A great occasion, by George!
MANY PUBS around the country celebrated St George's Day a couple of weeks back, but few will have done it with quite the same gusto as the Head of Steam in Liverpool.
Marking the day is not just a point of national pride for the pub's licensee, Rob McNeill, it has become a major boost to his business - a skilfully organised event with a strong reputation among local customers.
While April 23 this year fell on a Monday, the Head of Steam had based a long weekend around England's patron saint, with themed events starting on the Saturday and building to the day itself.
Rob, whose patriotism is demonstrated by time spent as a fusilier before first taking on a pub in 1998, says that his profits on the Saturday were around 80 per cent higher than on a standard Saturday.
He estimates his outgoings for the weekend were under £500 - this included five bands, an opera singer and decorations.
"I am not far from being one of the first pubs in England to start doing St George's Day," he proudly adds.
The Head of Steam was one of the original flagships of the Northern pub group of the same name, a company that regularly stages profit-boosting events and schemes.
Across its sites, these have included St Patrick's Day celebrations, beer festivals and a loyalty scheme at Christmas, and Rob's St George's Day events have been as big as any of them.
You've got a long time to prepare for St George's Day 2008, but Rob's enthusiastic and inventive approach can be applied to events throughout the year - Proud of Pubs Week in July could be your big opportunity to put it into practice.
Getting the beers in
The Head of Steam has a strong cask ale offering year round, but the focus on this most English of pub products is sharpened come April.
This year for the first time Rob actively negotiated with brewers he believes "want to get involved in St George's Day but don't really know how".
Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) and Black Sheep were guaranteed orders as well as recognition of their involvement in the event through posters declaring their sponsorship.
In return, Rob got preferential deals - £120-worth of glassware and tablemats free from Black Sheep, and an agreement with S&N whereby 48 branded glasses were given to him free for every 22 gallon containers he bought.
"I went to S&N, rather than them coming to me" explains Rob.
"They sent me a load of bunting and banners and I said 'that's not good enough', so they asked what they could do for us. We negotiated for me to buy a lot of stuff and get a lot of free stuff in return."
Rather than going for a high profile St George's Day beer such as Wells & Young's Bombardier, Rob decided to stick with the suppliers he uses for most of the year.
These include Yorkshire microbrewer Old Bear which brews a seasonal beer for the Head of Steam called Fusilier. Its pump clip was designed around the crest logo that Rob and his fellow members of the armed forces wore while fighting in the first Gulf War.
Carrying the flag with pride
These old friends, equally as proud of their English heritage as Rob, were invited en masse to the Head of Steam's celebrations on Saturday, a move which further raised the atmosphere in the packed pub.
"We used to have big parties on St George's Day in the Gulf, so when I got my own pub I started building up the same tradition," Rob says.
It seemed natural to the licensee to make the event a reunion for these war veterans.
Many licensees may be concerned in modern multicultural Britain about the political correctness of promoting a day that at one point had certain negative connotations when racist nationalists regularly hijacked the St George's Cross flag in the 1970s and 1980s.
However, pubs should have nothing to fear, according to Rob. "Why does everyone seem to have to be so careful about being PC?" he asks. "The flag of St George has been rebranded since the bad old days because of the work done by the Football Association."
On Monday a petition was handed around among customers calling for support for calls to make St George's Day a public holiday.
The pub also runs a slide show on the big screen explaining the traditions of the day. All proceeds from selling roses at £2 a time were donated to charity the Fusiliers Association. Raffles were also run for the cause in the evening.
That's entertainment
Rob selected a range of fun entertainment for the event - much of it somewhat tongue in cheek (see box). Year round, the pub hosts live music and its main hall-like room is ideally designed for customers to view the big screen positioned at one end.
Hiring musicians is done under the same principles as usual. "We only have bands that play their own songs, not covers," says Rob. "Youngsters doing their own music is much more entertaining than some naff covers band."
And he believes this has a positive effect in attracting drinkers and spreading the St George's Day word. "People come along to see the bands who wouldn't normally come in. They start asking questions about St George and it sinks in."
Rob believes St George's Day will become more of a fixture and a profit-making opportunity in pubs as more in the trade throw their weight behind it.
"Nobody would know about St Patrick's Day without the input of Guinness," he says.
"They used to ask me 'have you been to a wedding?' when they saw me wearing the rose, but every year more and more people are getting wise to St George's Day."
Head of Steam's St George's Day activities
- Classic English film The Battle of Waterloo on the big screen
- England's famous 5-1 victory over Germany in 2001 on the big screen
- Afternoon tea served at 3pm, including Earl Grey tea and cucumber sandwiches
- Opera singer performing national classics at 6.30pm including Jerusalem, Rule Britannia and God Save the Queen
- 'England Disco' featuring classic football terrace songs and classic English tracks by bands including the Jam, the Who and the Rolling Stones
- Live bands
- Midnight toast to St George
Rob's advice to pubs holding St George's Day events
"Be proud. All pubs make a success of St Pat's Day, but they can all do the same for St George's.
"It's easy to come up with activities, any of the great things associated with the day that have made England what it is."
Plan for Proud of Pubs Week
Inspired? Now's the time to start planning what you're doing for Proud of Pubs night, on Tuesday July 9.
Pubs across the country are being encouraged to do something they've never done before to pull in the punters, develop their roots in the local community and show how proud we are of our trade.
Email proudofpubs@thepublican.com or phone 020 7955 3710 to tell us what you're up to.
