Bell takes its toll

John and Christine Vereker took over one of the country's first gastro pubs, the Bell Inn at Horndon on the Hill, Essex, in 1970, and quickly transformed it into a thriving £1.6m-a-year business. Claire Hu caught up with them This is normally a pretty dead time of year for pubs, but the Bell Inn has managed to pull off a 6% like-for-like rise in trade for the month until 8 February. However, it has also had to contend with an exploding glass washer and a French waiter who collapsed ­ such are the ups and downs of running a busy, rural pub. The Bell, a former 17th-century coaching inn, drummed up £133,000 for the four weeks ending 8 February, of which 45% was food sales, 37% wet and 18% accommodation in its 15 bedrooms. Freeholder John Vereker says there has been a healthy sales increase of more expensive wines, helped by an increased focus on staff training led by general manager Joanne Uttridge, who is one of only a couple of hundred Masters of Wine in the country. "It gives staff the confidence to sell wine if they know about it," he adds. One of the biggest changes since Christmas has been the introduction of a smoking ban around the eating bar. (The Bell is a real labyrinth of hidden space with a main restaurant, a bar with eating tables, another small bar and an adjoining building with restaurant and function rooms). The ban has gone down well with staff and punters have complied. "But we still believe in freedom of choice, so there is no smoking in the restaurant and smoking in the bar," says Vereker. There has been a rise in demand for fish dishes at the award-winning food pub, perhaps from diners who want a lighter option after the excesses of the festive season. The Bell aims to profit from the trend by offering the best produce and imaginative twists on traditional menu options. The decision was also made to drop the fixed three and two-course lunch menus (£13.95 and £15.95) because spend per head was insufficient to make adequate margins. However, it's never all smooth sailing when it comes to running a pub with 100-plus covers a day, and last Tuesday disaster struck when the 15-year-old glass washer burst, leaking water over fuses and plunging the kitchen into darkness just after opening time. At the same time, an employee broke the steam iron ("She'll be working here for the rest of her life," jokes Vereker) and the printer and fax conked out. "We couldn't print the menus. It's just added pressure you don't need," says Uttridge. Another incident among the 42 staff saw Vereker in hospital until 4am, looking after a French waiter who had fallen ill. Despite being given six weeks notice by a chef de partie, the pub has still not found a replacement and Vereker sees finding quality staff as one of the trade's main challenges. In the hectic pace of the last six weeks, the Verekers squeezed in a visit to the Arundel Arms in Liston, Devon, for a meeting of the Great Inns of Britain group. For Christine Vereker, it was also a chance to celebrate her birthday. "I was born at the Bell, as my parents ran it before, and you need to get away sometimes" she said. "It's also a chance to get together for a moan with the other wives!