Treat kids well and grow your business

Here at the Pigs we have come up with a solution — and it’s pretty damn good: kids’ food made from scratch on the premises, a children’s play area inside and out and a kids’ cookery session every other weekend.

We have invested heavily in the business to provide onsite facilities, and we think we will see a good return on that investment. What we have done here does attract families to the pub.

Our wooden outside play area, hand-made by our friends at Bewilderwood, has bespoke play equipment. There’s no off-the- shelf plastic slide-and-swing combo and all in it cost us £20,000. “Bloody hell!” you’re thinking — I know, I was too — but all you have to do is look around and see what’s on offer for children in this catchment area and then look at the Pigs’ car park every weekend, bank holiday and school holiday, to be convinced of its value.

A lot of children’s menus consist of pre-prepared, deep- fried, bought-in rubbish — and let’s face it, many chefs see children in the same light as non-desirables. A big mistake!

As a chef and landlord and dad of twin girls, I consider what the girls will find tasty as well as nutritious, and then think about what they can do after they have eaten, so that I can eat!

Many chefs and pubs are not even family-friendly. That’s just silly: you are instantly cutting out your potential customers and reducing your turnover.
Parents need sanctuary, a place to eat, a well-earned pint/glass of wine/G&T, but they do have children and the little ankle-biters need the same — including plenty of opportunities to play — minus the booze, of course.

The days of ‘no children allowed’ are gone and families want to go out, even when money’s tight. Parents are conscious of what their kids eat, where it comes from — and will the little monkeys will be bouncing off the walls later?

In my experience, forgetting families and children is a real no-no. I’m not saying that we run the Pigs like a fun factory, but there needs to be a balance between providing enough and at good quality, without annoying the average customer.

Tim Abbott is licensee and chef, the Pigs​, Edgefield, Norfolk​