Virtual Village Pub Limited

Virtual Village Pub is the business simulation that uses the familiar setting of a pub to develop people’s business acumen and their confidence in dealing with financial and marketing data.

​This simulation has helped more than 6000 managers and graduate trainees to understand what drives the financial performance of an organisation and how that performance is reported. 

​Available as a one-day 'Financial & Commercial Awareness' workshop, as a broader two-day 'Finance for Non-Financial Managers' programme, and as a half-day business game for up to 40 people, Virtual Village Pub provides a memorable and engaging learning experience.

​Programmes can be delivered both face-to-face and online, using Microsoft Teams and its breakout room function.

How does it work?

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 will be 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. A final review examines each team’s strategy and brings together the key learning points.

​Virtual Village Pub makes no apology for being a lot of fun – but there is serious and substantial learning content within the simulation and 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!

Structured Tuition

The rounds of the simulation are interspersed with structured tuition on the basics of accounting - Profit & Loss, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow Statement and key ratio calculations. Each new element is explained from first principles and then demonstrated by reference to one of the pubs 'on autopilot' - just before the teams receive their latest accounts and reports - so the new learning can be immediately applied to 'real' data.

The two-day option spreads the same simulation over a longer timeframe, allowing time for group exercises on the game's data and a broader range of topics. This normally includes budgeting, capital investment appraisal, working capital management and plenty of exercises around price, cost, volume and profit. The precise line-up depends on the client's requirements.

Virtual Village Pub was created because people learn more when they're engaged, involved and entertained. Finance training can be very dull - this isn't.

"Great fun from the start to the end but very informative. Brilliant way of learning the theory whilst making it practical"   -   Jake Hammond, Operations Manager, Renewi plc

"Great course delivering what can be a challenging subject, in a manageable way."  -  Peter Geroso, Product Application Specialist, Sun Chemical Europe

"I found the experience thought provoking, very interesting and extremely useful. I learnt so much - Thank you."  Janice Hodgson, FCO Services

“Excellent course - engaging, informative and I strongly suspect it will be memorable”   -  Chris Gallagher, ComputaCenter plc

"Excellent all round and I would recommend to others, there is something for everyone to learn here"  -  Alastair Cameron, Operations Manager, Michelin plc

"I really enjoyed this program. Certainly, is a good way to trigger the commercial thinking, learn and understand the essentials of the Financial and Commercial world."  -  Vaidas Bagurskas, Maintenance Manager, Abellio

"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."  -  Tor Petersen, Benenden Health