The great outdoors

The tenants

George and Pam Pearson are Shepherd Neame's longest-serving licensees at a single pub, having spent 36 years at the Bricklayers.

The 90% wet-led boozer serves traditional home-made English food at lunchtimes, from steak and kidney pie or bangers and mash to sandwiches, attracting many from Bromley's thriving business community.

The problem facing the Pearsons was a drop in takings of between £1,500 to £2,000 a week in the summer.

The pub is in an area of fierce competition but had no garden and seemingly no space. "It is quite hard when you see your regulars walking past in the summer to the pub round the corner purely because it has a garden," says George.

With the smoking ban looming, it seemed the Bricklayers would face a further dip unless a solution could be found. Step in Shepherd Neame. Grasping the bull by the horns, an innovative project was conceived to convert a two-storey garage, used for parking and storage, into a patio terrace at a cost of £113,000. At the same time the Pearsons spruced up the inside, leaving the Bricklayers all set for a bumper summer.

The process

Sheps has a property executive comprising chief executive Jonathan Neame, retail director of managed pubs Nigel Bunting, property and tied-trade director George Barnes and senior surveyors. Every month BDMs report to the executive about projects in their area. The executive can give the go-ahead to projects under £35,000 while anything above this is referred to the board.

Barnes is personally involved in all projects. "I've been working for Shepherd Neame for 28 years," he says. "So I have a good idea what is viable."

It is he who discusses what he terms the "dreaded rental implications" of any work. He admits the Pearsons were tough negotiators but a deal was reached amicably and quickly. "I indicated a level I felt appropriate," he says. "They said: 'If you do the back bar and the air-conditioning, then maybe.' We had a cup of coffee and agreed."

Although not disclosing how much the Pearsons pay in rent, Barnes says in broad terms he looks for an increase in takings for Sheps of around 15%, including the additional wholesale profit. "The rental element of that is between 5% and 8%," he says.

The challenge

Jonathan Leach is one of four surveyors employed by Shepherd Neame. He says they initially thought the job was going to be "quite straightforward". That was until the planners got involved. The project took close to two years from idea to completion. The "lengthy process" saw the original plans changed somewhat.

"Access was also a major problem," says Leach. "The area is so tight that we couldn't get a JCB in. All excavations had to be done by hand. We filled 25 large skips by the end. We had to manoeuvre winches in to get the steel structure up before we could start taking the outer wall down. It was tough and very awkward."

The Pearsons remained open during the 16 weeks when the work was going on.

Alterations to outbuilding - £70,000

Main building contractor - Oakway, Sidcup, Kent

Design and project management - Estates department, Shepherd Neame

Structural engineer - John Kettle & Associates, Ashford, Kent

Smoke-easy

Shepherd Neame has committed to investing £3.5m in smoke-easies to prepare its pubs for the ban. "We are not calling the Bricklayers a smoke-easy because we don't know what the rules are going to be," says tied-trade director George Barnes. "But it is a prototype smoke-easy."

Whatever the outcome of the guidelines, the Pearsons now have an outside area that can surely be used for smokers in some capacity. Before the project, smokers would have had to settle for loitering on the street outside the pub. CCTV has also been installed so staff can keep an eye on outside drinkers.

CCTV - £4,000 (Sabre Response, Whitstable, Kent)

Heating and lighting

The electric heaters are a novel modern addition to the outside space and will prove invaluable when the smoking ban comes into force. They rely on radiant heat with a reach of about 20m. "They work on motion sensors and when they detect people moving they switch on," says Leach. "Then two minutes after there is no movement, they switch off. They are very eco-friendly."

Barnes believes they are the way forward. "The standing gas patio heaters are an incredible waste of heat and energy," he says. "They aren't very effective and have the tendency to go walkabout from the pub."

Spotlights have also been added. "At night it is quite something with all the lights on," says Pam.

Heaters - £1,500 (Prewer and Orsborn Lighting Galleries, Canterbury, Kent)

Lighting - £3,900 (E Elvins & Co, Paddock Wood, Kent)

Furniture

The Pearsons were responsible for buying the furniture. Upstairs they have used tables and chairs from the pub which have been refurbished by George. For the downstairs, Pam bought several mosaic tables. "It was much bigger than I thought it would be," she says. "So we didn't have enough tables and had to buy some more."

In total some 60 chairs and 15 tables have been added to the outside area. New stock was also added inside and George refurbished existing furniture. "I gave them a good rub down and varnished them," he says.

Furniture - £14,700 (Sturts, Faversham, Kent)

Results

It is still early days and there has yet to be a sunny weekend, but the Pearsons and Shepherd Neame are confident the outside area will prove a big hit. "The only way is up," says George. The area has increased trading space by 15%.

The original budget estimated for the project was £45,000 - it came in at around £110,000. "The costs were estimated on the original plan but we had to do a lot more to satisfy planners. The overall cost was not more than we anticipated," says Barnes.

He adds: "It was a significant outlay for us but relatively low-risk because we have added an attraction to the pub. We have increased its ability to take money at a time of year when it had suffered a dip before. I am very happy with the outcome."

The Pearsons are now looking forward to a profitable summer and the World Cup. The bar does have a TV but it is rarely used. "We are going to get a plasma screen outside," says George. "We have to really. The pub down the road has screens on all the walls and ceilings. Having it outside also means that those who don't want to watch football can stay separate inside." Table service outside is also being considered.

The Pearsons won't be drawn on how much longer they would like to stay in charge but do admit that this third refurbishment is the last they will be undertaking.

"What really excites me is that Pam and George have been here for 36 years and you can see they are still investing in the pub and driving it forward," says Barnes.