Heineken salutes Canadian 1945 veterans British stewards guests of Dutch Licensed Trade Working visit for Heineken exchange scheme winners The Canadian flag was run up above Heineken's Amsterdam Brewery on May 5, 35th anniversary of the liberation of the city by Canadian forces towards the close of World War II. It was raised as a tribute to 350 veterans of Canadian contingents who visited the city to re-enact their part in the events of 1945. Led by General Bell Irving, their wartime commander, the Canadians were driven through streets lined by cheering crowds from Berlage Bridge on the eastern outskirts of Amsterdam to Dam Square in the heart of the city. The veterans, who with their wives were Amsterdam's guests for a week, arrived expecting to make their journey to Dam Square by bus. But they were surprised to find that they were to travel in old cars, motor-cycles and tanks dating from 1945. The drivers were members of the Dutch society "Keep 'em rolling" whose hobby it is to keep the vehicles in immaculate working order. Throughout their stay the Canadians were feted by Amster dammers receiving them with as much gratitude and enthusiasm as in 1945. The Canadian flag mounted on the Heineken brewery was one of many flying from Amsterdam's rooftops. Under an exchange scheme sponsored by Whitbread and Heineken, three British bar stewards spent four days in the Netherlands. The visit was organized by Whitbread in colla boration with three British .trade journals. Aim of the programme was to give the visitors an insight into how their Dutch colleagues work, and to assess, among other things, the effect of longer licensing hours - a controversial subject in the UK - and such point-of-sale details as beer dispensing, glasses, bar display, decor and stock control. News of the Heineken invitation was carried in the British publi cations Licensee, Caterer and Hotelkeeper and Club Mirror, each undertaking to find a suitable candidate in its particular area of interest. (In the case of Club Mirror, popular diary columnist Jack Spencer asked entrants to complete the sentence, "Heineken lager is tops for my club because..."). Winners were Mr. G. Lake, Manager of Otley Golf Club, near Leeds, Mr. J. Page, landlord of a pub in the Norwich area and Miss N.Maura-Cooper, bar steward of a hotel in Wales. Each spent a large part of the four-day visit observing and helping during a typical day's work in a Dutch counterpart of their UK trade environments. Mr. Lake was a working observerat the Groote Club, Amsterdam, Mr. Page at the city's Heineken Hoek and Miss Maura-Cooper at the Krasnapolsky Hotel. Each was accompanied by a Dutch host, and midway through the programme the party was joined by re presentatives of the British Trade Press which had publicised the programme. Off-duty activities included visits to Holland's tulip fields and a number of places of historic interest in the Amsterdam area. At a farewell dinner on the eve of return to the UK each of the visiting stewards received a commemorative shield.

Jaarverslagen en Personeelsbladen Heineken

Heineken Contact | 1980 | | pagina 12