Bridge Bier Huis: only here for the beer
Simon Scott — who runs freehouse the Bridge Bier Huis in Burnley with Emma Harrison — tells Tony Halstead how wet sales account for 95% of the trade, with the pub offering drinkers a huge selection of cask ales, foreign lagers and global bottled beers.
How we got here
I worked as bars manager at a medium-sized hotel in Burnley where we managed to develop a good cask-ale trade, which earned itself quite a reputation despite the fact that the core hotel business was food and bedrooms. Emma had worked at various pubs in the area, but we always wanted to run our own business. When we noticed the Bridge was up for let we decided to take the plunge.
The pub had been a former Bass tenancy and was a club for a while, but had been closed for quite some time. We opened in June 2003, but two months later the pub came up for auction and was sold to a development company with original owners Provence retaining the lease and sub-letting to us. Three years later it was due to be auctioned again, but we managed to buy the freehold property beforehand.
Shortly after this, Provence went bust. It was a stroke of luck and I think we were one of the few people to actually benefit from the Provence fiasco.
Our pub
The Bridge dates from around 1905 and is located on the fringe of the town centre next to one of the town's main car parks, so location-wise it's very handily placed. In terms of competition it sits a fair distance from the nearest rival pub, so, to an extent, it's out on its own. There are plenty of offices and shops nearby to draw trade from, so as far as location goes the pub has a lot going for it. When we arrived here it didn't need a lot doing in terms of repairs, which was a big bonus as start-up costs were kept to a minimum.
Our trading strategy
We came to the Bridge with a clear game plan: to create a pub that offered a real point of difference. Bier Huis is Dutch for 'beer house' and we decided from the start that although cask ales would be central to our drinks offering, we wanted to go much further than that and stock a range of lagers and other beers that would set us apart from other pubs.
We began stocking a range of Continental lagers, real cider and fruit beers — all on draught — and backed this up with a huge range of bottled beers. Currently, we have 49 different bottled beers sourced from Europe and beyond.
We always have six cask ales available, most of which are rotating, and we average about 13 different real ales per week. Our record is 29 different cask ales, which we sold over the weekend of the Burnley Blues Festival.
We always aim to stock a varied choice of real ale, based on different strengths and colours. Advance ordering is vital, so we are always looking about three to four weeks ahead when we decide what beers we are going to stock. We use wholesalers, but brewers are always ringing us up as well. The idea is to stock cask ales from microbrewers and niche suppliers, so we are offering beers that are new to a lot of customers. We have a "coming soon" board, listing the beers that are coming in the future and details are always on our website.
Since we opened we have sold 2,552 different cask ales (as of 3 November), which is logged on a running total board displayed at the side of the bar and updated each week.
Most of our containers are nine-gallon casks and we use Hydes Brewery in Manchester as our anchor supplier. We have had a good working relationship with them for quite a time and Hydes Bitter is an ever-present beer, which we sell for just £2 a pint and the price has not increased for two years. However, most cask ales sell for about £2.20 to £2.30 a pint, with standard lager priced at £2.80.
Foreign lagers such as Staropramen sell for £3 a pint. Our total draught volumes are now running at about 10 barrels per week, which is good going by anybody's standards. We've managed to keep our place in the Campaign for Real Ale's Good Beer Guide for several years and we have won numerous local CAMRA awards.
Food & events
Obviously, beer is the main thing that draws people in here and wet sales account for 95% of our trade. We do food at lunchtimes only, but it's very much basic fare, such as curries, chilli, pies, toasties etc, with dishes selling for about £4. We have a quiz every Wednesday night and have a team in the local quiz league. We put on occasional live bands and stage a live event every night during the annual blues festival.
Our staff
We have about 10 part-time staff, plus a full-time manager. We know all our staff well and many belong to families of regulars customers. We never advertise for staff and don't generally employ anybody we don't know. They are a very loyal bunch and
several have been with us for quite a few years. Most of them are pretty knowledgeable, but myself, Emma or David Eastwood, our bar manager, are always on the premises to sort out problems or help out with information on the beers.
The Claret factor
Claret here doesn't mean wine — although we do sell plenty of that too. This particular Claret is all
about football and Burnley FC. The pub is a Claret & Blue stronghold and match days at the Bridge are something special.
We are packed out from Saturday lunchtime onwards and again after the match has finished. We more than double our trade compared to a normal Saturday and need six or seven staff behind the bar to keep up with demand.
We are on the football map as a real-ale pub and get plenty of visiting fans arriving, but there is never a hint of trouble.
Last season in the Premiership was an experience, but even this season back in the Championship has its benefits. There are more games over a season and matches are not generally played at odd times like the Premiership.
We do not open the pub on Mondays or Tuesdays, except when Burnley play at home on Tuesday nights. Successive Tuesday and Saturday home games mean a big advance order to cater for two major trading days.
Plans for the future
It's difficult to say how we can develop trade. It's all about consistency and quality of service and products.
Keeping abreast of any developments in the cask-ale sector is obviously key, as are any new trends in the Continental beers that we import. Keeping a point of difference is vital if you are to retain the right niche market and we think the Bridge Bier Huis does just that.
Facts 'n' stats
Address: Bridge Bier House,
2 Bank Parade, Burnley, Lancs
Status: Freehouse
Owners: Simon Scott & Emma Harrison
Volumes: 10 barrels per week (draught)
Wet:dry split: 95:5
Beer GP: 50%
Staff: One full-time, 10 part-time.
Average cost of a pint: Cask ale £2.20; Dortmunder Union Pils £3; Erdinger Weisse £3.20
