Pubcos must do more to encourage tenants to open gastropubs says Ian McKerracher, licensee, the Helyar Arms, Somerset.
Some time ago I became convinced of the huge potential that pubs offer for providing the British equivalent of the European neighbourhood brasserie, bistro, café or tapas bar - a place at the heart of a community offering fresh, seasonal, local produce at reasonable prices.
It seemed such a "no-brainer". Here was a country with a wealth of traditional inns and pubs, already serving their local communities and often offering locally-brewed beer. It was surely a small step to also offer a decent plate of food.
The pub tenancy route has huge appeal in this respect, and answers the prayers of all those up-and-coming chefs and budding entrepreneurs who can't afford the hugely expensive set-up costs of opening a new restaurant.
From the pubcos' point of view, food offers about the only avenue still available to them to build their businesses.
Shareholders and venture capitalists like to see growth, and food is the key. It sounds like the perfect relationship, with ample rewards for all, but the reality is proving to be a very different matter.
The problem lies in the rent model that pubcos use. While these vary from one company to another, they all are predicated upon basic assumptions that do not work for "gastropubs", and it's easy to see why.
Breweries and pubcos with hundreds - and in some cases thousands - of retail outlets have hitherto pursued a branded approach to pub food, using pre-prepared or frozen products - the sort of thing Brakes does so well.
This has the advantage of consistency of product, good portion control, low waste and excellent profit margins. It also means one doesn't need much skill in the kitchen, thus keeping payroll costs down.
Pubcos say they encourage individuality and flair among their tenants, and they certainly love it when outlets, such as my own village inn, pick up awards. But to serve food cooked from first principles, as found in a good neighbourhood restaurant or bistro, one has to sacrifice around five per cent of one's food margin and budget for wage costs about a third higher.
If pubcos are serious about encouraging growth across their estates, they will have to do more than purely pay lip service to entrepreneurial tenants wanting to support local producers and communities with honest, rustic food and improve the reward-for-effort equation. If they do not, the era of the "gastropub" will be over before it's started.