, including website design and development, database design, web service development, software design and development, and mobile application development. They also offer new products such as the Appraisals System and Intranet Service, which they are providing along with their well-established product, the Hub.

Developed by CPL Online's in-house designers, copywriters and programmers, the site boasts a refined colour scheme and understated layout, enhancing the ease of navigation when browsing through the site. It is the various teams' positive and creative attitudes at the expanding company that have helped Online to grow for the past four years, providing clients with bespoke working solutions to achieve their business goals, and now leading to the new website's launch.

The Online website was a necessary step for the company to take to reflect the company's current growth. CPL Online, formally known as CPLe-learning, began as an online course provider but has naturally progressed to building more software products due to the demands of their clients. Now, the CPLe-learning website is used purely for the e-learning courses and is expected to be renovated soon, along with the CPL Training and CPL Training Group websites.

The new site is cutting-edge, invigorating, and clearly demonstrates what the company can do and the up-and-coming business hopes the website is a proactive move towards securing even more corporate clients.

To visit CPL Online's new website, follow the link here: www.cplonline.co.uk

CPL Online are eager to know what people think of the new website. Mention them via Twitter @cplelearning using the hashtag #CPLOnline or leave a comment on their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/cplelearning

Wednesday, 06 February 2013

Carlsberg, one of the world's most well-known retailer and brewer, has joined forces with leading training providers the CPL Training Group to deliver training to over 6000 pubs.

Hundreds of pubs will benefit from a £100 discount on personal licence training, APLH and SCPLH, from CPL Training. David Scott, Director of Marketing for Carlsberg UK said: "It's never been more important for pubs to have fully trained and skilled staff. However, in these tough economic times, sometimes training and development courses are pushed to the bottom of the 'to do' list as they can be expensive. That's why we have joined forces with CPL, so we can continue to work in partnership with our customers and provide them with affordable and useful training courses, demonstrating that we really do deliver more to customers."

Thousands of independent free houses will also benefit from either completely free or heavily discounted courses from the 24 available from CPL Training's sister company, CPL Online. Pubs can also gain access to Carlsberg UK's bespoke course 'Eight Steps to Success', which offers sites a guide on how to run a successful pub via Carlsberg's award winning 'We Deliver More' scheme. Plus, CPL Online has created a bespoke ranging tool known as 'Getting your Range Right', which supplies licensees with valuable knowledge on selling Carlsberg products to their customers.

Daniel Davies, CEO of the CPL Training Group, added: "We have been training licensed trade for over twenty years and have an average pass rate of 98%. We are delighted to be working in conjunction with Carlsberg UK and deliver these invaluable training courses, which will continue to improve the standard of work in the UK on-trade."

Thursday, 17 January 2013

CPL Online has leapt into 2013 by expanding its business premises, tripling in size and making way for major growth and expansion.

CPL Online specialises in the creation of innovative e-learning solutions. The company is now approaching its fourth year of operation; it has enjoyed fast track growth through contract wins and partnering with a broad cross sector of UK-wide clients. Under a continued program of expansion, the company has secured long term leases on the two adjoining units adjacent to the firm’s current offices on Canning Street, Birkenhead.

The original unit, Unit 1, is currently being stripped and fitted out to a high specification, as will Unit 2 come February. Unit 3 is already finished and all of the Online employees are currently residing there until the expansion project is completed in April. Once completed, the work spaces will be introduced with added benefits such as chill out areas, creative rooms where in-house videos can be developed by the staff and a Theatre where online products and services will be presented to clients.

The reason of the business’ growth is due to its considerable intake of corporate clients. During the past two years CPL Online has seen high levels of success in the online market place, so the company began to adapt the same approach towards the larger corporate market - receiving a fantastic response. The demand for the company’s e-learning courses and online services spurred its growth; big businesses are incredibly engaged with training and can instantly recognise the benefits of delivering interactive and bespoke online training to their employees.

Due to client’s demands, CPL Online plan to take on more people. The CPL Training Group ethos is to give young and talented people job opportunities whenever possible and CPL Online want those young and talented people to come to them in the near future to be a part of an exciting business in which they can grow, develop, learn and innovate.

