Pub food: business boosters
Back to school party
Where: Punch Tavern,
Fleet Street, London
The idea: Party night with complimentary buffet and drinks. Marketing manager David Pocock says: "We have been running the event for seven years. It is a great opportunity to get all our good customers together after the summer to remind them that the festive season and Christmas parties are on their way.
"We invite all the people who have held functions in the pub, use our office catering, attend our events and regularly book lunch or dinner. There is nothing too sales-based about the evening, except some posters and the managers chatting to customers about upcoming events."
What we needed: "I compile a list of people throughout the year and email them with a 'save the date', requesting an RSVP and allowing them to bring a friend. We then send a reminder email and sometimes also post out something to them. We have a door list and take all names and email addresses giving each person a card for the bar tab.
The pub is decorated to make it look festive and the hot buffet we serve features food that is also available on our party and office catering menus. Complimentary drinks consist of sea breeze cocktails, house wine, a lager, a cider and an ale. The cost is around £500 in food and drink and £100 for the mail out.
"We do let other patrons in, but turn away an estimated £300 in takings because we are so full with our free drinkers. Because both managers are present, we only need to hire one other staff member for the evening."
Business benefits: "We make money on the night over the bar from paying customers and after the event has ended. Some people are also happy to turn down a free drink because they would prefer an alternative.
"The evening provides us with a fantastic opportunity to discuss Christmas and October/November team nights out with our customers, which are so important for a City pub, and also allows us to show off new dishes from our menu. We regularly book more than five parties on the night and lots more in the following couple of weeks after the event. People get a chance to see the pub looking great, full and buzzing, and it leaves a fantastic impression on them."
Top tip: "Be clever with who you invite — it must be the person who books the parties with you — but don't get too strict. Friends of good customers help build your database and fill the pub up."
Leisure Lunch Club
Where: Chequers Inn, Woolsthorpe by Belvoir, Lincolnshire
The idea: Dining loyalty scheme. Owner Jo Chad says: "We've been running the Leisure Lunch Club for about four years, having started it up following our participation in one of the major broadsheet dining promotions. We had a huge response and decided to use the data to create our own lunch club.
"Customers can apply for a complimentary card. The card entitles them to dine from our regular set menu at a reduced price of £9 for two courses and £11 for three courses (normally £11.50 and £15). Each time they dine, their card is marked and their 10th visit is free. We offer a set menu that changes daily."
What we needed: "We have the loyalty cards printed at a relatively low cost and only advertise in-house and on our website, so there were not many set-up costs. The set menu is offered at a reduced price to club members; there's a bigger discount for more courses to encourage customers to opt for all three."
Business benefits: "We probably have a few hundred members and serve anywhere between 20 and 60 lunch-club covers per week. The scheme is a great promotional tool and we benefit from a lot of word-of-mouth advertising. We also find that the lunch-club customers come and eat at other times at regular prices."
Top tip: Be consistent and persevere - the scheme may take a while to develop and take off.
Faulty Towers night
Where: Merry Harriers, Hambledon, Surrey,
The idea: Interactive comedy dining experience. Owner Colin Stoneley says: "We held this event for one night in 2008. It was a sell-out, so we thought enough time had passed to do it again, this time for two nights. We provided a fixed three-course meal and the Fawlty Towers impersonators (Mr & Mrs Fawlty and Manuel) took over evening service, which consisted of two hours of audience interactive theatre."
What we needed: "I read about the act at the Edinburgh Fringe one year and thought it would be something different. The impersonators have been performing there for 10 years and charged us £1,450 per performance, although we didn't need to bring in any additional staff as the actors serve, clear up and open wine. We advertised the event via our mailing lists and a few posters in local shops, so there were no advertising costs involved.
"To some extent the script determined the food we offered; we served roast tomato soup (so that two people could discover false teeth in theirs), chicken in tarragon and white wine sauce and chocolate mousse."
Business benefits: "The evenings were suitable for all ages and we sold 90 tickets across the two evenings at a charge of £40 per ticket. Takings were four times those on a usual Tuesday and Wednesday and equalled the same as a bank holiday weekend's take.
"The pub had to be closed to non-ticket holders between 7pm and 10pm, but as Tuesdays and Wednesdays are our quietest nights this caused minimal loss of trade and disruption to our locals who didn't attend. The event has given us a great deal of free advertising and people who couldn't attend keep asking how it went and when we will do it again."
Top tip: "Avoid placing tables in alcoves or out of the way places. Everyone needs to have a clear view, even if this is at the expense of extra covers."
Seventh Heaven menu
Where: Chequers Inn, Woolsthorpe by Belvoir, Lincolnshire
The idea: Number seven menu concept - seven dishes at £7, seven days of the week. Owner Jo Chad says: "We started Seventh Heaven two years ago as a January promotion to get people out for dinner early. We are in a rural location and although we are an established destination dining pub, it's still hard to get busy early week nights in the new year.
"It was so popular that we continued it and now it's an important part of our trade. As the name suggests, the concept is based on all the sevens. We offer seven dishes at £7, seven days of the week from 6pm to 7pm. The menu consists of pub classics such as beer-battered haddock and hand-cut chips, homemade pie of the day and salmon fishcakes with lemon mayonnaise."
What we needed: "When we first introduced the Seventh Heaven menu we did some door-to-door local postcard drops.
Now the advertising is all done in-house; on our website and via cards that we have printed and sit on tables or which can be posted through letterboxes."
Business benefits: "It's made a huge difference to our early dining trade and we serve anywhere between 80 and 200 Seventh Heaven covers per week. We do take a hit on the GP, but most people will have starters and/or desserts and a few drinks, which more than compensates.
"The good thing is that we give the customers limited time at the table, so we can still turn the table for a regular diner later in the evening. It makes the pub busy early on, which is good for the kitchen and great for customers to see.
The initiative has been good at bringing new business into the pub and customers often
come back to eat at other times. The idea has been so successful that we've also introduced an even better value promotion, Super Sixes, into our other pub, the Gregory at Harlaxton — six dishes, £6, six days of the week before 6.30pm."
Top tip: Don't scrimp on portion sizes. Keep them the same so the customer knows they are getting a good deal.
