Pub food: business boosters
Ideas for driving food sales at your pub including a Spanish night, a music club and using web vouchers.
Spanish night
Where: the Mill Race, Walford, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire www.millrace.info
The idea: Hayley Coombs, marketing manager, says: "Monday is usually our quietest time of the week, so each month we dedicate one Monday night to a theme. Our April Spanish night offered a three-course menu for £15: calamari with aïoli, Spanish pork with patatas bravas and sangria jelly with lemon and lime sorbet. These nights are always well booked up in advance, with numerous repeat bookings."
What we needed: "We always order in wine, spirits or beer from the country featured and offer drinks at a special price. We sometimes arrange live entertainment, such as a belly dancer for our Turkish night, or play music from the theme country, such as flamenco. We advertise in our monthly newsletter and on our pub blackboards."
Business benefit: "No other menus run that night to keep staff costs down to a minimum. Profits are up 70% compared with a normal Monday night. We can accommodate 74 covers, but on special nights we do between 70 and 90. We always sell whatever drinks we promote — average spend £6 per person. Many people use these nights to try us out — as it offers fantastic value they frequently return. Locally it has become a very popular event, with mentions in local press."
Top tips: Keep it simple and maintain the same quality and standards — using cheaper ingredients won't do your reputation any good. Know your customers — if they're adventurous you can match this with the food; if they are not, don't put them off.
Why do it: Increased turnover with low staff costs.
Music Club
Where: The Bull, Benenden, Kent www.thebullatbenenden.co.uk
The idea: Once a month, on a Thursday evening, the pub's dining room becomes a candlelit music lounge with three to four local acts performing original music. Owner Lucy Barron-Reid says: "There are very few pubs that will allow musicians to play their own music; usually they are only offered a Saturday night playing covers. My husband and I are both music lovers and felt it would be a good idea to form a music club, particularly as we have so many talented musicians in the area."
What we needed: "The club has its own Facebook page with around 300 members so we advertise the event this way, at no cost to us. Musicians also use the page to contact us looking to play, so the acts more or less book themselves. We reimburse the musicians their petrol costs and provide them with a drink, but apart from that the evening doesn't cost us anything."
Business benefits: "When we first started, two years ago, there were just a couple of tables; now we are full every month and even have people sitting on the floor and standing in the corridors. Entry is free of charge, but we tie the evening in with our weekly curry night and sell at least 50 extra food meals, plus significant bar sales each time. The increase in takings on the night is quite dramatic."
Top tip: "Create a separate identity for your club to maximise its following. We have customers who attend every event."
Why do it: A point of difference that encourages repeat trade.
Web vouchers
Where: The Hogget, Hook, Hampshire (Marston's lease); the Exchequer, Crookham nr Fleet, Hampshire (free-of-tie private lease)
The idea: Tom Faulkner, director of Innjoy, says: "Our industry has to use every single tool at its disposal to attract new customers as well as retain them. Your website is your shop-front for all those customers who have not yet had the pleasure of setting foot in your establishment. To entice new business and build loyalty we offer customers the facility to print vouchers from our websites, which can be redeemed at either of our pubs and that we change quite frequently."
What we needed: "It's essential to have a good-looking website, plus a webmaster who is close to your business to enable you to change details quickly and efficiently. As well as a database of 400-plus customer email addresses, we use traditional advertising in newspapers, leaflets and parish magazines to drive site traffic. Downloadable vouchers are also a popular option. Our website users can access a host of information, such as menus, articles and offers, which further enables us to sell to them. This encourages them to make that all-important first visit or that even more important return visit. To further enhance the online experience for our customers we're looking at various online booking solutions right now."
Business benefits: "Our vouchers always bring in business as new customers always like an offer, and existing customers will show their loyalty by taking advantage of it."
Top tips: Put yourself in your customers' shoes: what kind of website offers would make you visit a new pub or go back again? Publicise your deadline for redeeming vouchers and stick to it.
Why do it: Get customers into the habit of acting quickly and spending in your pub.