To keep updated with the CPL Online expansion, take a look at their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/cplelearning and Twitter @cplelearning

Monday, 24 December 2012

Merry Christmas to you all from CPL Training! We hope you all have your gifts wrapped and under the tree, ready for tomorrow morning…

This year we have seen a lot of positives happening within the company. We have now branded and housed the four separate companies - CPL Training, CPL Learning, CPLe-learning and CPL Online - under the name of the CPL Training Group, knitting the divisions together as an entity. The CPL Training Group website is currently being discussed and we are expecting it to be up and running in 2013.

The CPL Training Group has also been implementing a new, interactive Intranet system for next year. It will act as a Human Resource management tool that will help the HR department effectively manage all their procedures; furthermore the system will include an online Induction Course too.

In other HR related news, we unfortunately lost former HR Director Christine Henney, who started her own HR consultancy firm earlier this year, but are pleased to announce that her new venture is doing well. We are also happy to introduce our new Group HR Manager, Lisa Graham, who is really pushing the new Intranet system, and wish her all the best in her new role with us. Peter Spivack, a former Food Safety trainer of ours, has now joined us as Head of CPL Learning. Peter has a strong background in Apprenticeships and work-based learning and is proving to be a great asset to the department and the CPL Training Group.

The new clients we have worked with in 2012 include Genting, who are one of the UKs largest casino operators; Robinsons, the brewers of excellent craft ales and St Austell Brewery, Cornwall’s Award winning independent family brewers, who we have helped to effectively manage their training by providing in-company, tailored courses, developing new e-learning courses and offering online services and products.

It is a very exciting time for our sister company, CPL Online, as well as it is expanding its staff, clients and premises in 2013 and will also be launching their new website in January. They have a lot to celebrate this New Year, so congratulations to everyone over in Bridge Court!

Everyone in the CPL Training Group is anticipating all the exciting events that are going to happen next year, but for the next week we hope everyone has as a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thursday, 20 December 2012

CPL Chief Executive, Daniel Davies, and Directors, Paul Chase, David Dasher and Louise Sui, attended the annual ALMR Christmas Lunch at Old Billingsgate last week to help the leading industry body celebrate its 16th year and, raise a significant amount of money for the organisation and find out the winners of the highly sought after ALMR Operations Manager Awards.

Donny McIntrye of Spirit Pub Company named Area Manager of the Year and Heike Funke of Punch Taverns won Business Development Manager of the Year. Rob Summers, another Punch Taverns BDM, was narrowly beaten by his colleague but was recognised with a Highly Commended Award from the judging team. Benjamin Smith of Charles Wells Pub Co won the Rising Star award.

Nick Bish, Chief Executive ALMR and Chair of the Awards Judging panel commented:

“The ALMR Operation Managers Awards celebrate the men and women who apply innovative thinking and tireless enthusiasm to grow their businesses and inspire and motivate their teams in a very tough operating climate. The standard of the class of 2012 was exceptionally high and this is demonstrated by the fact that a Highly Commended award was given to Rob, the first time in the Awards history we have done this.”

The event was a huge success and raised an incredible £18,707 for the Licensed Trade Charity. CPL would like to congratulate ALMR on a truly excellent Christmas Lunch and wished them even greater success in 2013.

Monday, 17 December 2012

Junda Jiang, the owner at The Chef Chip Shop in Wallasey completed the CPL Training Food Safety course in July 2010. When deciding to train the latest employees at the restaurant - Liyi Jiang and Jie Lan Zhou - Junda immediately thought of going back to CPL Training to get them competent in the kitchen.

Junda enrolled the two staff in the RSPH Level 2 Award in Food Safety. The course is aimed at anyone whose job role includes cooking, preparing, or serving food and gives food workers knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of good practice in food safety. The course is also accordant with the national occupational standards and is recognised by the awarding body Education Development International (EDI).

A trainer from CPL Training came to The Chef Chip Shop in early 2012 to train Liyi and Jie and spent the day educating the pair on food poisoning and how to prevent it, cross-contamination, the food premises statutory requirements, food pests, and how to document their food management system, all in the comfort of their own workspace.

Junda, Liyi, and Jie are now all compliant in the field of food safety, and when visited by environmental food officers in early 2012 they showed their proficiency in maintaining a clean and organised kitchen with great adjure; which is why the Wirral Council awarded The Chef Chip Shop with a hygiene rating of five stars in April 2012! Since gaining the award the restaurant has never been so busy or as highly commended by their numerous, regular customers.

