Business Development: Pub of the Year

This award, sponsored by Unique Pub Co, aims to identify the tenants who have demonstrated the greatest improvements to their businesses over the past year.

Judges are looking for entrepreneurial flair, business nous and proof of increased profits, together with a structured approach to growing the business Garsdale Country Inn ­ Brandlesholme, Lancashire A dramatic increase in food and drink sales accurately reflects the successful business growth of the Garsdale Country Inn over the past 12 months.

The figures, which show food turnover up 40% and wet sales 15% ahead of last year, is testimony to the business skills of licensees David and Gillian Heyes.

It also demonstrates the value of adopting a business plan covering every facet of the pub's trade and sticking to it.

In just 18 months, the Heyes have turned a one-time pub struggler into a local success story but they are not resting on their laurels.

Developments for next year include a major building extension, which will increase dining capacity by 60%, with longer-term plans already being formulated for the provision of five new letting bedrooms to add another weapon to the Garsdale's business armoury.

The advances made by the business over the 20 months the Heyes have been in residence are impressive by any standards.

David and Gillian's natural catering flair have put the pub well and truly on the local food map, offering a menu ranging from simple bar snacks to à la carte restaurant fare.

The Garsdale is now a firm favourite with local diners but its reputation has also spread farther afield.

Food turnover, which stood at just £35,000 in October 2001, now stands at £135,000 one year on.

Beer and drinks turnover has also moved forwards, fuelled by a loyal "locals" trade, but also helped by the substantial rise in dining customers.

Wet trade sales increased from £159,000 to £230,000 over the year as the Garsdale fulfilled its initial promise to remain a pub-restaurant catering for both drinkers and diners alike.

"It's nice to look back on a year of real growth but we have only just started," says David.

"We set out from the start to put this pub on the map but feel there is still massive growth potential to be exploited.

We are local people and we knew the Garsdale had real prospects if it was developed correctly and our optimism has been well founded."

The year has seen investment in the pub's kitchens, which have been totally re-designed, alongside other internal décor improvements as well as spending some £26,000 on new children's play equipment, gardening, and the car park.

The total investment of £36,000 has been funded entirely from year-one profits and spending on the new lounge and restaurant extension next year will also be funded from "organic growth".

The Garsdale is already on course for another successful year.

Even before the start of December, Christmas meal bookings had topped 3,500, with three separate sittings organised for Christmas Day alone.

Gillian says: "Although food has proved to be the real core growth of the pub, we are determined not to become totally focused on our catering.

We are encouraging the wet trade by forming a pub football team and now we also have darts, dominoes and crib teams.

The local Round Table holds its meetings here and we are encouraging other organisations to come and visit us."

The year has seen an increase in function business, notably wedding receptions and funeral wakes.

Visitors to the nearby Burrs Country Park have also helped boost trade in the summer.

The Heyes keep the momentum going through a structured marketing and promotion operation, which sees regular leaflet drops in the local community.

David and Gillian are Unique Pub Company lessees and their success has already been marked by the company with the accolade of Retail Food Pub of the Year award.

Greyhound Hotel ­ Shap, Cumbria Almost three years ago, college catering executives Derrick Newsome (on the left in picture) and Keith Taylor (right) made the momentous decision to quit comfortable careers in further education and chance a decidedly more risky life in the pub trade.

The pub they chose to run could not have presented more of a challenge, not just because it was neglected and run down but more because of its location near the remote summit of Shap, high on the bleak central-Cumbrian moors.

Local-born Derrick was convinced there was potential in the Greyhound to develop the business as a quality food and drink venue with a core customer base of tourists and fell walkers.

Derrick explains: "The business was turning over less than £100,000 a year when we took over and had been let go by its previous owners.

We used most of our resources simply buying the place and needed to hit the ground running by doubling sales to keep our heads above water."

He adds: "We knew local reaction would be the key and luckily we managed to make a good impression.

Word of mouth is the most effective form of advertising in this part of Cumbria and it provided us with the basis for the early success we needed."

The duo used their catering expertise to develop a new food menu and then set about starting to refurbish the 29 letting bedrooms.

Business was performing well above expectation at the beginning of 2001, until disaster struck in the shape of the foot-and-mouth epidemic, which tore the heart out of the Greyhound's trade.

Walking business collapsed and the number of general tourists evaporated, leaving Derrick and Keith to muster local trade to keep things going.

"We reckon we lost 10,000 meals and 2,000 bed nights thanks to foot and mouth, but we could not afford to sit there moaning.

We knew we had to work extra hard to explore other avenues of business and the experience did enable us to research a thorough blueprint for the future," Derrick reveals.

The Greyhound, in common with hundreds of other Cumbria pubs and hotels, muddled through the whole depressing nine-month quarantine period.

By the time the all-clear was sounded, the Greyhound was well positioned to capitalise on the resumption of normal tourist business.

The hotel's location makes it an ideal venue for walkers on a variety of well-known routes including the Coast to Coast, John O'Groats to Land's End, and a myriad of other local walks and rambles.

Much of the Greyhound's marketing is aimed at the boots-and-anorak fraternity, but inclusion in the national Five Minutes from the Motorway guidebook has also proved a godsend.

"We are just a couple of minutes off junction 35 of the M6 motorway and the guide has directed a lot of extra business our way.

"It's one of the few guidebooks to feature the Greyhound because, in most cases, we are not prepared to fork out the money that these publications demand for inclusion," says Derrick.

The duo's priorities for the future include new restaurant facilities and further refurbishment of bedrooms.

In the past year, food and drink turnover has increased from £263,000 to £425,000, with a significant boost in food takings paving the way.

Marketing exercises and promotions continue to attract new business to the pub, much of it now aimed at communities living immediately beyond the Shap area.

Derrick adds: "We've come a long way in a short period and had to survive one major disaster in the process.

We have no regrets about quitting our education careers, but we know we are still at the beginning of our new life in the licensed trade.