Ei Group line check: what it is and why it matters
Last updated: 26 June 2026
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Most pub operators don’t realise they’re bleeding money on draught lines and spirit measures until someone actually counts them properly. An Ei Group line check sounds like a formal compliance task—and it is—but what it really does is expose the gaps between what your till says sold and what your cellar actually contains. If you’re running a pub on a Marston’s or Ei Group agreement (and most UK operators are), you’ll hear about line checks from your area manager. But there’s a difference between doing one because you have to and doing one because it saves you real money.
I’ve run stocktakes on spreadsheets, on napkins, and with a dipstick and scales in my cellar. The difference between guesswork and a proper count is the difference between losing £5,000 a year and knowing exactly where your margins went. A 1% stock loss on wet sales quietly costs a typical pub £3,000–£5,000 a year. A proper weekly line check catches it before it becomes a pattern.
This article explains what an Ei Group line check actually is, how to run one, what you should be looking for, and why the tools and process matter more than the paperwork.
Key Takeaways
- An Ei Group line check is a formal stock count of draught beer and spirits required by your tenancy agreement, designed to verify margins and catch losses.
- Most stock losses come from measurement error, over-pouring, poor cellar temperature, and forgotten wastage—not theft—but you won’t know unless you count properly.
- Weekly line checks clawed back 1–2 gross profit points in under two months at my own pub by catching leaks before they compounded.
- The number that matters is wet GP by line, not a single headline stock figure—spirits hide losses in over-pouring, draught hides it in cellar temperature and line cleaning waste.
What is an Ei Group line check?
An Ei Group line check is a formal inventory count of your draught beer lines and spirit stock, typically required as part of your pub tenancy agreement. It’s not optional. Your pubco or area manager will reference it in your lease, and you’re usually required to conduct one on a set schedule—often weekly, sometimes fortnightly. The official paperwork exists to verify that what you’re selling matches what you’re holding in stock, and to flag discrepancies that might indicate theft, waste, or measurement error.
In practice, most line checks done by casual operators are messy. They’re done with a notebook, a rough estimate of keg levels, and a vague count of spirit bottles. That’s why they don’t work. The difference between a formal line check and a useful one is that a useful one produces a number you can trust and act on.
The Ei Group (now Stonegate Pubs) inherited this process from decades of pub management, and it’s standard across most major pubcos. What varies is rigour. The pubco wants to know you’re not systematically short. You should want to know if you’re losing money on specific lines, and why.
Why it actually matters for your profit
Here’s the bit most operators get wrong: a line check isn’t about compliance. Compliance is the paperwork. A line check is a window into where your margins are actually going.
The number that actually matters is wet GP by line, not a single headline stock figure. Spirits hide losses in over-pouring—a free-poured 25ml measure is often 32–35ml in reality. Draught hides it in poor cellar temperature (which affects carbonation and waste), bad line cleaning (pressure washers waste 2–3 pints per line per week if done poorly), and partial kegs that sit too long. Most stock “theft” is actually measurement error and forgotten wastage. You won’t see it unless you actually count.
When I was running my pub on spreadsheets alone, I had no idea how much I was losing on individual lines. I had a general number—”stock is usually within 3% of expected”—but that masked everything. One spirit line could be 8% short, another 1% over, draught could be 2% down. The average told me nothing. Once I started counting weekly with a dipstick and a set of kitchen scales, the variance went from guesswork to a number I could trust within a fortnight. More importantly, I could see which lines were bleeding money and why.
The cost of a 1% stock loss on wet sales across a typical pub is between £3,000 and £5,000 a year. Most pubs that move from a messy spreadsheet to a disciplined weekly count claw back 1–2 gross profit points within a couple of months. That’s money sitting in your cellar that you can recover without changing your selling price or product mix.
How to run a proper line check
A proper line check follows the same logic whether you’re Ei Group, Marston’s, or independent: count what’s in the cellar, count what’s on the bar, reconcile against what the till says sold, and investigate any gap.
Step 1: Choose your counting day and time
Run your line check on the same day every week, ideally mid-morning after opening, before service gets chaotic. Most operators choose Tuesday or Wednesday. You need to count the cellar before anyone’s had a chance to move kegs around or forget to ring something in. Consistency matters more than the exact day.
Step 2: Count draught stock
For every keg and partial on tap, record the line name, product, brand, and current level. Use a dipstick or a measuring tape—don’t estimate by eye. A full keg of standard bitter is 50 litres. A half keg is 25 litres. A quarter barrel (pin) is 9 litres. If a keg is half-full, write it down as 25 litres (or 12.5 for a half keg). Don’t round. For a keg that’s been tapped but not on line yet, record it separately.
Record the date, time, and temperature of the cellar in the same count.This matters because draught loss is directly linked to cellar temperature—carbonation loss increases dramatically above 13°C, and line cleaning waste multiplies if you’re running too warm.
Step 3: Count spirit stock
Every open spirit bottle gets weighed. A standard 70cl bottle of spirits at the start of the week might weigh 800g full. If it’s now 680g, you’ve sold roughly 120ml (accounting for the glass and label weight). A closed bottle gets recorded as “sealed”—it doesn’t count as stock until it’s opened. Don’t guess the level by eye; scales are £15 from any supermarket. Once you do this for two weeks, you’ll spot which measures are being over-poured by 7–10ml per serve, costing you £40–60 a week per line.
Step 4: Reconcile against till and wastage records
Pull your till data for the same period. If your till says you sold 20 pints of bitter and your cellar count shows a corresponding drop in keg level, that’s aligned. If your till says 22 pints but the keg is down by 28 pints, you have a 6-pint gap. That gap is your line cleaning waste, spillage, or measurement error—find out which one. If your till says you sold 8 spirits of vodka but your scales show only 4 vodka bottles were opened, someone’s not ringing it in or you have a serious pouring problem.