To find out how your business can benefit from CPL Training’s courses call us on: 0151-650-6910 today!

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

It is nearly the beginning of a brand new year and our sister company CPL Online’s resolution is to expand! At Bridge Court they are moving up and out; for as we begin to engage with more corporate clients our company, including our staff and our estate, has to expand to cater for their needs.

The current premise CPL Online resides in is in one of four units, but we have now bought the two adjoining units giving us three times more office space. This is for the benefit of both our current and anticipated staff as by the end of 2013 we are forecasting our staff numbers to have doubled.

The current staff at CPL Online will be dispersed across the units: the support team are glad to be rising from the depths of downstairs to enjoy the view of our neighbouring partners at Egerton House and the designers, programmers, animators and course developers will be moving into the largest unit to give them more creative space.

We are also expecting some exciting new features to be included in the new building, such as a cafeteria filled with comfortable chairs, so there will be no more crumbs on the desks! A demo room where our current and new clients can come and see our e-learning courses, services and products in action; and we are also expecting a greenroom were all company videos will be produced professionally in-house.

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

CPL Training and CPLe-learning went head-to-head in an internal competition to see which company could raise the most money and, of course, grow the most offensive moustache.

Team Flavour Saver, consisting of David Dasher, Alan Leech, Danny Clark, Adam Evans, Andrew Rannard, Martin Bailey and Stuart Hellon, from CPLe-learning raised a total of £160. A worthy contribution, which was added to by the team’s two drop-outs, whose moustaches ‘blew off in the wind’, Richie Lam and Chris Hellon.

The two Mo Fathers from CPL Training, Peter Moss and James Cox, both sported mighty Horseshoe ‘taches’ and raised a superior amount of £181. The potency of their gaze-drawing facial hair made them the winners of the competition and we hope raised awareness for the Movember Foundation.

The overall total from the CPL Group came to a whopping £341 and will go to men’s health charities supporting Prostate and Testicular Cancer initiatives.

The Movember Foundation, a non-profit organisation, which started as a competition between friends in 2004 has now grown into a global movement with official campaigns from the UK and US to South Africa and New Zealand. The first Movember campaign raised $55,000 (AUS) for men’s health organisations; a total which rose to $124 million (AUS) in 2011.

We would like to congratulate all the men that participated in CPL’s Movember effort and thank everyone who donated. We’re looking forward to Movember 2013!

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

CPL Learning, the work-based learning arm of The CPL Training Group, and the Wirral branch of A4e, the leading public service provider, have teamed up to provide unemployed people on the Work Programme with a bespoke training package designed to help them find work in the hospitality industry.

Participants on the 6 week programme worked towards a Certificate in Hospitality and Catering Principles, which included customer service, food safety, age verification, first aid and health and safety all of which are vital attributes for people as they move towards employment as a Hospitality apprentice. CPL supports learners through classroom learning, e-learning, job shadowing and arranging interviews.

A4e Wirral Business Leader, Craig Doyle, has been delighted by the success of the programme: “I am delighted to be working alongside CPL who have delivered a very well received and worthwhile hospitality course to our customers. The first course saw 12 candidates attain five vocational qualifications each and a work placement at the end of the course, which has already resulted in four learners getting a job. This is a very encouraging start and the positive impact has been really evident in terms of customers’ self-esteem and confidence. I look forward to a long term association with CPL.”

While four of the learners, who have completed their courses, have already found employment within the hospitality sector, the rest are expected to be placed by the end of November. Employers who invited our clients to experience work in this sector included the Caernarvon Castle Pub in Wirral, The Cupcake Café in Hoylake, Lattetude Café West Kirby, Spoilt For Choice Café Birkenhead, Cheshire Caterers, Carr Farm Meols, Twelve Quays Café Birkenhead, Hornblowers Pub Birkenhead and Sheridans Pub Wallasey.

Participant Cathryn Williams, who is now working towards a Level 2 Apprenticeship in Hospitality, said she was extremely grateful for the opportunity. She said: “I enjoyed the whole course – the trainers were excellent and always available if needed. I feel 100% more confident and was offered a job on my second day of work placement. I would recommend this course to anyone.”

