Business advice

Running a pub - part 1: Starting out

By Glynn Davis

- Last updated on GMT

Running a pub can mean juggling a number of different issues
Running a pub can mean juggling a number of different issues

Related tags British pub awards Local pub Public house

The first in a three-part series of looking into the enduring challenge of running a pub. Glynn Davis offers insight, practical advice and best-practice case studies with successful operators at key stages of their pub-operating journeys to give others in the industry the best chance of success. In part 1, he takes things back to basics to help pub sector newcomers find their way.
  • Five legal tips on starting a pub
  • Q&A with pubco Enterprise Inns on recruiting publicans
  • Publican experience: Turning around a troubled pub
  • All about the chef: How to create a good food offer

While nothing is guaranteed — what is absolutely vital to increasing the chances of being a successful licensee is to prepare and research carefully and from this draw up a thorough business plan.

Kevin Abbott, licensee of the Anchor at Wingham, in Kent — where he has an Enterprise partnership tenancy, says: “Neither my wife nor I had any experience, but we did our research of the area and the customer base. We spent a lot of time thinking about the customers we wanted. We knew they were in the area, but they just didn’t come to the pub.”

Pubcos like Enterprise can help with the research because they have access to demographic information according to Abbott. And Enterprise also helped him create a business plan: “This was not a box-ticking exercise and we spent two to three weeks on it.”

Finding focus

Preparation was also vital to award-winning licensee Amanda Baker, co-owner of the Jolly Cricketers in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, who says she had to go on a two-week course with Punch ahead of taking on the pub with her husband when they were “complete novices”.

“It helps focus you, and you realise there is a lot more you need to know — you’ve got to juggle so many things. Having a plan is vital because once you get in the door, you’re up and running. They are then very long days and so the time before you take the pub on is precious,” she says.

Baker also made a point of looking for ideas from the industry success stories including pubs in the PMA’s Top 50 Gastropubs list and those that have won awards for their beer and wine offerings.

She also recommends using the mentoring scheme operated by the British Institute of Innkeeping (BII), which Baker regards as a “fantastic” resource to tap into. This is just one way that Tim Hulme, chief executive of the BII, says the organisation can help new licensees when they enter the sector.

“From the moment you are considering a pub, pre-entry awareness training (PEAT) will prepare you for what is required, the due diligence you need to undertake the job and the skills you need to run a successful business.

“At entry, we have the network and business knowledge to help you keep on the right track, coupled with the membership benefits that will help the profitability of the business.

Underpinning this support is the range of pro-fessional qualifications that will help you progress your skills to aid the successful running of your business,” he explains.

Although Baker recognised that the Jolly Cricketers was not being supported by the locals because of its “low standards of service” and the fact that the fabric needed changing in order to attract a new clientele, she says new licensees should be cautious of radical change.

“People still do not want to see the heart ripped out of their local pub and massive refurbishments undertaken. We cleaned it, gave it a lick of paint and made lots of small touches like fresh flowers and using mismatched bone china teacups from the charity shop,” says Baker.

Team ethic

This frugality should also extend to cutting early deals with suppliers. Matt Samuel, licensee of the Pig on the Hill, in Westward Ho!, Devon — winner of the best newcomer award in the Great British Pub Awards 2014, says: “As an ex-builder, I know you are better off with a higher turnover through one supplier in order to get a good price from them. This is how you get discounts.”

He also quickly found that he needed a big team around him — 20 people in his case — and his view has been that to keep the service levels high, he needs to encourage them to attend college and use the pub “as a place to learn and to see it as a trade rather than just a way to earn a bit of extra money”.

To attract these people he says he pays more than other businesses locally and this has helped him retain them. “The difference between success and failure is people management. As a builder, you’re quite isolated but in the pub it’s very different,” he explains.

A vital part of the team is the kitchen brigade and under-investing in this area — and the necessary catering equipment — was an issue for Abbott who admits: “It was not as good as it could have been. This is a problem when you are reliant on repeat customers.”

For most pubs, this is essential and helping drive people back is a willingness of licensees to constantly evolve their models in order to provide a rich array of changing entertainments and attractions.Baker jokes that she must be running the only pub in the country that is both in the Michelin guide and has a darts team.

Welcoming hub

This need to keep things moving has not been lost on Alex Cook (pictured on p30), licensee of the Mill in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, who recently won the newcomer of the year award in the awards run by Heineken-owned Star Pubs & Bars, only eight months after taking on the pub.

Since starting out in February 2014 customer numbers quadrupled as a result of him introducing a host of events — from music to steak nights — as well as turning the Mill into a welcoming hub for community groups and events from the chess club to local sports team functions.

Cook says: “It had been a dream to have my own pub since I started out washing pots in a restaurant at the age of 12. When I found out the Mill was available, I knew I had to have it. The past few months have been a whirlwind, I haven’t stop-ped,” he says, adding that he already has plans to create an extension to cater for the pub’s growing number of customers and to launch further new activities.

It is this passion for running a pub and having the underlying drive to deliver on the dream that is the most essential ingredient to success in the industry, with Samuel suggesting that it is very easy to forget the effort involved: “It is lots of hard work and long hours. This cannot be stressed more even if you think you have not underestimated what’s involved.”

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