Step 5: Record and investigate variance
Variance of 2–3% on draught is normal. Variance of 1–2% on spirits is normal. Anything over 5% on either is a conversation you need to have—not an accusation, but a question. Is the line too warm? Are measures consistently generous? Did someone forget to ring in a bottle? Most of the time, it’s not malice. It’s process.
Equipment you actually need
This is where operators often get it wrong. They think a line check requires a special system, proprietary software, or an audit-grade process. It doesn’t.
You need three things: a dipstick (£8), a set of kitchen scales (£15), and a spreadsheet or notebook (free). That’s it. A clipboard, a pen, and an hour every week.
Optional: a thermometer for your cellar (£10) and a measuring jug for partial kegs that aren’t on line yet (already in your kitchen). If you want to move beyond spreadsheets and actually see trends across weeks, the StockTap pub stock app is built exactly for this—it takes the data you’re already counting and turns it into a format where you can spot patterns and investigate causes rather than just record numbers. But it’s not required to start.
What matters is discipline, not technology. I’ve run effective line checks with a handwritten A5 notebook. I’ve also run useless ones with a laptop spreadsheet. The difference is whether you actually count carefully and reconcile properly. The tool is secondary to the habit.
Common mistakes that kill accuracy
Mistake 1: Estimating keg levels by eye
A keg that looks “three-quarters full” is not a number. It’s a guess. Keg levels change the moment the tap pressure shifts or the line warms up. Use a dipstick. It takes 30 seconds per line and removes the margin for error.
Mistake 2: Counting “open” spirits but not recording the day they were opened
If you open a bottle on Tuesday and count it on Saturday, you’re looking at five days of usage in one line. If you don’t know when it was opened, you can’t calculate the per-serve cost. Record the date each bottle opens. This also flags slow-moving stock that’s been sitting open for weeks (which should probably go).
Mistake 3: Forgetting to account for bar stock
Many operators count the cellar but don’t count what’s behind the bar. If your till says you sold 30 pints of lager but your cellar is only down 28 pints, the missing 2 pints might be in the tap lines or in the glass rinser. Or it might be behind the bar in a backup cooler. Count behind the bar. Count in the lines. Count everywhere the product physically is.
Mistake 4: Running the count on different days each week
Monday’s count tells a different story than Friday’s count. If you count Monday after a quiet weekend, your draught levels look high. If you count Friday after a busy week, they look low. The variance is real but it’s noise. Pick the same day and time every week. This normalises the data and lets you spot actual trends rather than chasing noise.
Mistake 5: Recording the count but not acting on it
This is the killer. Most operators do the count, file the paperwork, and forget it. Then three months later they wonder why margins are down. You need to reconcile your count against your till the same day. If there’s a variance, you need to ask why and note it down. That creates a record. Next week, if the same line is short again, you’ll know it’s a pattern, not a one-off.
How often you should run one
Your Ei Group tenancy agreement probably specifies weekly or fortnightly. Most major pubcos require weekly. That sounds onerous, but it’s actually the frequency that makes it work.
A weekly count takes 45 minutes to an hour if you’re doing it properly. A monthly count takes the same time but the variance will be double or triple because you’re covering more ground. Weekly counts show you exactly where the leak started. A single bad night of over-pouring or a keg that sat too warm for 48 hours shows up immediately, so you can fix it. A monthly count hides it in the noise.
If you’re not required to run weekly, run weekly anyway. The data density is worth the time investment. Most pubs that adopt a disciplined weekly routine see the benefit within four weeks—usually a 1–2 point swing in wet GP, which on a typical pub is £500–1,000 a month.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Ei Group line check?
An Ei Group line check is a formal inventory count of draught beer and spirit stock required by your tenancy agreement, designed to verify that what you’re selling matches what you’re holding and to flag losses or discrepancies. It’s done on a scheduled basis (usually weekly) and reconciled against till data to identify variance, waste, or measurement error.
How often do I need to run a line check?
Most Ei Group (Stonegate) tenancies require a weekly line check. Some agreements allow fortnightly. Weekly is the optimal frequency because it shows you exactly where losses start, rather than hiding them in monthly noise. A single night of over-pouring shows up immediately, so you can correct it before it becomes a pattern costing hundreds of pounds.
Do I really need special equipment to do a line check?
No. You need a dipstick (£8), kitchen scales (£15), a pen, and paper. That’s the complete toolkit. A cellar thermometer is optional but useful. You don’t need special software or proprietary audit systems to run an accurate line check—you need discipline and consistency, not technology.
Why is my line check always showing a variance?
Variance is normal. 2–3% on draught and 1–2% on spirits is expected and usually accounts for line cleaning waste, spillage, and measurement error. Anything over 5% is worth investigating—usually it points to over-pouring, a cellar temperature problem, or a till entry that was forgotten. Don’t panic at small variances; investigate patterns instead.
Can I use a spreadsheet or do I need an app?
A spreadsheet works fine if you’re disciplined about updating it weekly and reconciling against till data. However, if you want to spot trends across multiple weeks or automatically flag variances, an app like the StockTap pub stock app makes the data actionable instead of just recorded. Most operators start on spreadsheet and move to an app once the weekly habit is established and they want to see patterns.
Running a weekly line check catches losses before they compound into expensive problems—but only if the data is actually usable.
The StockTap pub stock app takes the counts you’re already doing and turns them into a format where you can spot patterns, investigate causes, and see exactly which lines are costing you money. £97 once. No subscription. No monthly fees. Works on any device.
For more information, visit SmartPubTools.
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