Pleased with the feedback and level of success so far, CPL Learning Contracts Manager, Sue Mayers, is looking forward to expanding the programme further. She said: “The success of the programme has been incredible and with all learners either in, or soon to be in, employment, it has given them all a great confidence boost.

“We’ve had such a good response that we are creating another programme with A4e for Wirral with 32 places available and hope to be able to roll this out to other parts of Merseyside. The hospitality sector is such a large industry we feel that, especially with Christmas around the corner, we can supply employers with trained, confident workers that will be of real benefit to their business.

“Local employers have also responded well to the programme, with several offering participants a three day job taster, for which I would like to thank them and for their continued support.”

CPL and A4e held a presentation on Friday 23rd November at The Lauries Centre in Birkenhead to present learners with their certificates.

A4e is delivering the Work Programme on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Job Centre Plus.

Monday, 03 December 2012

In Q3 2012 CPL Training achieved its highest ever market share for the personal licence qualification - the APLH: 26.7% of the market.

In Q3 (June to August) 3,620 APLH certificates were issued to candidates sitting the APLH with CPL Training - its highest-ever number of APLH candidates achieving in one quarter. BIIAB had 59.5% of the market – their lowest market share ever. Highfield Awarding Body for Compliance (HABC) saw their market share decline from 14% in Q2 to 12.1% in Q3. NCFE saw their market share decline from 2.2% in Q2 to 1.7% in Q3.

Paul Chase, CPL Training’s Head of UK Compliance commented: “We are delighted with these figures. Our market share has risen in a largely static market, and this is a tribute to the hard work of all our staff and a vote of confidence from our expanding list of customers, large and small.”

Monday, 26 November 2012

A couple of months ago we announced that Fahim Choudhary, one of our Account Managers, had been nominated for Business Development Manager of the Year at the Livercool Awards.

Today we’re delighted to announce that Fahim won his category!

Downtown Liverpool in Business (DLIB) celebrated its tenth Livercool Awards at the Crowne Plaza last week. The annual awards are a chance for DLIB to recognise the contributions business leaders and entrepreneurs make to the economic growth in the city.

Categories included Employee of the Year, Man and Woman of the Year and even a male and female Sexy Networker of the Year. Fahim saw off five other finalists on the night to claim his prize – a DLIB award winners’ trophy.

CPL would like to congratulate Fahim, who works extremely hard on his national portfolio to ensure his clients’ needs are met all year round.

Wednesday, 14 November 2012

Wirral’s CPL Training says its digital and creative training academy has welcomed dozens of young people through its doors since last year’s launch.

Birkenhead-based CPL set up an “e-learning” arm in 2010 to create training software packaged for its clients. The company employs 30 people and has carried out projects for national and international brands. The team includes programmers, designers and animators who use 3-D animation to make training programmes more engaging.

Last year, David Dasher, head of CPLe-learning, decided to set up an academy to offer training and work experience opportunities for young people looking to get into the creative and digital sectors. Mr Dasher says the scheme has been a great success – and wants more young people to sign up.

He said: “Merseyside is a real source of talent in the creative digital sector, yet opportunities for many youngsters can be few and far between. As a company, we are growing quickly and are constantly in need of added resources.

“From our infancy, we took the approach of focusing on young talent who, while bringing something fresh to the table, we would also be able to develop professionally to work in the CPLe-learning way. Our team is a really young one and the older team members are keen to support our more junior members of staff.

“Our business model of working with young people was perhaps a risky one but has proven to be a huge success. Young people sit at the heart of CPLE-learning and we will continue to act as a centre of development and excellence within this sector, presenting exciting and stimulating opportunities.”

CPL’s courses have covered subjects from Food Safety to Manual Handling. Its clients have included brewer JW Lees. Junior Animator Jacob Baylis, 19, worked with CPLe-learning during his summer break from studying Computer Animation at Liverpool John Moores University.

He said: “I’ve had lots of practical, hands-on learning during my time with the company – it’s been brilliant to be part of a professional team and seeing a project through from beginning to end. I’ve developed my skills and learnt how to use different software and new programmes.

“I now have credible experience and project work on my CV which I’m sure will help boost my career prospects in the future.”

