IT used to be advertised as the "Shame of Front Street", but now The Beach is looking to adjust its image.

Rick Olson, owner of the popular bar and eatery at the corner of Parliament Street, said some people had taken the light-hearted "shame" label in the wrong way and he was now making an extra effort to keep out potential trouble-makers.

"The whole idea of calling ourselves 'The Shame of Front Street' was to make fun of ourselves," Mr. Olson said. "Now we are trying to change that image.

"The problem is that some people take the phrase out of context and think they can misbehave. So we are introducing a stricter dress code and trying to discourage the undesirables."

The 43-year-old entrepreneur said The Beach ? like many other Hamilton bars ? had suffered a noticeable increase in trouble-making types in recent years.

"When we first opened The Beach nine years ago, we didn't have any security at all," he said. "We didn't need it. Now we have three bouncers. That speaks for itself. I would say over the past four to five years the problems have got two to three times worse than they were before. Now we're getting an incident virtually every week.

"It has turned a lucrative business into a marginal business. It's unfortunate that we have to pay staff to keep people out and get rid of people.

"But we are trying to maintain a safe environment. I'm friends with a lot of other bar owners and they tell me they're having the same challenges."

Asked why he thought violence in and around bars was on the increase, Mr. Olson said: "I think that we are seeing a generation of young people who are almost a lost generation. They don't see any future for themselves in work or at school. Their attitude seems to be: 'If I can't earn it, I'll take it'. All the kids need to do is get an education. And there are plenty of jobs in Bermuda. We have been constantly short-staffed here for the last two to three years. We can't get people to work here.

"Over the past six months, we've advertised three or four times for an entertainer. We've had no applications. Entertainers are one of the most vocal groups complaining about being replaced by foreigners. We'd love to hire a local entertainer, but the fact is that all the good musicians here are employed."

During the busy season, Mr. Olson estimated that 80 per cent of his daytime customers were tourists, while locals made up about the same proportion of his evening clientele.

"We get all sorts of people at The Beach," Mr. Olson said. "We get a lot of construction workers at happy hour, a lot of office workers at lunchtime and we have a nice late-night crowd, as we stay open until 3 a.m."

-born Mr. Olson came to live in Bermuda 21 years ago. A graduate of business college, he married his Bermudian wife Gillian and worked in corporate banking for nine years.

It was then that he decided to venture into the bar and restaurant business. He teamed up with business partner Gary Sheppard to take over the Robin Hood in May 1992.

"The Robin Hood was having all kinds of difficulties at the time," Mr. Olson said. "It was a strong pub ? and still is ? and there was never a problem getting customers, but it had taken on too much debt. Eventually we turned it around."

After a few years, Mr. Olson decided he was ready for a new challenge. He moved on to MR Onions, with a view to concentrating his efforts on the restaurant side of the industry, after Mr. Sheppard had bought him out at the Robin Hood. But two years at the Par-la-Ville Road establishment led him to believe that bars could be more lucrative than restaurants.

Mr. and Mrs. Olson then opened The Beach, after winning the battle for a liquor licence. Both the police and the Corporation of Hamilton had argued against the licence being granted, partly because of the premises' ground-floor location.

"Now we have good relations with the police and some of our best customers work for the Corporation or are police officers," Mr. Olson said.

pub was an immediate success and a bank of up to 21 gaming machines considerably bolstered its income ? but not any more. Last year's Prohibition of Gaming Machines Amendment Act 2004 closed a loophole that had previously allowed existing gaming machines to remain in operation.

While the machines have gone into storage, Mr. Olson and a group of other of business people have clubbed together to appeal to the courts against the Act. They have hired a Queen's Counsel, who will argue in Supreme Court at a hearing scheduled for July that the law is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

The back room at the beach which used to be home to the slot machines has now been converted into a cosy lounge. Pleasant though the environment is, Mr. Olson would be happier to see the machines return as they were of enormous importance to the business.

"I would estimate the gaming machines gave us 95 per cent of our income," Mr. Olson said.

Having seen the machines' money-making potential, Mr. Olson is now looking to invest in them overseas. He is involved in a company that operates gaming machines in the Turks & Caicos Islands.

"The Bermuda Government is missing out on a potential source of income," Mr. Olson said. "Our company has paid out $100,000 to the Turks & Caicos Government. And we're just one of three companies operating gaming machines there."

He is now looking at expanding his interests to other islands and South American countries.

Mr. Olson has other business interests on the island as well as overseas. In addition to owning the Salt Rock Grill, formerly the Loyalty Inn, he also has a stake in satellite television provider World on Wireless (WoW). He also had a stake in Club 40, a profitable venture that closed around 18 months ago, and he bought into Tuscany's restaurant. He is also a partner in Square One, formerly the Blue Juice bar.

The Salt Rock Grill specialises in sushi and Mr. Olson carried out extensive ? and enjoyable ? research before opening it.

"I like to go out to other restaurants to see how they do things," Mr. Olson said.

"I went to about 20 different sushi restaurants in the US in a short space of time before we opened Salt Rock, so I could get some sort of perspective on what I wanted to do.

"I travel around 15 times a year and I like to attend the bar and restaurant conventions in New York or Las Vegas every year to take a look at new products and keep abreast of what's happening in the industry.

"I have an excellent management staff here and so I don't worry about going away."

He was excited about his shareholding in WoW and the company's potential for expansion.

"WoW has a great opportunity and can be developed further to become a provider of television, Internet and phone services," he said.

When he's not on business, Mr. Olson enjoys playing golf and going boating. And the fact he has four sons ? Douglas, Jeffrey, Stefan and one-year-old Fritz ? means he has a busy family life too.