Inn at the Station: full steam ahead

Licensee Louise Clough tells Tony Halstead how a major makeover and new Thwaites' concept called Beer Hero has helped her and husband Gary beat competition at the Inn at the Station in Clitheroe, Lancashire.

How we got here​

We took our first pub, the Swan, five years ago in Whalley, just a few miles down the road from Clitheroe. Gary is a trained chef, while I worked in local government IT. We both fancied a change of direction and took on the Whalley pub through a lease assignment. The Swan had a well-established trade, which we worked hard to build on by gaining a new reputation for good food and beer, with the bonus of six letting bedrooms.

Late in 2009 we were approached by local brewer Thwaites, asking if we'd be interested in taking on one of its pubs, the Station, to give it a new lease of life.

There were no hard-and-fast plans for what Thwaites was looking for at the Station, but when we saw the pub we quickly realised it would need far more than just a spruce-up to develop the sort of trade we envisaged. This large imposing Victorian property looked every inch its age, but we knew that in an upwardly mobile town such as Clitheroe it had massive potential.

As the name suggests, the building sits opposite the town's railway station, rejuvenated several years back, after the re-introduction of passenger services which now provide a valuable link with larger Lancashire towns such as Blackburn.

Situated close to the picturesque rural villages across the Ribble Valley, the town seemed a perfect location for what we had in mind. After long discussions with the brewery we decided to take the plunge and a joint investment project of £250,000 was agreed.

Thwaites decided to make the Station the first of a new internal concept called Beer Hero, designed to offer a great selection of cask ales supplemented by a range of premium foreign draught lagers. The pub re-opened for business in March 2010.

Our refurbishment plan​

Our first challenge was to decide whether to keep the Station as the pub's name. Most people in the town knew it for what it was and we were concerned that losing its historic identity might be a step too far. After much soul-searching and debate we opted for the new name, Inn at the Station, which summed up what we intended to offer: great cask beers and foreign lagers, good quality food and letting bedrooms designed in a contemporary way.

The refurbishment project really involved a complete makeover from top to bottom and a total redesign of the ground floor bar and lounge area. We retained some of the better Victorian fittings, but incorporated a new modern, contemporary design in our furniture and decorations.

There are eight letting bedrooms on the pub's two upper storeys, but we decided to upgrade five rooms on the first floor and attack the top three at a later date. Again we retained some of the old fittings and blended them in with the same new design techniques. As in the rest of the pub, the mix worked very well.

Finally we replaced some of the old etched downstairs windows with clear glass to let passers-by see how the pub has changed inside. We knew too many people would not be aware of all the changes, so we wanted as many as possible to see the new-look Station for themselves.

Trying a new concept​

As the name Beer Hero suggests, the platform of our wet-trade offer is cask ales. All six real-ale pumps on the bar are from the Thwaites range, and we take great pride in keeping them in tip-top condition. As Thwaites is a local brewery its beers are well-known and very popular around here, but the large number of tourists and visitors we get are also very keen to try them.

The real ales are supplemented by a careful selection of more unusual lagers to provide us with a point of difference from other pubs which invariably go for big-selling national products. We are fully tied to Thwaites, but the beer and lager range is good and the wine and spirits prices very competitive.

As Clitheroe has plenty of pubs, competition is intense, but being close to the railway station means we are first on the circuit for a lot of visitors, and we don't get any late-night problems.

Food is a steadily-growing part of the business. We began by selling a lot of snacks and simple meals, but our chefs worked hard to devise a menu that now gives customers more choice. We would not describe it as gastropub food but it's fresh, drawn from local suppliers and top quality. Buying for two pubs also gives us important extra purchasing power.

We have tried to adopt a very flexible all-day food service to suit a highly varied customer profile. The Ribble Valley is blessed with a large number of top gastropubs and quality restaurants so it's a case of steering a middle line.

Other revenue streams​

We now have five operational bedrooms, with three more due to come on stream by Easter. We see letting income as vital — it provides spin-off sales of food and drink, but at the end of the day it's the real profit-earner for us. Tourism is very important to this part of Lancashire so we need to market our rooms aggressively through tourism websites and the like.

Ultimately we are aiming for a four-star rating through Visit Britain. As we have another pub, we appointed a manager, Karen Monks, to handle day-to-day operations, but both of us spend a minimum of two days a week here. Gary handles the operational side of the business while I look after payroll and administration. We always try to look at the business through the customers' eyes, to imagine how we'd find things if we were diners or overnight guests. Our food menu includes details of all our draught beers, with its back page listing future events at the pub.

Taking stock​

We are fast approaching our first anniversary later this month and are now in a position to look back on a frantic year.

We are still fine-tuning and working hard to get the final three letting rooms completed. Running a pub owned by a big national operator and then taking on a second owned by a local family brewer has been a fantastic experience — the culture change has been dramatic.

I have to say the level of support offered by Thwaites highlights the benefits of working with a local company that is always close at hand to deal with any issues or problems.

We have done well in the first year despite the difficulties in the economy and we're in a good position to move forward.

Receiving Casque Marque accreditation late last year has been a major plus for the business.

Facts 'n' stats​

Owner: Daniel Thwaites, Blackburn

Tenants: Gary & Louise Clough

Tenure: Five years

Average weekly take: £12,000

Wet:dry split: 70:30

Food GP: 65%

Beer GP: 50%

Covers per week: 400

Average main course: £8

Full & part-time staff: 21

Cask bitter: £2.60 per pint

Standard lager: £3 per pint

Guinness: £3.10 per pint