Monday, 12 November 2012

Cheshire-based family brewers – Frederic Robinson – have partnered with CPL Training to launch an online, e-learning training platform - www.robinsonspubtraining.co.uk across their 360 pub estate.

Robinsons are committed to looking at innovative ways to support both existing and new tenants in order to help their businesses succeed.

Veronica Robinson, Director at Robinsons, enthuses “We are keen to empower our tenants by supporting both their training, and also the training of their employees. It’s early days in terms of the launch, but feedback from those tenants testing the new training platform has been very positive.”

The online e-learning system is easy to use through standard internet access and offers a wide range of compliance and softer skills training courses. All the courses are designed to be interactive with lots of graphics to aid learning, as well as frequent tests and quizzes to remind users of the key points before they take the final exam.

There is also a unique learner management and reporting platform which gives easy access to training records and provides an audit trail for any compliance checks.

Pubs can either acquire an annual site licence that allows them and their staff unlimited access to all the courses provided. Or, alternatively, tenants can pay-as-they-go for just £20.00 per course (plus VAT). All courses are fully certificated with tenants and staff receiving their own personalised certificate when they pass the course.

Among the 25 e-learning courses on offer are Level 2 Food Safety, Health & Safety, Customer Service, Drugs Awareness, Underage Sales Prevention, Equality and Diversity, Disability Awareness, COSHH, Fire Awareness, and Manual Handling.

The e-learning platform – which launches early November – marks the start of an exciting time for Robinsons’ tenant training programme. The industry leading new Training Centre at the brewery will offer tenants invaluable induction guidance and hands-on experience in the training centre’s purpose-built classroom and state-of-the-art kitchen and cellar.

All the training will be provided and promoted in partnership with Robinsons’ tenancy support team, business development managers, and their in-house food and wine specialists. Licensees will also have access to the marketing department which can give all sorts of advice and point tenants to the vast array of services available – such as www.mypubhub.co.uk which houses a range of marketing templates (such as food and wine menus, big days posters, promotions tents cards) which can be personalised for each pub, alongside a supplier directory, business driving ideas and other support.

CPL will be providing prospective new tenants with their personal licence training through their APLH centre network, and new tenants will also be offered a free log-in for Level 2 Food Safety training, if required.

Friday, 09 November 2012

So one week on from when the men of CPL ditched their razors and took up moustache growing, we ask “How’s it growing?”

Everyone has fully got behind them and the donations are starting to come in. James’ team, the Mo Fathers, have so far raised £47 and Team Flavour Saver are not far behind with £40. With three weeks to go we’re sure they’ll continue to raise money and awareness.

And what of the moustaches? Well they’re coming on nicely as well – some better than others.

The classic ‘tache’ seems to have been replaced with the ‘Handlebars’, which James and our Finance Director, Peter Moss, are donning. Whereas, over at CPL Online, the majority are opting for something we are led to believe is called the Major.

Confused? Take a look at our Facebook page for the latest images of the lads and their maturing moustaches.

Friday, 09 November 2012

So the Parliamentary debate on the duty escalator has finally taken place. Anyone who thought that this was going to lead to an immediate review of this iniquitous tax has had their illusions rudely shattered by the announcement that there are no plans to do so. But this is hardly surprising. Accountants rule at the treasury, not economists, and the diminishing returns argument has fallen on deaf ears.

The good news is that CAMRA is organising a mass rally of Parliament for the 12th December. It will be interesting to see just how many people CAMRA can get down to this. Whilst I don’t think they will be able to mobilise 250,000 people – which was the number who attended a mass rally in 1908 to protest against the Liberal Government’s plans to nationalise pubs – I do hope that we can achieve a turnout that is in the thousands. CAMRA is a grass roots organisation and its members are passionate about beer and about this issue.

The Government is still in thrall to the health lobby in relation to all things alcohol, and sin taxes make them look moral as well as fiscally responsible. A successful mass protest that gets the red top newspapers on side would help us take back cultural ownership of the alcohol issue from medical temperance. As the mass protests of 1855 over Sunday opening for pubs, and the 1908 demonstration against their nationalisation prove, it is only when we involve the drinker in the debate about alcohol that government and media begin to trim their position.

