illodius

My my you get around. :-)

We have to mate, costs to run places,even small venues are so damn expensive.......

Steve, it won't be FREE in the future, they will be getting door staff which the costs have to be covered....I know, being the owner...

Hi Omar, talk to "Empire Bar" they do it from time to time and are thinking of opening up a bar for shisha. :-) Encourage them!

As a club owner of a number of places in Sheffield let me make something clear, it costs ALOT OF MONEY TO RUN A CLUB! Let's quickly, in the time I have give a tiny glimpse into this world you have the following; - DJ costs - PRS Licences (Proforming rights Society) - PLL (for playing records) - Entertainment Licences (opening late after 11pm) - Council Licences (various) - Commerical waste collection, DAMN DAMN EXPENSIVE! - Health and Safety enviroment issues and harder compliance - Fire safety compliance, much stricter, more money - Door staff and more security, people are more work dealing with in clubs - More Staff costs, late pay, over time and special hours pay - Glass replacements and property damages repairs, 10x more in clubs - Promotions, damn they are expensive - ATM machines, Cig machines (they don't make as much as you think!) - CCTV compliance, got to have 30 days etc etc etc all areas covered! - Personal Licence holders, multiples to be sure - Special Events notices and lawyers dealing with courts and licencing! ouch! - Lost property issues, toilets being kicked in every f*cken week etc etc - Drugs bins, specialised removal services - Special waste removal bins (tampons etc) - Business Rates (Free money to the council to do Sod all for it) - Pubwatch style organisations you have to join.....blerh - Anti theft devices to stop patrons and staff nicking cash!! Cash business bad for this.... and the list goes on and on and on and on............If clubs don't have the door, you can bet we would all close down in an instant! As one of the larger group club owners in town and the chief financial officer, I know the costs and every damn government and council and the "system" in general has it's hand in your pocket the moment you open those doors and let the public in, especially after 11pm! So maybe just maybe there are good reasons for clubs to charge at the door......it's just not financially feasible and don't be fooled, NONE of us make as much money as everyone thinks.....

And the Earl Management, on 0114 255 1006 or ove@oz.org

The Earl on Queens road is Running a "Anti-Valentine's Day", I believe there is even one of the staff going around with a water pistol and making sure there is no couple soppiness in sight!

As the owner and the one that really knows all the score, along with my other clubs in sheffield, the EARL BY FAR IS THE SAFEST VENUE I HAVE. In other places in town I am involved with, you can count the "incidents" in a week, not in YEARS as I have been able to with The Earl. One tiff between two lonesome lovers *sarcasm* that brought the trouble from outside to inside our toilets for a former trouble pub is well, acceptable in the industry?? I think you can call that a miracle, keeping in mind this place, where it's situated and its dark history. It used to be a rock solid old man's blades boozer for god's sake! The place now is a beckon of light in comparison to any other club or pub I know of, and I pretty much know them all. My staff down there, if I could clone them I would, they are the best I have, reliable, clean, hard working and put up with no nonsense. The promoters are all dedicated, hard working and loyal. The door staff are hand picked almost on a weekly basis! Pints are served until the manager has to send staff home as the night goes on to the wee hours and has less man power to pick up the glasses, where as bottles can be easily served. Since bar takings are too slim to warrant glassys after that, otherwise if it was a busy 5am, then pints would be happily served as staff would be still on! The Earl runs more like home lounge party and fits like a cosy comfortable pair of shoes, it's barely profit driven as it's size precludes a truly commerical operation, although I make less than any other venue there turnover wise, it's by far the most popular, comfortable and "hip" place outside of the city centre in my opinion, with a big variety of promoters and nights, all done off their hard work. **** has kindly retracted some of his comments because they maybe taken out of context, so I have therefore removed my comments as well.....

Gee, as the owner I wasn't aware of any fights worth mentioning, just the usual tossers here and there from time to time? I actually have less incidents here than any of the other clubs I'm involved in, and by far the best chilled out venue. But as bigbear says, late late bar you will get donkeys. Still having said that I have personally got involved recently to assure anyone that measures, very stern measures have been taken to stop any nonsense. Seems now it's reasonable, but when you are a boozer and the only one that opens to 6am in sheffield, from time to time you're bound to get a drama here and there. :-) Still we take all that seriously, which is why 20+ CCTV internet remote streamable cameras are installed, and every incident that has ever happened has been so well filmed and documented, that it could be resold as entertainment in any reality TV show! We shall keep on top of it and keep the good times and vibes going.

Not at all, I am happy to discuss things openly. I just prefer a safe venue, rather than a dodgy one. I think of the Earl Like Dr Who's tardis, fuctional but rustic, full of character, looks run down, but packed full of technology and rooms that lead everywhere! Even has free wireless internet. I was going to renovate it heavily, but people seem to love the style as is, although stay tuned for some changes shortly. Mainly upgrades for the DJ's.....maybe even a flick and dash of paint here and there......

Sounds like, but aren't. Very different to standard IP webcams, like AXIS or Dlink style cameras. Camwatch are a good company, but use standard technologies, where our systems are very different and biometric aspects are built in for future uses, etc.

Yeah, it's big brother crap I know, but you get alot of hassle, big time if you don't have a good system by the licencing department and police. Instead of fighting the system I decided to join it, and even develop it. EVERY club has to have extensive CCTV, all of them, without question, the only difference is they record on DVR (Hard drives, tapes etc) and can be viewed laters, ours can do that and real time. It's the way of the future unfortuntely, UK is the most user of CCTV in the world by about 10X (apart from Monaco which is only a few miles wide to cover, but they have tons of cameras and cover every square inch). Remember, we're not a pub, so no most pubs have basic systems at best, but we have a "nightclub" licence and that completely changes the game play, and we're a former pub that is in the heart of football land. CCTV isn't a luxury for us, it's a must, but they have been designed to be hidden mostly and out of the way. Frankly I feel it helps keep the undesirables away and good partying folk have nada to worry about. :-)

*grin* Now you're asking for trade secrets. But let's just say I have a few mates in the force and we all have access and in particular the system is of interest on football days, other than that and unless they have been given information specifically to watch, I doubt it's that heavily monitored! Regardless we keep foortage on the system for over a year anyway. (11 months than the law requires) Presently there are a few shadowcam systems around areas that the Police use to monitor trouble spots and incidentally, Sheffield is one of the most CCTV'ed places in UK and if you went to the CCTV control centre in City Hall, it looks like Nasa!

Sure is, I don't have an explanation for that one either!! Unless is was a private function (on a Sat night it's rare, but can happen)....Sometimes in the winter we open a little later, but still, strange......definitely not the usual rule...

Private function? Curious, what happened then?