Put your executives behind bars!
Virtual Village Pub
1 Day
Financial & Commercial Awareness
© Virtual Village Pub Limited
online
Financial & Commercial Awareness
2½ hours
Commercial Awareness & Team Building
This is just one example of how the live data from the simulation is used on the programme. Later on, the teams will be comparing their selling prices for a particular beer based on the margins they have selected for their pub – and eyebrows are raised when the cheaper pubs work out how much extra volume they need to achieve to make the same money as the more expensive ones. Again, the live data is used to demonstrate how to calculate a break-even point, focusing the group’s attention not just on margins but on the size of their cost base.
Even when the live data is not used, almost all topics are covered by reference to the businesses of Little Chadwick, whether we are looking at sales mix at the village newsagent, calculating the NPV of a proposed pub refit or helping the local cricket club to differentiate between margins and mark-ups.
Finance for
Non-Financial Managers
Non-Financial Managers
This is the original Virtual Village Pub programme and it uses the simulation alongside other, more conventional delivery methods, notably interactive lecture and group syndicate work.
The course begins by assuming no prior knowledge of accounting and then builds up the picture from first principles, using a simple business model. Only when the group have a basic understanding of the P&L and Balance Sheet do we introduce them to Little Chadwick and its neglected public houses.
Wherever possible, the technical knowledge is tied in to the simulation. For example, the group learn about key ratios in the context of how to interpret their first quarters’ results and (just for the first quarter) they have to find the right figures and crunch the numbers on their calculators.
The course begins by assuming no prior knowledge of accounting and then builds up the picture from first principles, using a simple business model. Only when the group have a basic understanding of the P&L and Balance Sheet do we introduce them to Little Chadwick and its neglected public houses.
Wherever possible, the technical knowledge is tied in to the simulation. For example, the group learn about key ratios in the context of how to interpret their first quarters’ results and (just for the first quarter) they have to find the right figures and crunch the numbers on their calculators.
Teams will also learn about the whys and wherefores of budgeting – not just in an abstract sense but in the knowledge that their pub’s variances against budget in the second year are going to be on the projector screen by the end of the afternoon!
Broadly speaking, the first day of the programme deals with accounting, ratios, margins and costs; the second day deals with budgeting, capital investment and working capital. But the ongoing simulation ensures that each of the day one topics is consolidated as the programme progresses.
The final stage of the programme is a review of the simulation with the pubs’ performance being compared on numerous graphs and some of the key learning points being revisited.
Although the generic format has proved ideal for many clients (such as Musgrave Budgens Londis and Yorkshire Water), others have tailored the contents in order to maximise the relevance to their business. The Nationwide Building Society, for example, replaced the sessions on capital investment and working capital with input from an in-house accountant. Before running the programme, we meet with clients to decide on which areas need greater emphasis and which, if any, can be left out. We also look for relevant examples from the client’s business of the particular training points we want to convey.
Whatever the precise agenda agreed with our clients, participants all receive an A4 binder including an indexed reference section as well as a ‘workbook’ in which they make notes and work on the exercises.
Broadly speaking, the first day of the programme deals with accounting, ratios, margins and costs; the second day deals with budgeting, capital investment and working capital. But the ongoing simulation ensures that each of the day one topics is consolidated as the programme progresses.
The final stage of the programme is a review of the simulation with the pubs’ performance being compared on numerous graphs and some of the key learning points being revisited.
Although the generic format has proved ideal for many clients (such as Musgrave Budgens Londis and Yorkshire Water), others have tailored the contents in order to maximise the relevance to their business. The Nationwide Building Society, for example, replaced the sessions on capital investment and working capital with input from an in-house accountant. Before running the programme, we meet with clients to decide on which areas need greater emphasis and which, if any, can be left out. We also look for relevant examples from the client’s business of the particular training points we want to convey.
Whatever the precise agenda agreed with our clients, participants all receive an A4 binder including an indexed reference section as well as a ‘workbook’ in which they make notes and work on the exercises.
2 Days