To achieve a result in respect of the duty escalator, and in the campaign to reduce VAT to 5% in pubs, we have to widen the debate. This is about tax equality; it is about defending the right to drink in a convivial public space; and it is about the defence of a venerable British institution – the pub.

See you on the 12th December!

Thursday, 01 November 2012

CPL Training and CPL Online are proud to support Movember. James, CPL Training’s Graphic Designer is taking part in his third consecutive year, whereas a group of CPL Online, including David Dasher himself, have created their own team in support of a fantastic cause.

To show our support for the lads and the Movember cause we will be documenting their Mo growth on a daily basis, uploading all photos to our Facebook and Mo pages so please check their progress and of course donate to either James’ Movember page or to the lads at CPL Online, if you can.

However, when Movember was first mentioned in a staff meeting it met with a few raised eyebrows – what is it? Why does it involve moustaches? And so on. So, here’s a quick history for you...

Movember started off, in 2003, as a moustache-growing competition between friends Luke Slattery and Travis Garone. The two Australians and some of their friends ditched their razors for one month to see who could grow the best tash. Due to the popularity of the competition Luke and Travis decided it was a great way to raise money and awareness of men’s health issues which, unlike women’s health issues, were not given a lot of press.

In 2004 the Movember Foundation was established, co-founded by Luke Slattery, Travis Garone, Adam Garone and Justin Coghlan. It is a not for profit organisation which has grown into a global movement with official campaigns running in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Finland, New Zealand and South Africa. In its first year the Foundation raised $55,000 and continues to raise both money and awareness for men’s health organisations including Prostate Cancer charities.

So, back to the lads and their moustache-growing teams; the Mo Fathers and Team Flavour Saver.

James and his friends, the Mo Fathers, who are taking part in their third year, were shocked by some of the facts and figures about Prostate Cancer and Cancer in general so decided to take part:

“I hadn’t really heard anything about Prostate Cancer before and was shocked, after looking at the Movember UK website, to find out how many people it affected. Getting involved was an easy decision to make.

“The Movember Foundation is a great cause and growing a moustache or beard with your friends is a really easy and fun way to help!”

The lads from CPL Online, Team Flavour Saver, agree and, thanks to James, have set up their own donation page and are hoping to help raise a lot of money and awareness for men’s health in their first Movember year.

You can donate to either James or the CPL Online lads by visiting their pages. As a thank you to everyone who donates we will be providing regular updates, of the photographic kind, to show you how the Mo growing is coming along – please feel free to comment and get involved!

Join us on Facebook and Twitter @cpltraining and @cplelearning

Ready? Then Let’s Mo!

Friday, 26 October 2012

The latest free report to come from ourselves is the Zurich Report. Commissioned by the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR) and ourselves the report, written by Propel Info Managing Director, Paul Charity, looks closely at the key foodservice trend in Europe.

Both CPL and the ALMR organised a visit for Paul to the European Foodservice Summit in Zurich, to find out about what trends are being set by the restaurant industry and what we can expect from the industry over the next 12 months.

Over the three day conference Paul heard from several key industry figures including Gretel Weiss, co-founder, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of Food-Service and FoodService Europe & MiddleEast trade magazines; Alan Yau – the man behind Wagamama and one of the most influential restaurant concept creators; Ron Shaich, the founder, Chairman and Co-CEO of Panera Bread Company and Dr. David Bosshart, CEO of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) for economic and social studies in Switzerland – one of the leading think tanks in Europe.

Paul’s report gives great insight into the companies and sectors that are out-performing in Europe and analysis from some of the world’s top operators.

To get your free copy of the Zurich Report please email Paul Charity at paul.charity@propelinfo.com

Monday, 22 October 2012

CPL Training has developed a suite of 14 bespoke face-to-face courses for JW Lees covering a wide range of topics. These courses will be delivered on scheduled dates at various locations and include effective communication, getting the best out of your kitchen team, merchandising, recruiting the best, financial management, employment law basics and exceeding customer expectations. This annual training diary will break down barriers to learning and will enable managers, tenants and their staff to improve their understanding and skills.

Vicki Jackson, Human Resources Manager comments: “We want to ensure that training continues to play an important part in promoting our ‘Be Yourself’ policy. We believe that every aspect of our business - the people, the pubs, the beer, the food - will measure up to our ‘Be Yourself standard and our mission to be most exciting brewery in the North. We want to be recognised as an employer that does not have any barriers to training and development and that we are here to help people to develop their careers.”

