A no-nonsense landlord has told of his brutal strategy to keep "undesirables" out of his pub after spending 20 years in the trade.
Toby Flint, who runs The Scarborough Hotel in Leeds, gave three pieces of advice on how to survive in the industry.
He said to keep it traditional, hire friendly staff and "keep the undesirable people out as best as you can".
The manager has been in charge of the historical pub since 2003, and says he often deals with rowdy customers himself, rather than letting security take over.
He told Leeds Live : "Once you’re barred, you’re barred."
The pub, known locally as The Scarborough Taps, has been operating since 1826.
Toby said: "This is a pub, we’re not trying to reinvent the wheel. In a traditional pub, keep it clean and tidy and keep the undesirable people out as best you can.
"You build a reputation. You can build a really bad reputation really quickly. If someone misbehaves, you’ll need to ask them to curtail their behaviour. If you don’t then you could start being overrun by them.
"It’s okay to have a drink, it’s not okay to be ‘completely-drunk-out-of-your-head’ and you have to know the difference. Saturday is the main night [where you most often get trouble].
"I tend to go up to them personally, if it’s a group. I go speak to them and say ‘alright guy, please calm down’. Ninety-nine percent of the time that’ll sort it out. It’s too late when they’ve already started fighting, you’ve already missed the opportunity to get in.
"If there’s a problem, you need to get there early.
"The ones who don’t like being told ‘I’m not going to serve you’, they leave and they say ‘It’s not very good in there’. Perfect! That’s what I want you to think.
“With me, if you misbehave so badly, I’ll just bar you and once you’re barred, you’re barred. I don’t un-bar people. But this is the city centre, I have the passing trade to be able to do that.
"If you’re in the outskirts with lots of families and locals then you might have to rein in the behaviour a little bit.”
Toby, originally from Buckinghamshire, moved to Leeds in 1995 to study biochemistry and applied molecular biology at a postgraduate level.
While studying for a PHD, he started working part-time behind a bar where he realised his love for the industry.
The landlord says he enjoys making customers smile and seeing them come back to the pub for a repeat visit.
The Scarborough Hotel is currently number two on Tripadvisor's list of the 'best bars and pubs' in Leeds.
Toby said: "I’ve been here long enough to still be told ‘You’re not from Yorkshire!’ It’s quite funny, it’s cute. Yorkshire folk are very proud about their heritage, it’s very funny.
"Sometimes you get Yorkshiremen wondering why a Yorkshireman isn’t running a premium Yorkshire pub, that’s quite funny."
