Licensees go for gold

15-Sep-2011 - Last updated on 16-Sep-2011 at 11:16 GMT

Related tags British food St austell Olympic games

Sports mad: the trade is hoping people will regard pubs as the natural place to view the Olympics

Despite the ticket-sales disappointment felt by many, Britain is excitedly gearing up for its historic hosting of the Olympics next summer.

In a big year for the tourist trade, the Olympics, which kick off on 27 July, is preceded by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in early June, in a double whammy that is sure to bring tourists flocking to our shores.

Research from Deloitte found that companies in the hospitality sector recognise the potential of the Games more than other sectors, with 44% of them expecting a medium or high impact on their businesses.

Figures from Visa anticipate that London 2012 will provide an instant £750m increase in consumer spending, with a £5.1bn boost to the UK economy over the following four years. The study also said that consumer expenditure across the seven weeks of events next year will increase by 18.5%.

In an extra celebration of all things British, British Food Fortnight (BFF) will run from the earlier date of 27 July until 12 August next year, and will be renamed Love British Food.

Licensees have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cash in and reap the benefits of the extra footfall.

Planning tips

“Pubs need to have a plan in place early to make the most of this huge opportunity,” says Georgina Wild, marketing manager at him! research consultants.

“Pubs need to start thinking now about what activity they will put on next year so that they have time to plan the marketing, stock, and get the staff trained. Staff should be informing customers about activities and also upselling any special deals from now on.”

Wild suggests offering special Olympics food and drink packages and providing the facility for groups and office parties to book.

“Licensees really need to understand what events are happening when, and which ones they are going to focus their efforts on,” she says. “Consider whether the current offer needs to be adapted as sit-down meals may not be suitable on certain days and people may prefer barbecues, self-serve buffets, sharing platters, sharing pizzas and take-away offers.

“Serve specially-branded buckets of lager for groups. Don’t forget to accessorise with flags and games.”

However, the organiser of BFF, Alexia Robinson, warns that pubs may face difficulty in planning due to the stringent rules in place to protect Olympics sponsors. It was for that reason that the fortnight will be moved forward next year to give operators a “promotional platform”.

“Patriotic fervour will be at fever pitch and, as with all sporting occasions, many people are going to want to enjoy the spectacle in a pub,” says Robinson. “The opportunity to tap into this patriotism to increase menu sales, win new customers and show off your food offering to gain repeat business after the Games is huge.

“Food and sport go hand in hand and we want pubs to be able to benefit from the potentially huge income stream that the wave of Olympic patriotism will bring. Let’s use 2012 to put not just Britain but British food in the best possible light and make sure that every pub gets a piece of the Olympic commercial cake.”

Visit www.lovebritishfood.co.uk for information and ideas and email vasb@ybiroevgvfusbbq.pb.hx for a promotional pack.

People 1st has also developed a guide to help operators prepare. Download the guide at www.people1st.co.uk for case studies and tips, such as getting staffing right and identifying commercial opportunities.

What pub operators are doing

Many pub owners are using this year’s BFF (17 September to 2 October) as a launchpad to test what will work next year.

London-based ETM Group is holding a ‘Best of British’ celebration at six of its eight sites, excluding the Botanist and Chiswell Street Dining Rooms. The £10 deal includes a pint, 175ml glass of wine or two soft drinks and main meal, though the menus will change daily and differ from outlet to outlet.

All dishes will be locally-sourced pub favourites, such as sausage and mash with cider sauce.

Orchid Group, the 300-site operator, is hailing 2012 as the ‘year of sport’ with not only the Olympics but also the Six Nations rugby union tournament and the Euro 2012 football competition being staged to give pubs an opportunity to up trade.

sausages — Pub classics: like bangers and mash, will be on offer to pull in punters

Research by the company indicated that 67% of the 1,000 disappointed ticketless fans surveyed plan to watch the Games in a pub instead — good news for the industry.

“Pubs have traditionally been the perfect place for watching big sporting events, and we expect the London 2012 Olympics to really inspire the country and bring together people from across communities to share in the atmosphere and display their patriotism,” says commercial and people director Simon Dodd.

Orchid pubs will be showing all the action live.

Meanwhile, British Airways, the official airline of the Olympics, has been working with celebrity chefs to impress 2012 tourists from the outset.

Michelin-starred pub chef Simon Hulstone beat hundreds of competitors to design an Olympics menu for the airline to be enjoyed by tourists from March. He will work with judge and mentor Heston Blumenthal to come up with the perfect menu.

The torch

The official London 2012 Olympics torch was displayed at St Austell Brewery in Cornwall last month and more than 100 people visited to have their photo taken with it.

The torch will carry the Olympic flame from Land’s End to London next year. The team at St Austell is hoping many of its pubs will be on the route, due to be disclosed soon.

“People got very excited about having their photo taken with the torch in the event with Olympics sponsors Coca-Cola,” says St Austell’s head of marketing and communications Jeremy Mitchell.

“We are all really excited about the Olympics torch going to Land’s End first in May. We are waiting with bated breath to see the planned route as we are sure to have several pubs along the way.

“In the meantime we are talking to Coca-Cola about promotional ideas. Our hope is that during the Olympics the natural place to congregate and celebrate will be in the pub. We’re looking to make the most of it.”

St Austell has also created two beers in honour of the Olympics — the Cornish malty ale Torch Bearer (4.5% ABV) will be available next May and June and IPA Podium (4% ABV) will be available next July and August. The ales will be in all St Austell pubs and be available to the freetrade.

What suppliers are doing

Foodservice supplier Brakes has developed a web-based toolkit to help pubs make the most of BFF, which could come in handy for next year’s renamed Love British Food event too.

There is now a dedicated area of the company’s website at www.brake.co.uk/food/british that in-cludes template marketing and promotional material such as posters, menus and a free media toolkit with a sample press release and photo-call form to help outlets promote events to local media. There are also recipe ideas and a checklist to help licensees and pub chefs prepare.

“BFF is one of the highlights of the year for anyone working in the food industry to champion local and regionally sourced products on their menus,” says marketing director James Armitage.

“Interest in British food is stronger than it’s ever been and it’s easy to understand why. British food and drink tastes great, it’s excellent value and it’s something we can all be proud of.”

The downside

As with most events, the news for 2012 is not all good.

Research by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that, although four million people plan to stay in the UK specifically for the Games, another four million plan to be away to avoid them, with two million people altering their holiday plans.

The survey also revealed that just 37% of UK residents felt positively about the Games, although the number in London was 46%.
Another main concern around the Olympics is that of staffing, particularly at London venues.

The Deloitte survey found that 43% of companies consider the unavailability of staff to be a major problem, with many planning to rely on temporary staff to manage the expected peaks in trade.

Staff taking holiday is another concern, with 21% of senior executive respondents planning to take time off over the Games period.
However, staffing problems can be overcome with dedicated preparation and it is up to licensees to showcase outstanding offers to bring Olympics fever to Britain.

Going for gold