Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company's Bar Boosters programme is designed to give licensees a helping hand, offering a range of services tailored to a variety of business models. Sonya Hook reports.
There aren't many services you can't obtain from Tesco or Asda these days and the UK's supermarket-dominated high street is a clear testament to the success of this one-stop-shop strategy.
The on-trade has been slower to branch out of its comfort zone, but pub companies are starting to be much more proactive in seeking out new ideas to boost business in the sector.
Scottish & Newcastle Pub Company (S&NPC) for example has been trialling a number of income-boosting initiatives called Bar Boosters, with ideas ranging from Wi-Fi to takeaway food and shopping parties.
"The guide to putting more money in your till includes tips from lessees already running these initiatives," says head of marketing Matthew Woodward. "It's a simple 'how-to' guide to finding new sources of income, highlighting real opportunities to make more profit using case studies from pubs that have seen their bottom-line benefit from a well-earned boost."
The Bar Boosters programme recommends a different combination of initiatives depending on the type of pub — whether estate, suburban, town centre or village/rural. Within these four pub categories, S&NPC has identified four consumer types: aspirational, community, male-dominated or young.
Estate pubs
Pubs in this sector have an aspirational consumer base and are often food-led and cater for families. Suchpubs will benefit from initiatives such as Inn Store, Use Your Local and Inn Space and may also benefit from creating a crèche, says S&NPC. The company can offer advice for those wanting to do this.
Pubs with a community consumer base could benefit from the most initiatives, with ideas such as PayZone (a service allowing customers to pay bills or top up their mobiles for example) and Movies to Go (DVD rental). In addition, there are eating and drinking suggestions such as takeaway (Good to Go) coffee or food, or an ice cream offering — either to add on the menu or to takeaway. For male-dominated estate pubs, described as wet-led locals in housing estates with lower disposable income levels, S&NPC suggests boosting business by introducing Racing Post digital information screens or some of its takeaway food solutions.
Suburban pubs
S&NPE suggests that all the pubs in this category could think about adding one or more of the following concepts: Inn Space, Inn Store, Use Your Local and takeaway coffee or food.
Aspirational pubs — those that cater for suburban professionals — could also benefit from adding dry cleaning, a crèche or a flower offering (Inn Bloom), which works on the basis that if a garage fore-court can sell flowers, then why on earth shouldn't a pub be able to?
"Flowers brighten up the pub, make it more appealing to potential customers and suggest good retail standards," says S&NPC. The company can give advice to licensees wanting to offer a flower service and its Bar Booster guide also gives potential income figures.
Community pubs in suburban areas, meanwhile, could benefit from adding a DVD rental service, dry cleaning or an ice-cream offer.
Jumbuck's, which supplies premium Australian pies, could be useful for community, male-dominated or young pubs in this category.
Town/city-centre pubs
According to the Bar Boosters programme, all pubs based in town centres should think seriously about including easy internet access, concepts such as Inn Space and Use Your Local, and food solutions such as takeaway coffee or food.
Pubs that appeal to an aspirational consumer — described as busy venues with image-conscious, 25-to-35 mixed-gender clientele — could also think about adding a flower or ice-cream offer, as well as shopping events. The Bar Boosters hotline can put licensees in touch with home shopping party consultants in the area if they wish to host shopping events, which have the aim of attracting more female customers.
Community town-centre pubs could add PayZone, any of the food ideas, and a range of entertainment boosters, such as Racing Post.
Meanwhile, male-dominated and young town-centre pubs might be able to increase business by adding Jumbuck's or a pizza offer, through the Bar Boosters link-up with pizza delivery service Papa John's. The service allows customers to order and eat pizza in the pub and, since they can eat it straight from the box, no additional cutlery or crockery is required.
Village/rural pubs
All pubs in rural areas should — according to the Bar Boosters programme — think about installing a wide range of additional revenue streams. Ideas that would suit these pubs include: internet access, Inn Space, Inn Store, Movies to Go, Use Your Local and Good to Go.
Aspirational country pubs — often family-oriented outlets with a professional clientele aged over 30 — and community country pubs could benefit from branching out into dry cleaning, a crèche or the Inn Bloom flower concept.
Male-dominated pubs in the countryside (described as wet-led pubs with no frills), as well as younger pubs, could look at adding the Jumbuck's pie offer.
Inn Store
Inn Store is a range of PoS material and support services to help pubs sell basic convenience foodstuffs and household goods. The scheme is considered to be best suited to pubs in locations that lack a late-night convenience store or 24/7 supermarket, such as a community pub in a large suburban housing estate, one in a business district where other retail outlets close at 5pm, or a rural pub far from shops and supermarkets.
Bar Boosters can help licensees decide where to start with setting up this scheme and explains how the scheme could provide an additional income of between £400 and £3,250 a year, through just 25 sales per week.
Inn Space
Inn Space is the concept aiming to "make your space work for your customers". Increasingly people are working on the move, so finding a place to work or to meet is growing in importance and an under-used function room, or a quiet space in the pub, could fulfil this demand.
Inn Space is a package of PoS material with links to partner suppliers who can offer audio-visual equipment hire, stationery, coffee and tea, and with options for outside catering or accommodation.
Licensees interested in offering their regulars a parcel pick-up service can do so with the Use Your Local scheme. Consumers all across the UK get fed up with waiting in the house all day for a parcel, so many people would be more than happy if their local pub offered to hold parcels for them until they were ready to pick them up at their convenience.
It's a free service so there is no direct income for pubs, but it helps to position a pub at the heart of the community as well as raising its profile with a wider range of customers.
In addition, it presents an opportunity for impulse purchases of food and drink.
Case study: the Waverley, Edinburgh
The Waverley Inn is a modern community pub in a large suburban residential area on the outskirts of Edinburgh. It used to have a poor reputation before Cath Kay took over.
Using the Bar Boosters guide she introduced a number of new revenue-generating schemes, including the Racing Post's digital information screen, dry cleaning, Good to Go food and Inn Space.
"Before I had Racing Post's digital information screen installed, a group of my regulars would leave the pub at 3pm and head to the bookies for a couple of hours before going home," says Kay. "Now they stay in the pub until 6.30pm and I've noticed new customers coming in more often asking about the screen, so news is definitely spreading.
"Overall, I have noticed sales increasing. For example, over the past three Mondays I have had between £200 and £300 in extra sales."
Her Good to Go food offer is also taking off. "Last week I sold about 40 fil