Focus South West: family fare

Moving to a new job in a new area is always something of a learning experience, and that's certainly been the case for Scott Ferguson.

"One of my pet hates is carveries," says Scott, who joined Wiltshire-based family brewer Wadworths in November last year. "But Bristol is carvery city. We took one out of a pub there and the regulars hated us - so we've put it back in."

It's a learning curve that has considerable potential for Wadworths as it works to make its pubs stand out in an increasingly competitive market. Scott came to Wadworths having worked for three years in a food development role with London pubco Young's.

The appointment was a visible sign of a much stronger focus on the food side of the operation by the brewer, best known for iconic cask beer 6X.

The business was founded in 1875 by Henry Wadworth who by 1885 had built the Northgate Brewery. The red-brick Victorian brewing tower still produces fine beers using many of the original brewing techniques and recipes. However, while tradition is a fine thing, even the best-run business can benefit occasionally from a bit of fresh thinking.

With around 250 pubs, including 38 managed sites, the Wadworth estate has a fairly extensive footprint across the South and West, but was widely seen as being in need of updating.

"There hadn't been much investment in the pubs, certainly on the food side," says Scott. "In many ways, the managed pubs were operating like atraditional tenanted estate, with managers putting together the menus themselves, using a whole range of suppliers. One pub might be buying a steak at £3, with another paying £5."

Not that Scott was looking to impose standard menus across the managed estate. "There was real concern that we were going to go down the branded route with pub food, but that wouldn't have been the right way to go. These are all individual pubs that need to have a food offer tailored to their local market."

The managed operation ranged from around half a dozen food-led pubs to pubs offering little more than the basics. "Everyone was doing sausage and mash and fish and chips, but the price and quality varied. There was a lack of control. What we needed to do was rationalise the suppliers and ensure that the quality was up to scratch," said Scott.

So the main meat supplier to the Wadworths estate is now Walter Rose & Son, a family butchers which has been established since 1847, and trades in Devizes and Trowbridge. Fish comes from Cornwall and Andover, and three local suppliers have been found for fruit and veg.

Menus were developed individually, targeted to customers in each area. Along the way, Scott learnt a few lessons, such as the Bristolian love of carveries, but the overall result has been an improved food offer.

"There's no shortage of competition is this area," he says. "In many ways it's a tougher market than London. Pubs need to have an emphasis on quality and value for money."

Alongside improvement to the food and menu, Scott has been looking very closely at the skills available in the pubs to deliver it. "There's never been a big emphasis on having chefs in pubs before. Traditionally, the approach has been to have a management couple, one of whom would be focused on the kitchen. Now, we're recognising that chefs are right in certain pubs."

In pubs with lower food trade, multi-skilling barstaff able to produce meals from a core menu is the way forward. "It's about adapting the approach so that it's right for the pub," says Scott. "We're certainly not there yet, but we've made a good start."