The face-to-face training is running alongside the e-learning platform and apprenticeships already delivered by CPL across the estate and further demonstrates J W Lees passionate commitment to their staff.

Wednesday, 17 October 2012

Now that it is in the public domain we are proud to announce that West Country brewer and retailer, St Austell, has signed up with us to ensure its staff members are trained to the highest standard.

The partnership forms part of a two-stage programme which has the aim of raising service standards and instructing staff on licensing law and the numerous statutory requirements involved in running a pub.

Our e-learning suite of online courses is at the centre of the programme, which will begin to be rolled out across St Austell’s 25 strong managed estate at the end of October. Shelley Tookey, Company Training and Developments Manager at St Austell, said the programme will be open to up to 800 members of staff in the managed houses as well as elements of the programme being available to around 400 people employed in other aspects of the business, including the brewery.

She added: “People will have access to around 22 courses, of which some will be mandatory depending on what their job entails. There are no barriers to the number of courses that people can take if they want to develop their career.”

CPL Online Managing Director, David Dasher, also commented on the partnership: “St Austell Brewery is renowned for its high levels of staff training and customer satisfaction and we are proud to be involved in helping the company to improve standards further.

“The programme is a significant investment in time and money by the company and shows its commitment to developing careers for members of staff as well as increased customer service.”

Read more about the partnership on the Publican’s Morning Advertiser website.

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Pub & Bar, the monthly magazine for the licensed hospitality sector, have launched the Pub & Bar Live! roadshow.

The free-to-attend roadshow, consisting of three, regional one day, business-building trade shows is unique in that is focuses on providing operators with innovation, knowledge and staff training for the whole industry. We were given the opportunity to be one of the sponsors of the event and also have a stand.

CPL Online’s Managing Director, David Dasher, and E-learning Business Development Manager, Samantha Cass, are attending all three events held across October and November with the aim of raising the profile of online learning within the industry. So far, there has been a genuine interest in incorporating e-learning into operator’s training programmes.

David said: “We have noticed an increase in the number of operator’s looking to make their training programmes more convenient. A good way of doing this is to utilise our fully integrated e-learning platform.

“However, the operators we have spoken to so far aren’t looking for a complete switch over to e-learning, but are rather looking to adopt a blended learning solution in which e-learning plays a significant role in the management side of staff training.”

The roadshows offer pub and bar operators alike the opportunity to have their menus reviewed for free and shown how to put the perfect menu for their business together through a Food Menu Development Workshop. They will also have the chance to watch interactive demonstrations, attend seminars and meet existing and potential suppliers.

The Pub & Bar Live! roadshows for 2012 are:

• Monday 8th October, Coventry
• Monday 29th October, Bolton
• Monday 19th November, Surrey

Wednesday, 03 October 2012

The latest of surveys to be commissioned by CPL Training and completed by Propel Info surveyed 5,000 customers, who had visited major brands in the past three months, asking them to score their experience.

The results, which ranked the highest 10 brands in terms of customer satisfaction showed the following:

1. Piccolino
2. Cote
3. Aagrah
4. Las Iguanas
5. Brunning & Price
6. Gaucho Grill
7. Bill’s
8. La Tasca
9. Nando’s
10. Spaghetti House

CPL’s Chief Executive, Daniel Davies, said: “I’d like to congratulate these brands and their staff for scoring so highly in our survey. It was clear that customers regarded these brands as offering exceptional customer service and value, resulting in outstanding customer satisfaction scores.

“We are in the process of contacting companies and brand owners to tell them their precise score.”

The survey shows that customers did not mark restaurants down based on their prices and are happy to pay slightly more than average as long as they receive a good standard of service. Paul Charity, Managing Director of Propel Info who delivered the report, commented:”It is clear that customers of major branded chains have a very clear idea of what constitutes good value at whatever price points they trade at.

“Gaucho Grill, for example, has price points that are above average, but customers rewarded the brand with a high score based on relative value and service standards.”

Just missing out on a top ten place were Ask, Pattiserie Valerie, Wildwood, two Mitchells & Butlers brands, All Bar One and Premium Country Dining.

www.propelinfo.com