Bar takings

[Charlie Brown]

How much do you guys think or expect a bar to take on a Xmas work doo? I'm talking turn over, not profit.

Have you ever been told or worked it out?

I posted my figure on FB and it caused a minor uproar - I'm interested to know your thoughts...

Discuss. :beer1:

[yourdj]

Depends on the bar?

Numbers, type of clients, drink prices, outgoing costs.

Net an average busy bar will take - £20-50k.

Remember they have rates and staffing costs etc. too

[hammy]

Depends on the bar?

Numbers, type of clients, drink prices, outgoing costs.

Net an average busy bar will take - £20-50k.

Remember they have rates and staffing costs etc. too

I used to run a busy pub Toby, All I can do at your figures are :lol: :lol: :lol:

try 5K - 12K

[BVD]

To take £50000 during the evening would entail 500 people spending £100 per person:eek:

I think a spend per customer figure would give a better idea.

Steve

[DazzyD]

Depends on the bar?

Numbers, type of clients, drink prices, outgoing costs.

Net an average busy bar will take - £20-50k.

Remember they have rates and staffing costs etc. too


I used to run a busy pub Toby, All I can do at your figures are :lol: :lol: :lol:

try 5K - 12K


To take £50000 during the evening would entail 500 people spending £100 per person:eek:

I think a spend per customer figure would give a better idea.

Steve

We're forgetting, though, that at Toby's local the number one selling drink, by the bottle, is this:

http://www.simplywinesdirect.co.uk/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=2880&idcategory=54

:D :D

Seriously, though, I've worked in bars that "expect" to take around the £7k mark over the bar. But I'm sure there are better performing places out there.

[wensleydale]

Its like saying how much does a disco cost- some will be £60 others £2000, and everything inbetween.
Pubs bars will vary by the same proportion (but start at a higher figure).

[Pe7e]

They're too many variables to be accurate, but for an 'event' type occasion, where the guests tend to stay all evening, as opposed to a 'walk in - have a drink - move on' type pub gig, £20 per head is a good ball park figure

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

Blimey, some people have no idea....:lol:

I worked in bars for 10 years and did the food and liquor stock take and profit in a Hotel for 2 years and some of the figures being chucked about sound well out IMO.

[Corabar Steve]

One of our regular venues has a christmas party for a well known company every year in the main function room (holds 300) It's always their biggest bar take of the year & usually comes in around the £5-6K mark (& this lot could drink for England (or Ireland))

[Jonathan Ford]

Blimey, some people have no idea....:lol:

I worked in bars for 10 years and did the food and liquor stock take and profit in a Hotel for 2 years and some of the figures being chucked about sound well out IMO.

They sound a bit extravagant to me too. As has been said before, there are so many variables. From my time in hotels, one of my properties back in 1993 was doing £1k over the bar every Friday lunchtime....now the same hotel would do well to take a grand over the bar in a week. I know of a property in the West Midlands with 20 odd well appointed, boutique style bedrooms that can't sell them (or perhaps shouldn't sell) at weekends due to overbearing noise from the live band in their bar. They console themselves by taking £20k over the bar every Friday and Saturday night!

As a very rough, ball park figure, I'd say that a hotel function room with 100 people in it would probably produce a take of around £1,000 - £1,500.

However, a town centre cafe bar (which is what I assume this is about), may be different.

[hammy]

my figure was 7k to 12k in the xmas week not 1 night, that was with no functions, normal week was 3k to 5k

[Excalibur]

Depends on the bar?

Numbers, type of clients, drink prices, outgoing costs.

Net an average busy bar will take - £20-50k.

Remember they have rates and staffing costs etc. too

Blimey Toby, what were they drinking, Pints of The Widow? :confused:

[Shakermaker Promotions]

It also depends on pre-orders etc... Do they count wine on the tables as part of the christmas party package etc?
If you mean bar takings in one night and just drinks sold across the bar, how can you put a figure on that really because it depends on numbers and prices of drinks etc..

Christmas Eve at my local is always a massive one for the bar. Last year they took just under £7k on the bar. Open from Midday - 5.00pm and then from 7.30pm - 01.00am. Rammed all day and evening.
This is Christmas though.

One of my residencies may do £2k - £3k on the function room bar on a party night.

[djjtl]

How much do you guys think or expect a bar to take on a Xmas work doo? I'm talking turn over, not profit.

Have you ever been told or worked it out?

I posted my figure on FB and it caused a minor uproar - I'm interested to know your thoughts...

Discuss. :beer1:

I am a former nightclub and pub manager and I think it all depends on the size of the venue and type of customer.

My first pub was a student venue and used to take around 10k a week, my second bar was a town centre venue selling food and used to take around 27k a week and the nightclub I managed would take around 50k a week.

I did my training in a fun bar in Blackpool and that would take 70k a week in season and if we didn't do 20k on a Saturday it was a bad day.

