GP Generator: Mother's Day

It’s the one Sunday in the year when mums can feel totally justified in letting the rest of the family do the work. But what will dads and the kids do about lunch? There are two options: take charge of the kitchen or go down the pub.

For many it’s a no-brainer, and publicans in food-led businesses have certainly noticed that Mothers’ Day, which falls on 30 March this year, is an increasingly popular occasion.

Indeed, at Oakman Inns, which operates eight pubs to the north-west of London, it is “as big as Christmas”, according to marketing manager Sarah Sansom.

“We start planning for it really early. Once the romance of Valentine’s Day has passed, we leap straight into it.”She adds: “For the mothers — from young first-time mums right through to grandmothers — the day is a break, so we can leave nothing to chance. Mothers’ Day is our chance to show off.”While at some sites traditional roasts are the favourite, other Oakman pubs see a lot of specials-board action, especially the fish dishes.

This year, as well as smaller portions of roasts, the children’s menu will include a dish created by a local child as part of the group’s inaugural ‘design a dish’ competition.

“This year we’ve also introduced three after-dinner-style cocktails to our list and I suspect a fair few of these will be a hit,” adds Sansom.

“Our managers will all have something special for mums, too, be it a complimentary glass of fizz, flowers or chocolates, to make sure that the whole party is left in no doubt they booked the right table in the right venue again this year.”

In fact, the danger is they like it so much they might linger a little longer than is good for business.

“Our teams have to carefully manage the dwell time of customers, making sure they don’t feel rushed, but also ensuring we can get that table back for the next booking, or even the next walk-in, which does happen — even on Mothers’ Day.”

It’s not only Oakman that has that challenge. At freehouse the Inn at Penallt, in Monmouthshire, Sundays are already the busiest day of the week and, according to licensee Andrew Murphy: “Mothers’ Day costs me money because we don’t get the same turn-over of tables.

“I would say we lose about 15 covers,” he says. “But it’s a big day for families, and that’s important to us. It’s an opportunity to generate new regular business, a way of showing what pubs can do for families.

“Some people have the impression that because you run a family pub it’ll be like a McDonald’s kids’ party, but we want to show it’s a nice place where you get looked after. Mothers’ Day is a stepping stone to future custom and repeat visits.”

The pub serves a traditional Sunday lunch with add-ons, such as complimentary hand-made chocolates on the table and Champagne and Prosecco served by the glass as well as the bottle, “to show it’s not a normal Sunday”. Another difference is that all lunches are two or three-course set meals, at £21.95 for two and £24.95 for three.

“Mothers’ Day is about the family and you’ve got to be aware of that and keep the children happy, so the adults can relax and enjoy themselves,” adds Murphy. “There’s nothing worse than screaming kids, so, after making sure mums are taken care of, we bring out the colouring books and games and start entertaining them straight away.

“If they’re very young we give them our own baked bread and butter so they have something to nibble on. We also use Mothers’ Day as a ‘bounce-on’ to Fathers’ Day. It’s not in-your-face, but we’ll mention it on the events board.

“We’ll get a few bookings, but the important thing is it plants the seed — if they’ve had a nice time they might want to come back.”

Go soft on mothers ​

It’s natural for mums to relax and let themselves go a little on their special day. But that bottle of bubbly need not necessarily be alcoholic, thanks to soft drinks such as Shloer.

Last year the brand saw a 22% sales increase in the week before Mothers’ Day, and this time around it’s got a couple of new variants that are designed to add some sparkle to the occasion.

Shloer Celebration Pink Fizz and Celebration White Bubbly are fizzier than the rest of the range and come in Champagne-style bottles complete with a cork, cage and foil.

The brand is also inviting its licensee stockists to take part in its Enjoy Sunday Lunch campaign so as to “maximise the potential sales opportunity that is afforded by Mothers’ Day”, says head of brand marketing Amanda Grabham.

“We’ve created the Enjoy Sunday Lunch website to celebrate the day of the week that’s perfect for getting together with family and friends, and it provides an extra platform to reach and attract potential customers.

“This really comes to the fore on Mothers’ Day, which some pub operators find is now the biggest sales day of the year. We would be interested in hearing from licensees who want to promote their Mothers’ Day offering via the site.”

Contact info@shloer.com for further details.​