Antony Marshall tells Ewan Turney how catering for all types of customers helped increase trade at the True Lovers Knot, in Blandford, Dorset
How I got here
Four generations of my family have run pubs - so it's very much in the blood. I am celebrating 20 years in the trade this week myself. First of all, I was in charge of a working men's club. That was seen as a bit heretical by my family, but from there I drifted into pubs. We came to the True Lovers Knot in May 2004. It was the 40th pub we had looked at and we had offers from 11 breweries.
It was very small and trade was not great, but it had a humungous garden and we thought it had potential. Lots of people get hung up on figures and barrelage but we just liked the place. Those figures are someone else's anyway. We worked on what we believed we could generate here.
How I increased trade
1. Hard work: We worked seven days a week for six months. The pub needed stability and customers needed to see the same faces,
so we put in the hours. Then we started taking Tuesday evenings off for the rest of the
first year.
2. Politeness: You get a smile, a hello and a goodbye. It's simple but effective.
3. Menus: We ditched the menus from day one and replaced them with five blackboards to make an immediate difference and impact.
4. Refurbishment: We closed for 13 weeks and added a new restaurant, cellar, office and disabled toilet. The main thing was to keep the front bar the same, as the locals were worried we would become a quasi-restaurant.
How I cope with competition
It's a bit unusual but I put a pin in a map where my pub is and I won't go to another pub within 20 miles. That's because if I see something and think it may work in my pub, then it is no longer my pub. There is nothing more flattering than having your ideas pinched, but I don't go in for it myself. As I said it's unusual, but then so is the fact that my wife and I are tee-total.
My food
We are not à la carte - no way. You get a big plate with lots of good English food on. It's amazing how many people try and over-complicate the offer, like serving bulls' testicles for £46 when they would make more selling 40 fish and chips. We do good, honest, locally-sourced English food - that has always paid dividends for us. We use local suppliers which may cost a little more, but you get far
better service.
How I cater for all
My motto is that everyone should be able to come here and enjoy themselves, so we do whatever we can to make people comfortable. Nobody should be excluded from my pub. You won't get millions of people coming in just because you do that, but it can change one person's day. If you get two or three more a day coming in - that's over 20 a week who wouldn't have otherwise come in.
1. Wheelchairs: We have a very gradual ramp into the pub, wide double doors, easily accessible disabled toilets and even higher tables so that chairs can fit under them.
2. Blind: We have menus in braille, large print and even in audio, recorded on a CD. We did this with the help of the Royal National Institute for the Blind. All the magazines and information for blind people mention us.
3. Deaf: My staff are soon to undergo deaf-awareness training. They will learn the basics of sign language so they can say hello, goodbye and ask how the meal is.
4. Coeliacs: There do seem to be a lot of coeliacs around now. We took advice from the Coeliac Society on what to do. We don't have a specific different menu, customers just ask us if we can do certain things gluten-free. The best seller is fish and chips, and we keep gluten-free powder to do the batter and use different fryers. People can ring us up to let us know when they are coming and what they want. So many pubs just offer a salad.
My camp site
If anyone has a good-sized field at their pub, I would really encourage them to use it for camping and caravans. We made an investment and installed electric hook-ups, showers, toilets and a water point but it has been well worth it. People are bowled over by our facilities. We charge £9 a night for a caravan and £6 for a tent. We are always full on New Year's Eve. It is a good add-on to the business as people eat and drink at the pub and it helps to maximise the potential of the whole site.
My staff
1. Locals: A lot of pubs have staff from Eastern Europe, but all our staff are locals from within three miles of the pub. I just think that is right for us. Customers want to talk about the local area and know that they have been understood. One of the skills of working in a pub is to be able to have the same conversation 45 times in one day and be as interested at 11pm as you were at 11am.
2. Pay: We have a lot of 16-year-old girls who waitress for us. I pay them a full adult wage as they are doing an adult job. They are treated well and so tell their friends and I have a waiting list of about a dozen for jobs when they come up.
3. Zero abuse: I don't tolerate any abuse of
my staff. The other Sunday, when we were heaving, one customer grabbed a staff member's arm and said he had been waiting for
an hour and a half. Actually he hadn't -
he had had a starter and his main course
was following me out - but he started swearing. So I sent the main courses back and asked him to leave. I don't suffer idiots. He was shocked but the other customers and staff were grateful.
My events
Outside the summer months we do curry and fish and chips nights and a weekly Sunday quiz. During the quiz, we do a "play your cards right" game. You have to buy a raffle ticket
to enter and if your ticket is drawn you get the chance to come and play. It is nine cards and you have to guess higher or lower. If no-one wins, it rolls over - and we reached £800 on
one occasion.
We also do two murder-mystery nights a year. The local amateur-dramatics society do it for free because I sponsor their events. It's £15 a head and great fun. We look at events as more of a goodwill gesture rather than a cash-making opportunity.
On New Year's Eve we do a free disco and buffet. It is my thank you to the customers for supporting us through the year. I never understand why pubs want to charge their customers entry for that one night a year.
My plan for the future
I would like to take on another pub as well, but who knows? When I won the Wales & West Country award for business innovation I was approached by some venture capitalists who liked the sound of what I do. I am sure this concept could be replicated if it was done properly. We will have to wait and see.
My Pub
Tenure: Hall and Woodhouse tenancy, six years
Barrelage in 2004: 60
Turnover now: £9,000 a week
Wet:dry split: 30:70
GP target on drink: Circa 55%
GP target on food: Circa 65%
Average number of meals per week: 800
Number of staff: 20, five full-time
Awards: Wales and West Country Business Innovation of the Year 2007, Morning Advertiser West Country Innovation of the Year, North Dorset Best Contribution to
the Community 2006