New tune for Pitcher & Piano

Pitcher & Piano broke new ground in 1986 when it became the first of a new generation of female-friendly bars. This week an updated version of the brand opened in Birmingham's Brindley Place. Morning Advertiser news editor The PMA Team gives the low-down on what's changed Recent brand history: Wolverhampton & Dudley acquired 38 Pitcher & Pianos when it bought Marston's in 1999. The company has sold 10 sites and has another three on the market, leaving a core estate of 25. W&D placed the brand on the market last year, but failed to find a buyer willing to meet its valuation. Instead, the company hired former Costa Coffee managing director Mike Dowell last June to re-invigorate the brand. The problem with Pitcher: The brand has seen very little in the way of re-investment over the years. And a lot of its ideas have been pinched and improved on by competitors. The subdued economic climate has resulted in an 11% slide in like-for-likes at its London sites. The brand operates from mostly leasehold sites, which have had the most volatile values in the cut-throat high-street market. Dowell says: "I've never met anyone with a negative thing to say about Pitcher & Piano. But a lot of it is fond memories ­ and I think that's our problem, because we haven't kept pace with other bars. We need to provide reasons for people to come back to us. "One of the difficult things nowadays is to create personality, because too many bars look the same. By the time you've put in Sky TV and AWP machines and similar beer brands, [bars] can look very much like each other. Pitcher & Piano was in the design brief for bars like Fine Line and All Bar One ­ it became the template and so lost personality." Dowell has already improved like-for-like food sales and margins at Pitcher & Piano with menu changes and attention to "housekeeping principles". Dowell on the competition: All Bar One, Revolution and Living Room are the brands that have been closely looked at. He says: "We want a strong morning, lunchtime, evening and late-night party [trade]. We are setting ourselves to deliver on all these fronts. I think All Bar One is our competition at lunch-times, but I don't think All Bar One is the competition late-night. I think Revolution and Living Room do late-night better than anyone." Design changes: The new-style Pitcher & Piano is both warmer and more modern. Warmth is supplied by darker timber on the floors, a fire used as a central feature and the creation of more intimate areas within the bar. Mod-ernity is achieved with items like a more contemporary bar layout and striking use of unusual materials such as pebble-finish on walls. But Dowell has used his Costa experience to re-think basic retail principles. For example, the coffee retailers quickly latched on to the importance of the high lean-bar to ensure singletons feel comfortable. Dowell says: "We are trying to provide a more comfortable environment for those who come into the bar on their own. We've created a return at the end of the bar, for example, with two or three single bar stools. From a female point of view, it's safe." Fabric has also been banished in favour of more durable leather. "Alcohol and fabric never works," says Dowell. "We're trying to create something that will look as good in five years' time." Retail principles have also been applied to all aspects of layout, according to Dowell. This involves a re-think on visibility, signage, what customers can see of the inside of the bar from the exterior, and clearer identification of "what's available in terms of menu". The offer: The brightest prospect of incremental business at Pitcher & Piano comes, arguably, from the start of a coffee and croissants offer between 7am and 10.30am. Dowell says: "We've designed something I know will work. The coffee counter fits nicely into the overall design." Dowell has introduced an express menu aiming to provide food within 15 minutes. Among other innovations is the introduction of wireless-free internet access. He says: "You will be able to sit anywhere in the bar and get direct broadband access to the internet very fast. So customers can sit here and work. "It will be interesting to see how it works. It's all about layering in different options and providing things we think our customers will value. The whole idea of working outside of the office and wireless-free internet access will be huge in 18 months' or two years' time. It will become the standard." The drink offer has been re-thought as well with, in particular, a renewed emphasis on pitchers. Innate advantages: The Pitcher & Piano estate has benefited from some of the best site selection in the business. "We've got some fabulous sites," Dowell says. Birmingham was chosen for the first refurb because it allows the brand re-think to test itself against some of the toughest competition around. "There are more bars in Birmingham than anything else. But this [Brindley Place] has got to be a fantastic location ­ and why not start at the toughest first." Islington and Fulham branches will be refurbished next, although doing the whole estate will take "quite a long time". The refurbishment cost of the first three sites is put at £1.2m. "We need to run the business profitably. But if we pick the right sites we can get the biggest wins early." W&D chief executive Ralph Findlay says: "What customers will see will be very much Pitcher & Piano, but there will be a significantly added wow factor.