How 35 day dry-aged matured beef increased footfall for one pub

Yorkshire steak month​

Where:​ Royal Oak, Dacre Banks, Harrogate, North Yorkshire

Website: ​www.the-royaloak-dacre.co.uk​

The idea:​ Extensive steak menu, using locally sourced beef, offeredthroughout April.

How it works: ​A range of ten steaks, including old favourites such as sirloin, rib eye and fillet as well as lesser known cuts such as spider, flat iron and New York strip, were offered as a special month-long menu.

Marketing: ​The menu was advertised in-house, on the pub’s website and Facebook page and also via emails to the pub’s customer database.

Be prepared: ​Each steak was 35 day dry-aged matured, sourced as locally as possible and supplied by local butcher, Ken Balsdon in Summerbridge.

Pay-off:​A celebration of Yorkshire beef; raises customer awareness of more unusual cuts – spider, flat iron and bavette were all very popular.

Key benefits: ​Attracts new customers; increases footfall; raises awareness of the pub.

Advice: ​Owner of the freehold pub, ​Steve Cock, says: “Hold a tasting session so that staff can try and then recommend the different cuts to customers. This helped with sales. Each member of the team had a different favourite and on the days they worked, their favourite seemed to be the best-seller. Get menus out early to get customers talking about it.”

Best outcome:​ Weekly footfall increased by 50 – 60 customers during the promotion.