Sell More, Save More: meet the pubs
It's time to get down to business.
From across the UK they have applied - and now The Publican and our team of category champions have identified the three pubs that will be getting the Sell More, Save More treatment this year.
When we launched Sell More, Save More 3 in August we set out with the aim of finding three licensees with open minds, running freetrade businesses with the potential to really move forward in these challenging times. The fact that we had more applications than ever for the project, now entering its third year, underlined just how many licensees are looking for outside help in 2009.
We hope that Sell More, Save More 3 can offer some of that help, both for readers who follow the project over the next few months, taking on board all the advice and business-building tips we hope to offer up - and for the pubs we have chosen to put that advice into practice.
They are:
• the Wheel Inn in Pennington, Hampshire - representing rural pubs
• Woody's bar in Northwood Hills, North London - representing high street bars
• the Stanley Arms in Portslade, near Brighton - representing community pubs.
Our category champions are now fixing up their first visits to the pubs to give them their firsthand advice on four of the must-stock categories in pubs in 2009 - beer, wine, spirits and snacks.
Beer champion Heineken UK, wine champion ViVAS, Maxxium, which is leading the spirits category, and snacks champion Walkers will also be offering the marketing support and the fresh input that we believe will have a key role in taking the pubs forward.
We are confident that we have found three pubs whose experiences can offer up some great examples for other licensees across the country over the months ahead.
Look out for our monthly updates in The Publican as we follow the project through.
And for more regular updates and a full library of category advice as the project unfolds, visit the dedicated Sell More, Save More area on ThePublican.com
Let's go for a ride!
OUR COMMUNITY PUB
Licensee: Steve Bennett
Pub: The Stanley Arms
Location: Portslade, near Brighton, West Sussex
Time in the pub: 7 years
Staff: 7
Sales mix: 95% wet/5% dry
GP: 62 per cent wet/ 40 per cent dry
Website: www.thestanley.com
What are the best things about your pub?
"The ale, the staff, the atmosphere, the community spirit. It's still a proper pub where ladies can come in on their own and relax - and we have a zero-tolerance policy for the idiots."
What are the challenges facing your pub?
"No daytime trade, being a one man band, with no one to turn to for support. And the increases in utility costs, business rates, Sky and everything else is not helping."
What are your current plans to cope with them?
"Keep providing a quality offering, keep good staff, constantly be open to new ideas - and to not let the bastards grind us down!!!"
What do you hope to learn from Sell More, Save More?
"We are a wet-led award-winning CAMRA pub of the year. But I wish to take the pub to another level . Wine and spirits are two areas we can improve our profit margin on across the business, and I'm keen to get some help on staff training too.
"It is extremely difficult being a one man band with no outside help. I know we buy are products cheaper, but that is not the whole story."
OUR RURAL PUB
Licensee: Marie Richards and Pete Walters
Pub: The Wheel Inn
Location: Pennington, near Lymington, Hampshire
Time in the pub: 21 months
Staff: 2
Sales mix: 70% wet/30% dry
GP: 62% wet/57% dry
Website: www.thewheelinnpub.co.uk
What are the best things about your pub?
"Well-kept ales, good affordable food, super atmosphere, and friendly hosts who are prepared to go that extra mile. We are a traditional village local, very unmodernised, right on the edge of the New Forest and five minutes from Lymington and the ferry to the Isle of Wight."
What are the biggest challenges facing your pub?
"Getting people through the door! The pub's reputation from the past, the decor and outside appearance. Ineffective marketing strategies and possibly the food offer. Neighbour complaints, the economy and our outgoings."
What are your current plans to cope with them?
"We will continue to provide affordable drink and food and a place to escape from the stresses of the current economic climate. By keeping a close eye on our finances we are able to see where the money is at any particular time and can see when we need to cut back."
What do you hope to learn from Sell More Save More?
"The pub has a chequered history and had been run down before we took over. Then the recession hit - joy! We have taken the pub from zero to £2,500 a week. We are complemented on our food, we have just been placed in the Good Beer Guide, but something is missing.......this is where I hope that Sell More, Save More can give us that missing ingredient."
OUR HIGH STREET PUB
Licensee: Natalie Coleshill
Pub: Woody's
Location: Northwood Hills, North London
Time in the pub: six months
Staff: 6
Sales mix: 100% wet (but soon to introduce food)
GP: 65%
What are the best things about your pub?
"The community spirit, which has come over from another pub my family used to run nearby, and the entertainment we offer - from talent nights and karaoke to pub quizzes."
What are the biggest challenges facing your pub?
"Getting food operating successfully, and coping with the risk of too much noise - due to our entertainment - in our highly residential area."
What are your current plans to cope with them?
"To keep our noise levels reasonable, and to develop our patio area at the back to keep the smokers away from the street.
"And we are trying to find the right proposition for us to launch our food offer."
What are you hoping to learn from Sell More Save More?
"I'm particularly looking for some help on the marketing side, and I'm hoping that the experts coming in with their fresh eyes on the business will make a real difference.
"Sometimes when you have your own business you get so caught up in the day-to-day, doing the books and everything, that you don't get the time to look at the bigger picture."
