15p pub meal deal hits jackpot

A Lancashire bar operator has started offering pub meals for 15p in a bid to bring back customers.

Tony Callaghan, the Wigan-based owner of 14 pubs, has launched the deal at freehold Number Fifteen in Ashton-in-Makerfield.

It had been operating as a wet-only site and introduced a food offer on Monday, 11 July. Instead of paying for advertising, he decided to offer 15p meals to raise awareness, which created its own free publicity.

The offer will be on every Monday from 11am-3pm for the first four weeks. A £1.15 deal of the day will be available every day indefinitely to compete with the numerous £1 shops in Wigan.

"We thought we would go down the route of not advertising and it has generated so much publicity," said Callaghan. "It just went crazy on the first Monday — people were queueing around the block."

In the four hours that the deal ran, the pub served 410 people. Although that does not equate to much in food sales, the rule is that punters must eat their food in the pub and buy a drink. Average spend per head was around £2.50.

Meals on offer range from sandwiches to jacket potatoes and pasta dishes.

The other days have remained busy without the offer, with 40 to 70 people being served lunch.

"All the food is ready to go to cope with the volume of people, but it is made from fresh, good quality ingredients," said Callaghan.

A number of operators have tried cutting meal prices to boost footfall. In 2008 Marston's leasehold the Four Crosses, in Hatherton, Staffordshire, attracted around 2,800 covers a week with its £1 and £2.50 meal offers. It later dropped the price to 50p.

Town & City brand Slug & Lettuce also ran a £1 lunch offer for a limited time earlier this year.