I got a good deal from a former employer when I basically had my hand forced by a prospective employer. I was looking to leave, and when I aced an interview, they then asked the killer question - "so , this month's notice thing ... is it flexible? I mean, could you start in 2 weeks?". I had to go to my (then current) employer, and ask. Obviously this was "lay your cards on the table" time ... They basically said, "Do you REALLY want to leave? Is there anything we can do to change your mind?". After a bit of negotiation they up'd my salary (nothing major, but they at least brought it into line with "market value"), and they sponsored me (to the tune of £8K) through my degree (although they then made me redundant right in the middle of my dissertation
).
Phil, I used to work in the licensing trade many moons ago ... and I really do empathise with you ... it was actually never my intention to work in the pubs full-time, but ... I got kicked off my HND Computer Studies course, and needed to earn some money fast ... at the time I was a part-time barman ... so suddenly I became trainee cellarman and full-time barman! Within a few years I was trained up to do relief management. Went from working in a really good and busy town-centre pub (taking £20K/week), to working in a small out-of-town pub that was DEAD (took about £3K/week). It was ok there ... I just got on with it ... but I'd have much rather worked in the town-centre pub cos I'd worked there for 3 or 4 years and knew everybody there!
I left the licensing trade after about 4 or 5 years because I liked to "do things by the book" and the licensees didn't like that - they preferred me to keep their little fiddles going for them whilst they were away ... and because I didn't, it really showed in the "stocking in/out" ... which left them having to answer some fairly awkward questions from the brewery ... hence I was "constructively dismissed". I don't blame them ... and I don't hold a grudge about it ... best thing that coulda happened as I then went and got a job in IT (eventually)
Word of warning though people (and I'm sure you're well aware of this, but nobody has said it yet) ...
THE GRASS ISN'T ALWAYS GREENER ...
I've left one job for another because of the lure of better pay, more career prospects, better benefits, company car, etc. only to be back at my former employer within a year because the company I went to wasn't bringing in enough work to keep me busy ... so I went from doing highly technical jobs (installation and upgrades to IBM midrange business systems) to doing glorified PC support (drive 60 miles to plug a friggin printer in that someone had forgotten to do when they decided to move the office around), and basically lugging monitors around for the company trainers!
Which reminds me ... don't burn ya bridges either
ya never know when you may need something from someone
LOL