X marks the hotspots among great pubs

01-Sep-2010 - Last updated on 12-Mar-2017 at 02:58 GMT

Haslam: attention to detail

Licensee Steve Haslam talks about how attention to service, quality, cleanliness, great food and well-served drinks can give a pub the X Factor.

It's that time of year again. Summer is drifting away and the X Factor is back — but this time with a new format.

"So what?" I hear you say. Well, given the show's past success, its creators — along with love-him-or-loathe-him Simon Cowell — want to freshen it up, and this will no doubt make extra revenue from their audience.

So what gives someone the X Factor? Likeability, stage presence, talent, freshness — there are many individual factors that make up the "X", but the winner will have multiple attributes.

So what's this got to do with running a pub? Well, in today's difficult market many different attributes create the X Factor, with all of them key to success.

At TLC Inns we now have four pubs, three of which have opened in a 20-month period during the recession — and all are trading at very high levels.

Have we deviated from the normal format? Yes we have. Have we created something new? Yes we have. But we've not forgotten the importance of service, quality, cleanliness, great food and well-served drinks.

The pubs we took on were once unequivocal failures — now they are worthy of making the final, and the coveted X Factor prize. Our strong investment has delivered a polished product.

Are our staff well presented so they look good servicing their stage? Always! Is our product under constant scrutiny so we improve every step of the way? Absolutely! Are we taking constructive criticism from our audience and acting on it? Totally!

We, and many other successful operators, are all working towards the total X Factor experience.

Fall short of this at your peril — it could lead to a first-round exit, or you not making it past boot camp. But work hard at creating the whole experience and you're sure to be on the road to success.

Get the ingredients right, and your punters' Saturday nights will be spent in the pub. Get them wrong, and they'll be spent at home watching the other X Factor — probably while scoffing a "two dine in for a tenner" meal from M&S.

Steve Haslam, founder of TLC Inns