East & West Midlands

Fox Inn

www.thefoxatsteventon.co.uk

Steventon, Oxfordshire

Situated between two major science parks employing over 10,000 people, the Fox Inn at Steventon was presented with the opportunity to tap into a significant

customer-base. Licensee Peter Kidd launched the website for the Greene King outlet in April 2005.

Realising potential

"I knew the potential market was internet-aware, with staff surfing the net for work and during their breaks and leisure periods, so the need for a website was obvious. It was the cheapest way to get our name and

promotional material in front of potential customers," he says.

After building up a 350-name mailing list for the monthly electronic newsletter,

Peter is able to deliver the latest news and information from the Fox Inn straight to these workers' desks.

Cost-effective solution

Dissatisfied with what he saw on many other pub websites, and with experience as an intranet service manager, Peter decided to design the site himself with the simple objective of making it fast and easy to use. The initial website took just over two weeks to complete and at less than £500 was certainly cost-effective.

It includes extensive news and events sections, and an impressive range of downloadable menus that reflect the licensee's confidence in the Fox Inn's quality of food service. With the pub also offering accommodation, Peter was careful to ensure the website was "Google-friendly", appearing among the first results for the major keyword searches.

Boosting turnover

The site receives more than 4,500 hits every month and overall turnover is up 78% since the website's creation - a

level of success that surprises Peter.

He says: "These are incredible figures for a small village pub website that cost

almost nothing to launch".

He also says the site will continue to grow, with online customer surveys, video tours and a discussion forum being a few of the ideas in the pipeline.