Northern Powerhouse: how the top operators roll

Setting the scene for operators, Martin Wolstencroft, co-founder of Leeds-based firm Arc Inspirations, named the challenges faced in the city by his bar business as “the six Cs”: customers, competition, crew, cost, consistency and care.

Starting with customers, Wolstencroft explained that improved customer expectations have been an obstacle operators have had to overcome. “Customers are far more demanding than they have ever been. They are wanting more, wanting it better and wanting it cheaper.

"They want healthier food, which is something we have had to respond to by putting health-orientated dishes such as an energiser breakfast on our menu.”

Later in the day, employer branding expert Katrina Fox also touched on customers when she advised delegates on how to attract and retain employees​. She said: “Candidates are quite possibly your customers, so think about what happens to them in the recruitment process.”

She explained the people who operators reject in the recruitment process are likely to be customers, and urged delegates to therefore treat candidates with respect. “If you don’t, they will probably think ‘well, if I’m not good enough to work for them, then I’m not going to be a customer’, and then tell their friends, who will tell their friends, and the whole thing spirals.

“So manage your candidate experience because otherwise it will undermine any great employer branding work you have done.”

Strong in the suburbs

Wolstencroft detailed the different areas of Leeds that cater towards distinct markets. “Leeds is very strong in the suburbs​. We have five bars there and what has happened is people have seen ideas growing in towns and city centres, and moved them to the suburbs so customers don’t have the hassle of going into town.

“Another significant growth area is the Northern Quarter of the city. It has a hipster feel, with craft beer offers. There are lots of independent sites there and the crowd is older, slightly more mature.”

He said the opening of the Trinity shopping centre in 2013 had been the biggest change in Leeds he had experienced. It had totally revitalised the area as it brought a lot more footfall leading from the train station. He added that the Call Lane area of the city appealed to the late-night crowd and had a “spirits, shots and party” atmosphere.

Cocktails crucial to area

One ‘C’ central to the thriving bar scene in Leeds is cocktails, Wolstencroft said. Arc Inspirations had focused on cocktails at its central Leeds venue, Manahatta, and they were not the only ones in the city developing their cocktail offer.

The New World Trading Company has been experimenting with various cocktail formulas at its 10 Botanist venues, including its Leeds site, and MA500 attendees were treated to beertails​ (beer-based cocktails) at the event, along with some Smoky Old Fashioneds on that evening’s study tour.

'How to get the social media edge’

Becky Leach of hospitality-focused social media agency People Buy People said the key to social media success​ lay in a simple acronym: POSTS.

People: “Try to get people into your posts because people connect with people more than a brand. Instead of just a photo of a cocktail, have one of the cocktail-makers making it. It humanises the post.”

Optical: “We eat with our eyes, so we want high-quality drooling juicy photos of our food. We want images that make you want to reach through your screen and gobble it up.”

Sneak peek: “This is behind the scenes. Seeing happy, smiling employees does your reputation real favours as a venue. If customers see joyful workers, they will think they will be the same when they come and have a drink.”

Talk community: “This means local. It is posting about events, local causes and talking about local suppliers.”

Stories: “Your brain is programmed to process information through story telling. We see ourselves in them and the stories we hear become really personal to us.”

Five key beer and cider trends

Graeme Loudon, commercial director at CGA Strategy, mapped out latest beer and cider trends to help delegates stay one step ahead of the game:

1. Consumers want to know the story behind the brand to give it authenticity, so ensure it is shown in marketing.

2. Fruit cider volume has increased by almost 37% and is the most successful new product development (NPD) in the last year, with fruit draught cider becoming the biggest in the draught cider scene.

3. Beer and cider are losing share to spirits within the on-trade. This has been driven partly as a result of successful innovation within the category around serve and flavour.

4. Consumers and licensees consider quality and taste as the key factors when choosing new products.

5. Cans are making a comeback in the market and there have been innovations in canning technology.

‘We have invested heavily in our sites’

Managed pubs director at Charles Wells​, Craig Mayes, explained why the pubco exited the managed market 10 years ago, only to recently return.

“We came out of running our own pubs in 2006 due to a combination of pressures in the marketplace, such as the smoking ban and the increase in dry sales. Now leased and tenanted businesses are under some pressure from Government legislation, so we decided it would be a good idea to start managing pubs again.”

The company’s first site was d’Parys in Bedford, a 14-bedroom, food-led gastropub at the top end of the market. Mayes now heads up the group’s five-strong Apostrophe Pubs and its two Pizza, Pots and Pints sites, as well as its 13 French pubs as director of Charles Wells France.

“One of the conditions before taking on a managed pub is that we want to make three times the level of profit out of our managed pubs as we do from our tenanted pubs. We have invested a lot
of money into these pubs and they really do look amazing.”