The keys to success

The Cross Keys in Corsley, Wiltshire, serves great food and boasts an award-winning garden. Licensee Fraser Carruth talks to Humayun Hussain

Why my food business is a success

We offer what any good licensee should offer their customers: good food made with quality, locally-sourced ingredients, and we show that we care about everyone who visits our pub. If the cooking wasn't up to scratch, we'd get nowhere with our business, particularly as this is a rural pub. Our lamb comes from a local organic farm, and our beef, potatoes and eggs are also locally sourced. Game is shot specially for us, within a 10-mile radius. As for our customers, I insist that whoever walks through our door is clocked by our staff and given a warm welcome, and that nobody leaves without a hearty goodbye.

My best promotions

We hold murder-mystery evenings twice a year in our function suite upstairs, run by a theatre company based in nearby Warminster. They're a lot of fun for the customers. We offer a four-course meal and the actors perform a "whodunnit" between courses. We enjoy running old-time dance evenings, and we also have a Blues Brothers tribute band.

How I recruit and motivate staff

They all come by word of mouth and are usually very nice youngsters who go on to university. They are the kind of staff who give a pub a good name. I won't allow any rowdy or loutish behaviour in my pub, which is why parents are quite happy to allow their teenagers to work here without cause for worry. When it comes to motivation, I ensure that they're paid well. The harder and better they work, the better their tips will be.

My best-selling dishes

For starters, it's seared king scallops with smoked bacon, woodland mushrooms and crisp leaves with a balsamic dressing (£9.70); home-made pork and venison terrine (£7.25); Corsley goats' cheese tartlet, made with local Corsley cheese, plus red onion marmalade (£3.75). For mains, pan-seared venison marinated in red wine and juniper berries, served on a raspberry and potato compôte with light chocolate and orange sauce (£15.95); roast rack of Corsley lamb with black pudding, sautéed leeks and red wine sauce (£15.75), and pan-fried monkfish tails with crab risotto and balsamic dressing (£14.95). Winning desserts are apple tarte Tatin with home-made caramel ice cream; rhubarb fool with shortbread biscuits and cinnamon, and chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup with vanilla ice cream. All our desserts are priced at £4.95.

Our menu

Our lunchtime menu is always written on the blackboard; it consists of earthy, familiar home-made dishes such as pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, and fish and chips. In the evenings we offer our à la carte menu, though Monday to Thursday evenings are given over to what we call our "comfort zone", along with the à la carte menu, which can be anything from scampi and chips to curry and ham, or egg and chips. In other words - good pub grub. On Friday and Saturday evenings we focus on the à la carte menu, and on Sundays our traditional lunch is very popular. We always have a fish board, with fresh fish delivered three times a week. The best gross profit we make is on our braised beef pie at 72%.

Best investment in last 12 months

We painted the whole interior in nice cream and dove colours that make the pub look a great deal lighter and fresher compared to how it was before. It matches the exterior, which is cream and green; this is also the colour of our menus and our business cards, so we have a nice theme running.

Plans for the future

I want to continue making our garden as attractive as possible. We transformed it from what was basically a dumping ground into a garden that everyone comments on. We even won the Best Wadworth Garden Award 2005. Now we have many different kinds of flowers, hanging baskets and various types of plants and bushes. It's split into three distinct sections. We provide seating, as well as a small area where people can smoke. And as well as looking after the garden, Wayne [Carnegie, chef partner] and I are keen to purchase a local site we can turn into a B&B. We can't do it at Cross Keys because the premises here aren't large enough.

My top tips

Always cultivate a pleasant, cordial atmosphere in your pub. Make your premises as inviting to customers as possible - that includes ensuring that all toilets are clean and spotless. Why not try putting in some fresh flowers - that always adds to a sense of colour and livens up the place no end. Your customers are your top priority - remember to value them in everything you do.

Pub facts

Owners: Wadworth leasehold

Turnover: £500,000

Number of staff: 18

GP food: 67%

GP drink: 65%

Covers a week: 600-800

Food sales as % of turnover: 50%

The Cross Keys,

Lyes Green, Corsley, Wiltshire, BA12 7PB Tel: 01373 832406