David Sax tells Ewan Turney how he transformed the run down Cow in Parkstone, Dorset, into the MA's Pub of the Year in just three years
How I got here
I used to run a financial consultancy business and that line of work often coincided with a visit to a gastropub. I thought, I'd love to do that. I had an epiphany and re-evaluated my lifestyle. I sold my business and bought the Parkstone Hotel from Eldridge Pope in 2003. It was a community pub, but it was so bad the community wasn't coming in. Your shoes stuck to the carpet, and the upstairs function room was completely filled with a Scalextric track that a local club paid £10 per week to rent. It turned over just £75,000 a year. It was awful, but I knew it was perfect for me.
Why my pub is a success
We closed for eight months and spent £350,000 transforming the pub. The fact that the building work took so long helped to generate interest. One of the major factors in making the pub a success are the three profit centres it has - the pub, bistro and private dining room. There is something for everyone here.
I am looking for a large freehold property at the moment but will only go for it if there is room for a pub, bistro and private dining room - that is the model that has proved so successful for us.
My function room
We have really made the private dining room into a feature. We take £100,000 there alone - it is like a whole other mini-pub. We did 94 Christmas parties but had enquiries for three times that number.
The key is to organise events on nights when we are not so busy, like a Monday or Tuesday. We also got the room sponsored by our house Champagne - it is called the Thienot Gallery. That is something easy that any pub can do. We got 20 cases of Champagne free when we opened just through the sponsorship.
We have a golf society and a wine society that hold dinners in there, but we have also tapped into the medical reps market. Due to the nature of their business - discussing
different drugs and products with doctors - they need a private space. We started to
get a few in and they said they were sick of entertaining in faceless three-star hotels where they got nothing in return.
It is massive business for us. In return, we invite them and their partners to a three-course meal with all expenses paid by us. People might think I'm crazy but you have got to give something back to your good customers. They are worth tens of thousands of pounds each year for me.
My rugby days
We have been sold out for both England Six Nations games so far. You couldn't move in here. In the private dining room we sell tickets for £20 a head, which includes steak and chips, cheese platter and waitress service. Those who don't want that can watch it in the bar. We have really worked hard to carve a name out for ourselves as the only place to watch rugby. We don't show any football at all - which is quite something as we pay £700 a month for Sky. We put up posters around the pub and advertise it on the website.
We also do a couple of rugby dinners each year where it is £50 a ticket for a black-tie event, including a guest speaker. We are hoping to get former All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick here for the World Cup in October - that would be amazing.
How I increased wine sales
1. Wine society - We have a wine society which is £10 to join. They have dinners throughout the year with titles such as "Everything you wanted to know about wine, but were afraid to ask". The idea of the club is to eliminate any snobbery, enjoy great wine and have fun.
2. Newsletter - I write a monthly newsletter for members under the pseudonym Monsieur Le Glug. It is time consuming but worth it. We include topical articles, as well as news on star buys in the supermarkets. I even went down to Hotel Du Vin and interviewed founding member Gerard Basset about how he got into wine. That is something any pub can do - go to your nearest five-star hotel or Michelin-starred restaurant and interview the sommelier. Then for £300 or so you can get them to the pub to do a wine tasting.
3. Wine dinners - We have done Champagne nights, as well as Chilean and Argentinian. We get a wine expert in to tutor guests on the wine chosen to accompany each course. We have a Provençe dinner coming up. You have to tap into your wine suppliers - they will be more than willing to help. If you don't ask for the most expensive wine free, you won't get it. A lot of the owners of the vineyards visit Britain and it's just a matter of finding out when and trying to get them down to the pub.
4. Try before you buy - I try to source some more unusual wines, such as Bordeaux-style wine from Bangalore in India. I think people can be intimidated into buying wines from well-known regions. We encourage them to try wines from lesser-known areas and give them the opportunity to try before they buy.
How I reward my customers
I am good friends with Hotel Du Vin founder Robin Hutson. One of the things he taught me was to look after your best customers. So, what we did was hand pick those that use the pub regularly and invited them for a free dinner. They couldn't believe it. One month on and they are still talking about it. They tell friends and family and before you know it, you have your money back in extra bookings.
My tips for events
Be prepared to fail. One thing is for sure - not everything you try is going to work. The biggest disaster we had here was when we planned to host a one-man play about wine and sell tickets for £35. We only sold 15 so had to pull the plug on it.
During our first Christmas we had the choir down to sing carols, but people were more interested in getting pissed and largely ignored them. You have to accept that and move on.
On the other hand some crazy ideas can work. We hosted an apres ski party at the end of November. Basically, we got everyone to come in their ski gear, put a band on and even got Jägermeister involved. It was a really great night for everyone.
Two other points I would raise - make sure you make your margins and get the ticket price right. Secondly, just because an event worked don't do the same every week because it loses its appeal. You need to have a decent catalogue of events.
My Pub
Tenure: Freehold
Turnover 2002: £75,000
Turnover 2006: £1.1m
Target turnover 2007: £1.3m
Covers: 55 downstairs, 36 upstairs
GP beer: 70%
GP food: 65%
Staff: 30, 14 full-time
Wages as % of turnover: 23%
Wines on list: 90, 10 by the glass
Awards: MA Freehouse of the Year, MA West Country Pub of the Year, MA Pub of the Year