Wheel of fortune

The Wheelwrights Arms re-opened in April 2006 in Monkton Combe, a small village just outside Bath. Mark Taylor talks to owner David Munn about how he has built up the business

Why our food business succeeds

There are several reasons why the Wheel-wrights Arms has been successful in its first year. One is because we use very good, locally-sourced ingredients. Others include the service and the good value for money. We call ourselves a country inn rather than a gastropub, which I feel is an overused term.

Our best promotions

Apart from our two-course set-lunch menu, we haven't really done any promotions in the bar and restaurant, but I think one of the biggest attractions, apart from the food, has been our seven bedrooms, which are individually designed and have flat-screen televisions, Sky, wi-fi access and room service.

The rooms cost £110 to £130 for a double in the summer and £100 to £120 in the winter, and children under five stay free. We do special rates on a Sunday - if people stay Friday and Saturday night, a double room is only £60 on the Sunday.

How we recruit and motivate staff

We've found it quite easy to find staff. I think people who are looking for jobs in pubs tend to go for more interesting places. We motivate our staff by keeping them informed, getting them involved in all aspects of the business, whether it's the bedrooms or the pub itself.

We keep them informed about how the bedrooms are doing and the revenue they're making, and how the bar and food side of the operation is performing. It makes them more motivated. They seem to enjoy working in a place where they have plenty of involvement.

Our best-selling dishes

Our best-selling starters at the moment are the mussels with garlic (£5.90), the hot-duck salad (£5.90) and the sautéed wild mushrooms with peppercorn sauce (£5.90). Most popular main courses are the 8oz rib-eye steak (hung for 30 days) served with hand-cut chunky chips, grilled tomato and mushrooms and a choice of Stilton, béarnaise or pepper sauce (£16.50), the chicken and ham pie (£10.50) and the beef and Stilton casserole with braised red cabbage (£11). Best-selling desserts are the baked rice pudding with fruit compote (£5.50), hot mixed-berry crumble with custard (£5.50) and chocolate cheesecake (£5.50). The vegetarian dishes are probably the most profitable.

At the moment, our vegetarian main course is olive, cheese and herb risotto cake (£9.90), which makes a GP of about 75%. It balances out with dishes like the rib-eye steak, which is more expensive to make and makes less GP.

Our menu

At lunchtime, we have our normal à la carte menu, but we also have a two-course set menu for £10 and that's been very successful. The set menu has two choices per course and typical dishes include scampi with mixed leaves and tartare sauce, followed by grilled sardines with caper mash and red pepper salsa. We also serve sandwiches, sharing platters and dishes like steak and ale pie and a ploughman's because some people only want one course.

Quite a lot of people go for the two-course menu or a substantial one course. We try to keep the menus as British as possible with plenty of good old-fashioned dishes like chicken and ham pie, chunky cod, salmon and haddock pie with peas and creamed leeks, and a trio of Bath sausages on mash with rich red wine and onion gravy. Our sandwiches have proved popular at lunchtimes.

These include a rib-eye steak sandwich with onion marmalade and hand-cut chunky chips, and the Wheelwright's club sandwich (grilled chicken, bacon, local cheddar, salad and mayo) and hand-cut chunky chips, which both sell for £8.50. For customers who simply fancy a light meal or snack we do things like a cold-meat platter with hummus, salad, olives and bread (£8), and ham, egg and chips (£8).

Best investment in last 12 months

Our website is one of the best investments because it brings people in, especially for the accommodation side of the business. The website address is on all of our literature.

Marketing and PR

Apart from word of mouth, we haven't really done any marketing. We have featured in a few of the local magazines and a lot of new customers have found us through those articles. We also hope to appear in some of the guide books next time around.

Plans for the future

We've got a large garden and we're expanding into weddings in the summer. We've already got a couple of big weddings booked and we'll get a marquee set up for those. The advantage of having the bedrooms is that wedding guests block book them out for the weekend.

Our top tips

Be aware of people's needs without being too forward. Try to be aware if they're celebrating something or not, and just be friendly. Most people come to destination pubs for a reason. A couple of weeks ago, somebody came in just for a drink, but he came back the other day with a table of 16. He was obviously checking us out. 

facts 'n' stats

Owner: David Munn - held on a private leasehold

Number of staff: 12

GP food: 65%

GP drink: 56%

Average food spend per head: £20

Covers a week: 350

Food sales as % of turnover: 60%