Pubs must get creative in these changing times

Licensees are having to come up with as many creative enticements as they can — from parcel-collection hubs, to conference centres, to the 10% off loyalty card — just to bring footfall into the building.

The evolved, ever so creative pub licensee has had a tough time lately. But even if you have the winning formula, there’s always a competitor at your door.

There are always ideas to get more customers through the door and keep them coming back.

Many pubs have lost skittles teams as people cut spending, so teams call it a day. Pubs have had to refurbish these alleys and turn them into letting rooms, which seems to be the trend.

I’m afraid skittles will die out if this continues, which will be a terrible shame as the game has such a long historical connection with the pub.

Food has also had a complete turnaround. Classic dishes such as prawn and avocado cocktail, cottage pie, toad in the hole, steak and ale pie, liver and bacon and even spotted dick are all coming back.

It’s nice to see chefs putting a twist on some of those dishes, with deep-fried sage leaves and liver a must, or herb and red onion batter with toad in the hole.

I don’t know where the gastropub originated from, but with so many chefs sick of the long restaurant hours, but still passionate about food, it seems only right to put a classic twist on the pub trade.

With pub classics being the rage, this gives the pub chef more time to make puddings in-house, so why oh why do some still  buy in these plastic fake puddings? There is no real value in this madness.

These puddings are full of additives with no taste, but it is so easy to create your own sticky toffee pudding, bread and butter pudding even with chocolate or vanilla mascarpone, and crumbles, which can use up your fruit larder and take 10 minutes to make.

The fashionable cookery programmes on TV show the customers when they’re being ripped off; what to look out for; and how to use up leftovers.

They don’t want to come out to eat something they could cook at home.

The customer also does not want to go home hungry, but portion size should allow at least a two-course meal.

The delights on offer, from starters to puddings, are vast these days and so the main meal should be promoted as part of a package.

An old head chef of mine told me: “We are here to feed them and not fatten them.”

How true that is.

Getting the balance right —from price to portion size — really is a make or break in terms of customer satisfaction and best business practice.

• Mathieu Eke is head chef of the Helyar Arms, East Coker, Somerset​