The Virtual Village Pub Business Simulation
This simulation provides the platform for most our our financial training programmes. It provides two important benefits over 'traditional' courses:
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It achieves a much higher level of engagement from participants, mitigating against the negativity many people feel towards a subject that can be intimidating and somewhat dry.
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It provides a source of 'real' data that brings the theory to life. The facilitator will explain the theory, demonstrate its application to one of the 'autopilot' pubs and then invite the teams to apply the new knowledge to their own pub's data, for example by:​
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- ​interpreting their own accounts
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performing ratio analysis
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calculating their break-even points
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investigating their budget variances
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HOW DOES IT WORK?
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Competing in pairs or small groups, participants take over a tired and neglected pub in the village of Little Chadwick and are tasked with knocking that business into shape and setting it off on a more profitable future.
Each round they must decide on their pub’s pricing, stock range, staff requirement, entertainment, marketing and capital expenditure. Our computer model then produces accounts, key performance indicators and market data in respect of each pub and this is used to help the teams make their next set of decisions.
They are guided by a series of inputs from the facilitator, who will keep them updated on the competition and, more importantly, will clearly explain how to use and interpret the accounting and market information they are receiving.
Between rounds of the simulation, the facilitator will introduce the financial learning content, which will vary depending on the course's duration and the client's priorities. Take a look at the sections on the 2-Day and 1-Day courses to see how the options differ.
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Whatever the financial training agenda, the course ends with a final review of the simulation, where the facilitator examines each team’s strategy and brings together the key commercial learning points.​ Thus, the group learn no only about how businesses keep score but how the decisions they are taking every day can affect the score.​​
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The Virtual Village Pub simulation makes no apology for being a lot of fun – but we believe that people learn more when they are focused, stimulated and, yes, entertained. We think a bit of healthy competition is no bad thing either!
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Click on the links to take a look at the one-day booklet, view some screenshots and view the commercial learning points that the simulation is designed to bring out.
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"I thought this was a brilliant course and really enjoyed the interactivity throughout the day, which kept the whole group engaged and focused. I appreciated that the trainer had amended the content to reflect the mutuality of Benenden and how that differs from a profit-making company."
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- Tor Petersen, Benenden Health
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