They may have had successful careers in financial services and retail store management, but that didn't stop the Smiths throwing that all up and starting afresh in a village pub. Tony Halstead reports
Its anniversary time at the Hare & Hounds a year since licensees Neill and Sheila Smith decided to wrap up their jobs and sink their savings into a new food pub venture.
Twelve months on and the Smiths have plenty of reasons to smile and silence any sceptics who predicted they might struggle to come to terms with life in the licensed trade.
It was inevitably a move fraught with dangers for two people who enjoyed a comfortable lifestyle with careers in financial services and retail store management.
"Our friends could not understand why we wanted to throw up two good careers and risk everything running a pub," recalled Neill. "But we had both decided some time earlier that we wanted our own pub not just any pub but one that we could develop into a really good food business."
Their big chance came courtesy of Jennings Brewery, which had purchased a village freehouse in Foulridge, Lancashire, and needed lessees to move in. "When the chance to take on the Hare & Hounds came along we knew it was an opportunity we could not afford to turn down.
Location and potential
"In terms of location and potential it was a pub crying out to be turned into a quality food-led business," he added.
The Smiths applied and despite their lack of trade experience beat off the challenge of several other hopefuls to get their names above the pub door. From day one Smith began to exert his influence over the Hare & Hounds menu although he decided against immediate wholesale changes.
Smith is a self-taught chef, but had clear ideas of the direction he wanted to take the pub's catering. And subtle change rather than revolution has been his watchword, while the dividends have grown on a monthly basis.
New costings on a menu woefully short on sufficient profit margin were worked out and sourcing of raw materials reappraised. More ambitious dishes also began to appear on the specials board and innovations such as special "Early Bird" meal offers and "Curry Hot Shots" were introduced.
"We knew we had to attract customers from further afield and to do that we knew we needed to get our name known, and establish a reputation early on," Smith explains. "It took time but gradually we began to notice new faces and in the absence of direct marketing it was clear word-of-mouth advertising was starting to do the job for us."
Local sourcing business ethic
Local sourcing of raw materials is a major plank of the Hare & Hounds business ethic. Beef, lamb, game and other meat products are all sourced through local butchers with the pub's principal supplier linked into a farmers' co-operative in the rich countryside of nearby Forest of Bowland. All members of the Bowland Farmers Co-operative have their farms inspected and accredited each year to guarantee EU and UK requirements in the production, preparation and distribution of produce.
Fresh vegetables and dairy produce also come from local suppliers with daily deliveries of fresh fish from wholesalers in Burnley and Harrogate.
The pub is able to provide 64 seats in its lounge area and no-smoking dining room and an average of 375 covers per week are sold.
Despite the appearance of more elaborate dishes such as jambonnettes of guinea fowl and glazed chilli quails, Smith insists he turns out honest pub food. "We are not into the gastro market at this stage," he stressed. "But we are always seeking to extend the menu when we come across interesting dishes.
"Steak & ale pie and lamb Henry tend to be our most popular items, which demonstrates people still have a conservative taste in food, but we have been encouraged by the fact that an increasing number are prepared to experiment," he revealed.
Mainstay of the Hare & Hounds catering team is head chef Cath Hudson who has worked at the pub for five years. She has proved a reliable number two in the business and has relished the new emphasis on catering since the Smiths took over.
Like many of the growing breed of new food-led village pubs, the Smiths have been careful to balance the food business with the demands of local villagers.
Traditional pub atmosphere
The switch to Jennings cask beers has been a major success that has ensured the Hare & Hounds retains a traditional pub atmosphere. Wine has also seen a dramatic sales upturn over the first year of business, not just via food turnover but also in sales by the glass over the bar.
Local wine merchants John Stephenson & Son of Nelson helped the Smiths devise an uncomplicated wine list with choices to suit most pockets and tastes. But as the food side of the business quickly developed, more investment has been required in the fabric of the pub building.
The Smiths have invested about £70,000 in the business, mainly in new kitchen equipment that includes a new combi oven and blast chiller, grills, fridges and freezers.
Extending the lounge bar area into the existing tap room and refurbishment of the pub's five letting bedrooms is also in the pipeline.
The opening of a new courtyard patio last summer also extended the pub's resources during fine weather.