Growing business with Greene King
Greene King launched an initiative to help its tenants grow their businesses six months back. Ewan Turney reports on how it's going.
Growing your business, achieving greater turnover and, more importantly, increasing bottom-line profit is the dream of every licensee. Greene King Pub Partners has been working with around 500 of its tenants over the past six months as part of its Go For Growth scheme to achieve just that.
The basis of the scheme is to increase long-term, sustainable business. The company's sales development managers (SDMs) took to the field and carried out appraisals of individual businesses and concentrated on simple but effective plans to grow turnover.
'We looked at pubs that had the opportunity for extra growth but needed very little capital development,' said Pub Partners spokeswoman Elaine Beckett. 'All the pubs involved required only small changes in how they operated.'
The key goal of the scheme, which is on going, is to plan for the future in partnership with the licensee. 'We are very much of the view that short-term profits and quick fixes don't work. Licensees must plan for the long term,' she said.
The company's SDMs offered their tenants support, ideas and planning advice on issues such as catering for and keeping your customer base, adapting trading areas, marketing events and making the most of refurbishments. 'Extra marketing funding and minor capital funding was available to the group but what was most noticeable was that the refocus of the business by many licensees bred more initiative and inspiration,' said Beckett.
Pub Partners managing director David Elliott added: 'By working in partnership with our licensees the opportunities are endless. A simple solution can achieve real results, help build customer loyalty and ensure a profitable future.'
Case Study Two - Refurbishment
Steve and Terri Hopkins,
Dog and Duck, Stansted, Essex
What they did
l Cleaned and painted the interior and exterior
l Cleared overgrown garden
l Installed a commercial kitchen
l Launched food offer
What they said
The pub - 'It was pretty run down and filthy when we took over in May.'
The work - 'We took it upon ourselves to do most of the work. We put up hanging baskets, painted and cleared the garden. We kept the furniture as it gave the pub character, but gave it a real good clean. The old domestic kitchen was completely gutted and a commercial one installed.'
The challenges - 'We never closed and work is still on going. Any spare minute we have we pick up a paint brush and do some more work.'
The support - 'Our sales development manager has been very supportive. Greene King has also promised to do the work on the toilets, which are pretty shabby.'
The difference - 'We are picking up new customers looking for somewhere to eat after visiting the local attractions like the castle or the windmill. It has made a dramatic difference to wet sales.'
Total cost - £12,000
The Results
l Food takings up from zero to £400 a week and growing
l Beer sales up by £200 a week
l Achieved a 49.7% growth in turnover inside three months
Case Study One - Rewarding regulars
Colin Pearce,
Greyhound, Ixworth, Suffolk
What they did
l Summer madness games promotion - crib, pool and darts competitions
l Loyalty cards - buy nine pints get the 10th one free
l A daily meal deal priced £2.50 to £3 at lunchtimes
l New chalk boards to promote activities
What they said
The pub - 'We buck the trend here and summer is our quiet time. We are near the coast and if it is nice people tend to go down there instead. We are essentially a games pub.'
The promotions - 'We put up some cash prizes for big darts, pool and crib competitions to get people back in. The loyalty card has gone down very well and they get a stamp for every ale they buy. They get the 10th pint free, although not all in one night.'
Food - 'The meal deal at lunch has kept us going. It changes daily between our choice of traditional pub foods like fish and chips or toad in the hole. It runs the whole year round now.'
The support - 'I have to praise Greene King. They really helped. The area manager sat with us and thrashed out the ideas. They helped plan and advertise events.'
The costs - 'They have been minimal. We will run a few more competitions after Christmas and reintroduce the loyalty card then.'
Total cost - £300
The Results
l 2,304 extra pints sold in 20 weeks over the summer
l Beer sales up 8.8%
Case Study Three - Music and promotional activity
Hayley Yoxall and Steve Pellegrini,
The Portland Arms, Cambridge
What they did
l Introduced live bands six nights a week
l Launched a website and e-newsletter service
l Cards and posters advertising bands
l Added a games room
l Held a beer and music festival
What they said
The pub - 'It had been closed for a few weeks and was pretty run down when we took over in December. There had been music here before but we wanted to build that, especially as a massive gap in the market had been left when another music pub, the Boat Race, turned into a wine bar.'
The work - 'We installed air conditioning in the gig room, put in double glazing. We have had new furniture and turned one bar into a games room. There is a bar purely for drinking too.'
The events - 'We have live bands six days a week and we've just held our first comedy night.'
Marketing - 'Luckily Steve is an IT technician and developed the website. We also have A5 cards in the pub advertising gigs, which people can take away with them. The poster out the front changes colour each month so people can tell there is a new list of events on.'
The support - 'We have had plenty of help. I don't think even they (Greene King) realised how much work needed to be done. Where we have put a bit in so have they. For example we had a deal where if we bought two sets of furniture, they bought one for us.'
Total Cost - £40,000
The Results
l Sales doubled in the last three months, compared to the first three
l Average takings per week increased by £500
l Music and beer festival took £7,000
Case Study Four - Increasing customer spend
Greg Sergeant,
Lord Raglan, Wokingham, Berkshire
What they did
l Introduced table service for drinks
l Introduced staff incentives on Old Speckled Hen
l Improved promotion of cask-ale products and events
What they said
The pub - 'We took over in 2002 and carried out a refurbishment at a cost of £250,000 to create a light, contemporary and female-friendly atmosphere. The costs for more recent initiatives such as introducing table service have been next to nothing.'
Table service - 'Wherever possible we want to look after our guests' needs. For some staff the bar is a barrier not to be crossed but we want them to interact with guests. It makes the experience more enjoyable for the customers and for them. The staff are more active and what it helps to do is even out the rushes at the bar. It stops customers panicking about when they are going to get served.'
Food - 'The table service helps with our food offering as well. We change the menu twice a year and food sales are going really well.'
Staff incentives - 'We recently ran a staff promotion on sales of Old Speckled Hen. During the summer ale sales are slow because people want a colder drink but with bottled Old Speckled Hen there was the chance to say that you can have a cold ale. Staff collected bottle tops and the prize was a six pack every week and a case of beer at the end of the month.'
The support - 'Greene King has funded the incentive promotion and provided staff aprons.'
Total cost - almost nothing
The Results
l Sales are up by 12%
l Increase in repeat visits
l Increased interest in ales and events taking place
