Publicity machine

Frances Cunningham tells Ewan Turney how a strong marketing strategy has seen sales top £1m at the Swettenham Arms, Congleton, Cheshire How I got...

Frances Cunningham tells Ewan Turney how a strong marketing strategy has seen sales top £1m at the Swettenham Arms, Congleton, Cheshire

How I got here

My husband, Jim, and I have been running pubs since 1973. We ran the Marston's flagship pub - the Hare & Hounds in Timperley, Cheshire - for 14 years. We were doing 46 barrels a week and opened a French restaurant there.

But after the Beer Orders in 1991 things changed and Marston's decided to take the pub back as a managed house. We were heartbroken, although we received £100,000 compensation.

We ran two other pubs before buying the Swettenham Arms for £291,000 at auction in 1993. The pub was sold as the building only, because there was no trade. It had been limping along and would have been turned into housing. Initially, we spent £80,000 on the pub and added a banquet house. Sales are now reaching the £1m mark and I believe the pub is worth £3m.

My customers

We are in a tiny village with an ageing population that does not go out a great deal, so we have to attract trade from far and wide.

We are exceptionally fortunate here that we are in an area of outstanding natural beauty. It is gorgeous and the pub is very old and so full of character.

We are constantly looking to improve and develop. We aim to cater for everyone from walkers and cyclists, to wedding parties and big corporations that want extra attention.

Every area is looked at separately to make sure we offer the right quality and experience as people have to travel to us and on the way pass a lot of other good venues. We have a well-heeled customer base and they know what quality is.

It is not hard to cater for a range of customers. Some licensees narrow their business by focusing on one group too much. I want

everybody, from a child to those over 95, to feel comfortable.

We look at the experience from all our customers' point of view. For example a disabled person - can they enjoy it here? Yes, as there are wheelchair-friendly paths and good disabled access.

My marketing strategy

1. Awards and editorial coverage: We go in for a lot of awards as it gives the pub a good marketing boost. It's amazing how many stories we have had written about winning awards or our ghosts. Editorial coverage is much cheaper than adverts and people believe it more. If you keep telling people how good you are they start to believe you! We were recently the first freehouse to win a platinum Beautiful Beer Award. Anyone could have gone in for it, but we did and got some great coverage from it.

2. Walks: The surrounding area is beautiful, so we produced booklets with information on walking routes. It is quite expensive and we may have 10,000 printed a year, but people pick them up and take them home, and it contains our name and list of awards.

3. Ghosts: The pub is an old nunnery next to a church and graveyard, so it is the perfect setting to see ghosts. A few of our customers have reported seeing ghosts and we have a booklet on the ghosts seen, again with our details in.

4. Brochure: We have our own brochure containing our list of awards and we leave that on the tables.

5. Comment cards: These tell us what we are doing right and wrong and gives us areas to address, but also we use them for our database. We can then let people know about events. We also give away prizes. In the quieter months of January or February we give away a few hundred bottles of wine to get people coming into the pub.

6. Website: A good website is very important and we won an MA award for ours in 2006.

7. Gift voucher: People can get a £50 gift voucher for a meal at the Swettenham Arms. It has gone down really well with our customers.

My events

We have just planted a lavender and sunflower meadow. The area is protected so we couldn't build on the land or turn it into a garden. We spent about £4,000 on the plants, but it is beautiful and we now have tourism signs directing people to it, which again helps to bring more people in.

We are planning events around the meadow, such as barbecues and a Caribbean night with a steel-drum band. In the winter we have a huge bonfire night and do a Hallowe'en walk for kids, followed by a story and disco.

My staff

Staff are vital to the business - without them you are nothing. My chef has been with us 10 years and we do everything we can to keep him. It is very hard to find staff, especially as we are a country pub.

We have just recruited two kitchen staff from the Philippines and their work effort is incredible. We also have a waiter from Hungary who is very good. We rely on university students in the holidays when it is our busiest time.

My training

Every member is given a 20-page induction booklet with the basics, like how to dress and all the health and safety stuff.

Before we open, the manager will bring

everyone together and check all is well. Then from time to time we pick on one specific thing such as malt whiskies, or wine, or how to clear a table. We do a lot of one-to-one training.

The challenge is with the students; they come and go and we have to keep refreshing their minds.

My weddings

I would advise anyone who can to do weddings. The more you can get, the better. It is easy in a way as you know how many people are coming, what food they are having and at what time. It is a joy, really. You have to make sure you have enough staff in addition to your regulars.

We sometimes have to get in agency staff, although I don't like doing that as they are expensive. We are lucky with our location, but it really is good business to get.

My attention to detail

People say it is the little things they notice and the little things that brings them back, like fresh flowers on tables. My job is to check all those details. I go around and check to see if the brochures are out; if the toilets are perfect; that there are no cigarette ends outside; that we are not still advertising last week's event. One of my pet hates is finger marks on the menus. People may think I am fussy, but the details are extremely important.

My plans for the future

1. Hotel: We want to add a hotel to the business. The tourist board is right behind us, so hopefully we will get the go-ahead.

2. Conferences: I want to really push the conferences now. The big challenge for me - and I haven't cracked it yet - is how to make the same amount of money in the winter as we do in summer.

3. Lavender: Now we have the lavender meadow we may start selling bunches of it and maybe produce some lavender and sunflower honey, if it is not too labour intensive.

4. Offers: We are constantly getting offers for the pub. I truly believe it is worth £3m. If we got an offer like that we may consider selling, but then what would I do with myself? I love the place.

My Pub

Tenure: Freehold

Price paid in 1993: £291,000

Estimated value in 2007: £3m

Turnover in 1993: Closed

Turnover in 2007: £1m

Wet:dry split: 75:25

GP food: 70%

GP beer: 68%

Meals per week: 1,000 average

Staff: 35 at peak

Wages: £7,000 a week at peak