We had around 300 at the party last night and the bar manager said we did around 10k the average bottle of wine is £12.00 and it's £4.50 a pint

Jason

[NKR]

Burnley with 552 in cashed up and took just over £10k on the bars including wine sales. That is £18 per head and what you would sort of expect.

[Paul Thomas Top Banana DJ]

only me that spends around £120 at mates weddings then :(

[DeckstarDeluxe]

Am I the only one that doesn't really see the bar take as anything to boast about from a DJing point of view?

[theoloyla]

It is what pays our wages at Xmas do's. A recent party of 240 spent £29 per head the manager told me.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

Am I the only one that doesn't really see the bar take as anything to boast about from a DJing point of view?

I would have thought that a lot of DJ's would take a bit of interest in what the bar is taking. As already suggested, it's what pays our wages etc.
Obviously private functions where we are booked by the customer are a bit different and I suppose Christmas Parties etc could have the same view taken but regular stints at Clubs, Bars and Pubs...well, I think it's in a DJ's best interest to find out how the bar did etc.

In my experience, it's one of those things that can easily see you out of a residency etc...Obviously you can't make people stay in one place all night but you can try and keep them there for as long as possible.

At a regular pub gig I do twice a month, I make a concious effort to keep people in the venue for as long as possible and it's simple really. They ask you for a track and you leave it a while, watching them get another drink at the bar etc before playing it. The regulars will stay all night anyway but it's the faces that you know will move on elsewhere or new faces etc that you concentrate on. Regular bad bar takings can mean that it's not viable to have entertainment on etc.

Someone on here did some figures once regarding what the venue has to take before it's worthwhile having a DJ on etc.

[BVD]

I would estimate in this area (Poole, Bournemouth and surrounding districts) th the average spend per person would be £30 - £35.

This would cover the few heavy drinkers plus the partners who have the odd fruit juice 'cause they're driving.

Steve

[Vectis]

In my experience, it's one of those things that can easily see you out of a residency etc...Obviously you can't make people stay in one place all night but you can try and keep them there for as long as possible.

:agree:

Depending on the funding source for the gig, this is absolutely something that the DJ should be interested in.

There's a very fine balance between keeping them in the venue and losing them to any number of other bars.

On the flip side, if you're TOO good and they never leave the dancefloor, this can have a negative effect on the bar take.

A good DJ paid 'from the take' will be making sure that the big spenders are retained yet circulated.

[Megamix]

our small club - 100 people - £1500-£2000 good night - £15-20 per head.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

:agree:

Depending on the funding source for the gig, this is absolutely something that the DJ should be interested in.

There's a very fine balance between keeping them in the venue and losing them to any number of other bars.

On the flip side, if you're TOO good and they never leave the dancefloor, this can have a negative effect on the bar take.

A good DJ paid 'from the take' will be making sure that the big spenders are retained yet circulated.

Thank You! I am glad someone agrees with me.
I think there are a number of other factors that go into it too.
If the venue you are DJing in is doing something different to everyone else, that helps.
If you are at the venue on a regular basis but not overkill then that helps too as you get yourself a following. Those people go to the venue when you're there and they stay there.

Another thing (and I mentioned this earlier) is to try and keep the new faces in aswell. Ok, the regulars will get what they want but when a new group pop in and request stuff, cater for them but stretch it out a bit. This happens on a regular basis where I am twice a month as the casual passers by will pop in on their way into town and realise that there is a DJ that will play almost everything. The requests start coming in and before you know it, a quick pint has turned into a couple of hours etc...That's more money over the bar and kudos for me.

The other thing, which isn't meant to sound nasty at all is when someone else goes in because they think that they know it all (when they don't). They don't think of the bar at all and play to their little group of mates who like their particular genre of music, alienating everyone else. An example of this would be a local guy that loves his Screamo, Hardcore Metal etc...
He must have read the book "How to easily clear a pub of it's regulars and upset everyone within 5 minutes".

Sorry, I don't mean to go on but I DO think it IS important and I am glad Charlie bought up the subject. Venues (as in Bars, Pubs etc...) get in entertainment to try and keep the regulars and others both happy but also to keep them in their venue. The pub that I do twice a month (usually a friday) serves food until 9.00pm (and it's good too so you get people in there that wouldn't normally go in there). I start at 8.00pm and I am very concious of people that may be eating. I go to their tables and tell them that I will be playing whatever people want to listen to and 9 times out of 10 they will request tracks.

Unlike 'Mr Screamo Hardcore Haven't Got A Clue' Man who will crank the volume up to 11 when the pub is pretty quiet with people eating. He doesn't care about anyone else but himself and wants to look cool.
It happened ONCE. He played there ONCE. Cleared the pub, upset lots of people and has never been back.

I know what you're saying about being "too good" sometimes aswell. I don't mean that to sound egotistic but one venue that I worked for in the town centre a couple of years ago saw the management say to me "play something crap because they're too busy dancing to drink" and that's the 100% truth.