If ever there was going to be a publican I could pinch ideas from, Darran Lingley — incumbent BII Licensee of the Year — would surely be the man to talk to and, arriving at the Five Bells, I’m not disappointed.

Features hit me almost as soon as I walk through the door: printed calendars of upcoming events on the bars, digital photo frames mounted on walls strategically throughout this large, bright and airy pub. These devices have come down in price a lot over the years and can easily be loaded with pictures of the pub or adverts of special offers and upcoming features. In the Five Bells, they display a nice mix of both, are hung on walls in the dining areas as well as near the main bar itself.

Darran is, quite simply, one of the most positive and proactive publicans I’ve ever met. We sit to chat over a coffee and he explains why he thinks sharing ideas is a must in this industry.

“This is a great year for pubs to make money,” says Darran, “but you’ve got to be proactive, get out there and get events set up now.”

For the Diamond Jubilee weekend, Darran has already got quiz nights, dance nights and band nights arranged and a hog roast to keep everybody fed. And that’s before he starts talking about the Euros or the opportunities with the Olympics…

The Five Bells has a live music event every three weeks, with music from bands and even busker nights, but Darran is canny when it comes to booking artists. “Put together a contract with any band that you book,” he advises. “It’s a business to them as much as it is to you, so don’t book them and agree to pay them, then leave them with nothing to do in the meantime.”

As a rule, each band has to agree to promote their event at The Five Bells on up to four different social media sites and Darran will pay them a “full-room” bonus, above and beyond their fee, if they pack the place out.

Darran also suggests you make sure pictures on your website and social media presences include pictures of people. “Images of nice tables laid out and ready are all very nice,” he says, “but you want to be showing people how busy and lively your pub is.”

Paper specials board
The specials board grabs my attention: rather than a chalkboard, The Five Bells has a roll of brown packing paper hung neatly by the bar with the day’s specials displayed. Each day, they simply cut the old menu off, pull down a new sheet and rewrite they day’s specials.
It’s such a quick and neat solution — no need to constantly be wiping clean chalkboards and painstakingly rewriting in liquid chalk — and quirky and different enough to get everybody’s attention.

Cool wall
My favourite idea is Darran’s Cool Wall of Beer. My 12-year-old can pretty much recite, verbatim, every car that Jeremy Clarkson has put up on Top Gear’s infamous Cool Wall. In the Five Bells they have built their own replica of the television board and when I visit it is adorned with ales the pub has recently sold.

“Customers can move them up and down at their pleasure,” explains Darran. “It’s a bit of fun for them and helps us see what the customers thought of the different beers we’ve had on sale.”

The board cost about £50 to have made and rolls of magnetic tape are only £5, so it’s a fairly inexpensive bit of fun to put on the wall. “We don’t just do beers on it, though,” says Darran. “It’s good to refresh it from time to time, so menu items or band names, photographs of events and so on all get chucked up there occasionally.”

I really like this idea, it’s got to be one of my favourites that I’ve come across as I travel round visiting publicans, and an easy one to implement.

Growing business
After 10 years at the helm of The Five Bells, what next for Darran? He’s a successful individual, with accolades to his name and a growing business coaching and consultancy operation to concentrate on too, but he hardly seems ready for an easy life. In fact, he’s in the process of taking on a second pub in a neighbouring village, and plans to set up a pub bus to ferry customers between the two.

I look forward to seeing what ideas I can pinch from there when it’s up and running…