A new lease of life for Surrey pub
David Stanley, licensee at the Plough in Earlswood, Surrey, tells Gurjit Degun how he has managed to increase turnover from £1,000 to £10,000 a week in four years.
How I got here
I bought the pub in September 2007 after selling off a few leasehold pubs I had. I was looking to take a break from running pubs, but my Punch area manager at the time said that this one was struggling — and persuaded me to buy it.
The old owner had tried turning it into a gastropub, but it just wasn't working. I'm slowly trying to replace all the horrible chairs and tables.
A new look
We spent £30,000 on the refurbishment and were closed for a week. My budget was £20,000, but when we got here, I realised the equipment was old and needed replacing. We bought four double fridge-freezers costing about £9,500. When you're dealing with refrigeration, you've got to buy the good stuff.
We replaced a lot of the equipment, painted inside and outside, removed some walls and added more seats. It's a Grade II-listed building, so we can't do an awful lot.
The garden is massive, and I spent £10,000 doing that up. But it's worth it, we can get 100 people out there as a result.
The chargrill was the best thing I bought. It cooks an absolutely superb steak. And the smell in the summer when people are walking down the road brings in more punters.
The takings went up to £5,000 per week within four weeks, from £1,000. I think that people were desperate to see somebody just run it as a proper pub.
But then we were stuck on the £5,000 mark for a year. So I put it on the market. But then Christmas 2008 came along and we were getting lots of bookings.
I've been in the trade for 42 years and this pub is still an enigma to me. I really can't say why some things go well here and others don't.
Our food and drink
I don't work behind the bar. If I did, no-one else would be able to get past me! But I'm more into food and I help the chef a lot. She's been with me eight years.
We have a lot of good, traditional English food such as bacon, sage and onion suet pudding, freshly-made pies, which we have to allow 20 minutes to cook, and oxtail soup. It's the type of food that people don't have the time to cook at home.
On a Friday, we do proper fish and chips. I get the fish in fresh and the chef fries it in beer batter. We sell that for £6.95 and usually get through 45 to 50 portions.
We also offer customers the chance to 'roast your own chestnuts' on one of our log fires. We put out candles at Christmas. And we do quiz nights.
We don't do any drinks deals. I've never offered cheap booze — I don't believe in it. You don't get a big discount on a Rolls-Royce, so why should you get it on quality alcohol?
Our strategy
Running a pub isn't rocket science but you should never think you know it all. If you make a pub safe, clean and friendly, and then add the good
products and food at a sensible price, you have a winning formula.
I'm also very strict on behaviour. I won't have any abusive behaviour and anyone that gets involved in that is barred. And once you're barred, you're barred for life.
We get all sorts of people here — there's a group of bikers that come in often, so we have a load of Harley-Davidson bikes parked up outside. But they're pleasant guys and don't cause any trouble.
I think people like the fact that I don't allow any children in the pub. When I first came here people told me that not allowing children wouldn't work, and I'd lose a lot of trade. But I've proved them wrong.
We also have cycling clubs, walkers and rotary clubs.
Staff and training
The staff have to be young, easy-on-the-eye males and females. I train them myself, but I would prefer to get someone in to do it.
Punch used to do training courses that we could pay to send staff on, but that's no longer running, so there's no official training. I did send some on the Majestic Wine course, which was very good as they came back really enthusiastic about it,
and learnt a lot.
I like to keep my good staff — and I give them proper time off too. If it gets quiet, I'll give them the afternoon off for example.
Awards and advertising
Lots of licensees swear by awards and advertising in the local paper — but I don't believe in either.
I once entered a competition in the '80s with a pub I had in Purley, south London, and won £1,000, which I gave to the staff — but I hated it.
For six months after the awards, I had people coming into my pub saying: "Oh, it isn't that great. Mine's a lot better because I have this or that."
Instead of spending lots of money in the local media, we leave out leaflets, with what's going on at the pub, on the tables and I see women putting them in their bags. I know a lot of people take them back to their office and put them up on noticeboards.
Our new ideas
I've made a lot of mistakes in my career. I've taken on pubs and held onto them for too long. Your own ego makes you. I've always liked to take on struggling pubs and turn them around.
This is the last pub I'll have. I feel comfortable here. After this, I'll focus more on being a toastmaster, which I've been doing for years.
When you get a bit older (I'm 62), it's the long days that get hard.
I want to stay here for a few years and develop it a bit more, especially the garden. I've got a planning officer coming over to see if I can have some decking outside the front of the pub.
And I'd like to try doing afternoon tea again. We did it last year, but it didn't work. I think it was too expensive, so we'll have to tweak the offer a bit.
Facts 'n' stats
The pub: The Plough, Earlswood, Surrey
Licensee: David Stanley
Terms of lease: Punch, five years remaining
Turnover 2007: £1,000pw
Turnover 2010: £10,000pw
GP wet: 57.5%
GP dry: 50%
Staff: Three full-time in kitchen, three full-time in bar and six part-time, which can depend on the time of year
Staff wages as % of turnover: 17.5%
Average spend per person: £7.50 to £12
Drinks sales: Wine — 32%, ale — 32%, lager — 20%, spirits — under 5%
Price of drinks: Wine — £4.95 (175ml glass), ale — £2.90-£3.30, lager — £3.30-£3.75, spirit and mixer — £3.90
