Jolly Cricketers: good innings
Amanda Baker, owner of the Jolly Cricketers, Seer Green, Buckinghamshire, talks book signings, home-made dog biscuits and JD Wetherspoon's John Hutson with Noli Dinkovski.
How we got here
My husband Chris and I both drank in the pub, and in December 2007 the licensee told us she wanted to sell the Punch Taverns lease.
She knew I had a catering business and a background in hospitality, having trained at Tante Marie — a cordon bleu cookery school in Surrey, now owned by Gordon Ramsay — so she asked us if we wanted to buy the pub.
The wisteria-clad Victorian pub sits opposite the Holy Trinity Church in the heart of Seer Green, a village just outside Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. The atmosphere here is friendly and informal, with the bar a level playing field for people from all walks of life.
How we achieved business growth
Chris is from the village and has lived here all his life, so he knew the area was crying out for a decent pub. We took over the lease in March 2008. We shut the pub for 12 days for refurbishment, and reopened on the Easter Sunday. We've been very lucky in that we haven't had to push the business — it's grown through word of mouth. Our first year's turnover was £377,000, and by the second year it had risen to £550,000.
After keeping up with events at Punch through the Morning Advertiser we approached them with an offer for the pub, which they accepted. We secured finance from NatWest based on our successful first year's trading and strong business plan. This year our turnover is forecast to exceed £750,000.
We are in a fairly affluent area and a lot of senior people within the industry live nearby, including JD Wetherspoon chief executive John Hutson, who has been a fantastic help. If I email John I know he will always come back to me. A number of people at Diageo have been very supportive as well.
Business philosophy
Our aim is to excel in everything we do, and to cater for everybody. From builders to company CEOs, everybody is treated with the same level of respect. I think a village pub should reflect the diversity of village life.
We pride ourselves on the standard of the food offering and our head chef Gerd Greaves has done a fantastic job. We've just got into Michelin's Eating Out In Pubs 2011 guide and we will also be going into the main Michelin guide. However, we are not going to let success go to our heads, and we will continue to offer things such as sandwiches and a basic bar menu. We remain a drink-focused pub. Too many pubs look like restaurants these days, and we are keen to avoid going down the same route.
Three recommended suppliers
Jing Tea is just the best tea you can buy. We get our sausages, game and pork from Chiltern Farm Food down the road from us, while Debbie Horstead, who lives in the next village, bakes our cakes for our coffee mornings.
Bar talk
We are heavily involved with the Campaign for Real Ale and have four local Cask Marque-accredited ales, with Marlow Rebellion the best seller. We have Fuller's London Pride on the recommendation of Cask Marque, as it's ideal for people who aren't seasoned real-ale drinkers, but may want to try it. There are four lagers on tap, three premium bottled lagers, Millwhites artisan cider alongside three bottled ciders, and a range of premium soft drinks. We have a great wine list and 18 wines by the glass, all with tasting notes.
We serve seasonal home-made drinks such as blackberry brandy, mulled wine and sloe gin in the winter, and Pimm's with home-made lemonade in the summer.
Five best business ideas
• Book signings
Working in conjunction with local bookshop Gerrards Cross, we host book-signing nights for authors. It's a great thing to do on an otherwise quiet Monday night. Earlier this year we had BBC presenter Bill Turnbull, who lives nearby, come in and talk about his new book.
• Vouchers
Rather than pay cash, we like to give local tradesmen vouchers to spend in the pub. Our window cleaner gets meal vouchers, for instance.
• Ice-cream machine
Buying an ice-cream maker has enabled us to offer outstanding ice creams and sorbets on our menu.
• Nylon candles
We used to put wax candles around the pub, but found that every time someone opened the door, wax would be blown everywhere. Supplied by Charles Farris, the nylon candles are filled with smokeless oil. They look like real candles and don't make any mess.
• Growing our own
We have limited space around the pub, but we have managed to squeeze in our own herb patch. There are allotments in the village and we are planning to get someone to manage a plot for us next year.
Pub facts
Licensees: Amanda Baker & Chris Lillitou
Tenure: Freehold
Wet:dry split: 60:40
GP food/GP drink: Working on 65% for both
Total covers: 26 in small bar and 36 in main bar (seating outside for 60 people in small beer garden)
Average covers per week: 475
Menu philosophy
Our chefs use seasonal ingredients, locally sourced where possible, to create modern British food with pub classics alongside more restaurant-style dishes. Food ranges from home-made char-grilled burgers on the bar menu to a first-class,
three-course meal. I'd say we are particularly renowned for our soufflés. We test dishes for quite a long time before they go on the menu, so we are 100% confident they will be a success. The menu is always changing and evolving, and if a local game hunter or fisherman brings something in, it will go on as a special.
From home-made cakes for our Friday coffee mornings to hand-cut sandwiches for the ramblers who pass through the village, and a great range of snacks in Kilner jars on the back bar — we offer it all. We even sell home-made dog biscuits.
•Best new dish
Parmesan gnocchi, butternut, sautéed wild mushrooms, walnut sauce (£12.50)
•Best-selling dishes
Starters: Warm goats' cheese fondant, candied beets (£6.75); crisp tomato tart, barbecued sardines, shallot chutney & herb salad (£6); char-grilled asparagus, champ potatoes, poached duck egg, crispy Parma ham (£6.50).
Mains: Pan-fried skate wing, crispy pork belly, sweetcorn, caper butter (£15); roasted partridge, potato puree, black pudding, Sauternes & redcurrant sauce (£16); 28-day aged rib-eye steak, roasted vine tomatoes, Portobello mushrooms, Sarratt watercress, triple-cooked chips, béarnaise sauce (£18).
Desserts: rich chocolate tart, raisin puree, Guinness ice cream (£7); plum tart, almond frangipane, vanilla ice cream (£6); pistachio soufflé, cherry sorbet (£6).
• Most profitable dishes
Ale and cider braised ham, crispy poached egg, pineapple chutney, triple-cooked chips (£11); bacon, Brie and cranberry sandwich (£5.75).
In the know
• Service standards
We are a very small team and our staff understand our vision. It's important that our staff get to know the names of our regular customers and we encourage them to make notes in a diary. Our staff have been taught to use their initiative and to correct any problem that a customer may have before the customer leaves.
• Biggest mistake
We set up a large outdoor screen during the World Cup football tournament, but we weren't fully prepared for the number of people who turned up to watch the England matches. We knew we would be busy, but we were blown away by the number of people who came. Now, we analyse every event we have and make notes on how it can be improved next time. A key area is staffing — it's better to be overstaffed and warn one of two that they may not be needed all night, than to not have enough staff on hand.
• Couldn't live without
QuickBooks, business accounts software that enables us to understand all financial aspects of our business every day.
