Stocking up for Christmas: Peach pubs start party season early
The Peach Pub Company is bringing Christmas forward this year. It is aiming to attract groups to its six pubs between November 27 and December 7 with festive fare and a special wine offer.
Pre-booked parties of eight of more will receive a free half-bottle of house white wine per person in a bid to tempt customers through the door in the tricky period before the real Christmas partying rush kicks in.
The same offer last year saw "around a 12 per cent increase" in like-for-like business on the year before, according to Peach Pub Company managing director Lee Cash. He believes that any of the six pubs - in Oxford, Warwick, Stratford-Upon Avon, Witney, and two in Milton Keynes - can turn over upwards of £40,000 a week over the upcoming Christmas period.
Peach has published Christmas menus which feature 28-day dry-aged Aberdeen Angus roast beef, salmon Wellington, char-grilled tuna, wild mushroom tart, mulled wine parfait with spiced cherry compote, chocolate pot with orange shortbread and the obligatory Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. A three-course meal, followed by coffee and mince pies, will cost between £25 and £27.
Lee says he hopes the wine offer will "drive custom a little bit early. That week is always the hard one to fill. Week two you have less trouble filling, and week three you could fill four times over."
Based on previous Christmas periods, he believes group bookings will come from a mixture of work parties, families and normal casual dining. The style of food will be wholly traditional, he adds, and light bites and grazing platters will be dispensed with in favour of meals of several courses. "People don't want to graze at Christmas like they do on a sunny September afternoon," says Lee.
"I totally believe in having the traditional. We have been running Peach pubs for the past four years and traditional sells really well at that time of year. We don't cheapen the offer at Christmas; we keep the high quality."
This ties in with Peach's stated eco-friendly and all-natural intentions, with produce coming from reputable sources. Its beef all comes from Aberdeenshire suckler herds and has received an award from the National Beef Association.
While the Christmas music will be pumping out from speakers in the main rooms and tables will be decorated as befits the time of year, customers will have the option to tailor their surroundings in Peach's private dining rooms - which the pubco has already taken bookings for, according to Lee.
The Rose and Crown in Warwick, the Fleece in Witney, and the Swan in Milton Keynes, have private rooms which can seat between 20 and 30 customers. These feature plasma screens and sound systems with iPod ports, so that groups can bring their own portable music devices and choose their soundtrack.
The offering is simple, says Lee. "Whether they're eating from the Christmas menu or not, all customers like to be looked after with great service and a sense of fun."
