Bar Person/Manager

Bar staff serve drinks, snacks and often hot or cold food to customers in licensed premises. They also take payments, chat to customers, check details of customers who appear to be under age, assist with special promotions, keep the bar area clean and well stocked, wash glasses, and clean and clear tables regularly. Bar managers manage licensed premises. Their work may also include:

• recruiting, training and supervising staff
• setting price levels and ensuring sales targets are met
• stocktaking, ordering from suppliers and arranging deliveries
• keeping the books, paying wages and dealing securely with large amounts of cash
• ensuring that legal and health and safety requirements are upheld.

The hours of work may be long and almost always involve evening and weekend work. Full-time employees usually work shifts, but bar staff often work part time. Bars may be hot, noisy and crowded. The work requires long periods of standing and usually involves lifting and carrying crates, beer barrels and boxes.

Salaries range from around £11,000 a year to £15,000 a year or more for a bar person. Bar managers may start on £13,000 whilst training, but can earn up to £30,000.

A bar person/manager should:

• be friendly and outgoing with a sense of humour
• be honest and trustworthy
• be good at handling cash and memorising orders
• be tactful, but firm, when dealing with difficult customers.

A bar manager should also have good organisational and numerical skills.

The pub, bar and nightclub industry is currently suffering from the recession. In the longer term, however, the hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector is still predicted to grow. Employers range from small bars, clubs and hotels to national chains of breweries and pub management companies.

There are no set qualifications for entry into bar work, as personal qualities are often more important. The minimum age to work in a bar is normally 18. The Diploma in hospitality may be relevant for this area of work. Apprenticeships in hospitality and catering (drinks service) may be available.

Most employers arrange on-the-job training and many of the large companies provide in-house training courses. NVQs are available in food and drink service, bar service and hospitality supervision. The British Institute of Innkeeping Awarding Body and the Wine & Spirit Education Trust run specialist courses, and the Institute of Hospitality offer management qualifications.

Promotion may be to supervisor or bar manager, often in a relatively short time. Those who hold the appropriate licence can become self-employed and run their own pub. There are many opportunities to work abroad.

Further details