If you’ve ever spent your Monday morning commute daydreaming about starting afresh with your career, this feature is for you. Each Monday we’ll be speaking to someone from a different profession to discover what it’s really like.
This week we chat to publican Luke Bavester, 29, from The Sheaf Inn in West Haddon, Northampton…
People think my job is… You get out of bed late, roll downstairs, serve some beers, go to bed and have a few beers on the way. That’s quite a common misconception that it’s like having a social with your mates every day. It’s not like that, especially if you want to do your job well. We have been recognised by CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, after an extraordinary amount of work in the cellar, looking after our beer and cultivating our clients.
A normal starting salary is… Zero, if you’re a landlord and owner. That’s why people live above the pub for a while. It’s not an overly lucrative career, especially if you own the businesses – you are not going to make millions, you have to keep an eye on the purse strings.
I work about… 70 to 80 hours a week, sometimes more, sometimes less.
The best perks are… The hours, for me. I can pick my daughter up from school every day. I can go out for breakfast if I want to with my friends or wife. But for a lot of people, the hours can be quite antisocial. Also in this industry, you find real friends, people you can really chat to, and that’s quite a big part of it. You also often get fed – there is a move towards feeding staff nice, healthy dinners, which I think is important.
The most important skill to do the job well is… Resilience is a key factor. When you do have days that are a bit quieter, not losing the plot and thinking the world is going to end, and knowing you are going to be busy again. Keep the focus on serving the people who are there really well and don’t let it go off the boil…
