Adnams tenant Nick Attfield (pictured) described how he turned a second-hand van bought on eBay into a profit-generating marketing business for his pubs.
Attfield, owner of Adnams tenancies the Bell Inn in Walberswick and the Harbour Inn in Southwold, both in Suffolk, runs a mobile catering business styled as a beach hut serving snack-sized fish dishes.
The business is named the Fish Hut and operates from a refurbished doughnut van with a kitsch seaside look.
“We started going mobile in 2009. It was £10,000 for the van, but we take £20,000 per year and have made £80,000 in direct sales in four years. It’s the ultimate travelling marketing tool and an income stream I can control,” said Attfield.
The Fish Hut attends around 15 events per year and recently featured in Richard Johnson’s book Street Food Revolution.
Meanwhile, Mike Champion, operations director of the Red Lion Inn, Hinxton and the Black Bull Inn, Balsham, both in Cambridgeshire, revealed how outside catering can
be turned into another revenue stream.
According to Champion, who spoke about his business Red & Black Dining, said its ‘Book a Table @ Home’ idea had fed new business back into the pubs.
The initiative, which involves people booking the pubs’ chefs to come and cook a bespoke three-course meal in their own homes — sidestepping travel costs, babysitting issues and washing-up — has “led to 10% of each party either booking into our pubs or booking again”, giving the business another revenue stream, said Champion (pictured).
“We have a huge skill base within the business. We take our pub skills on the road to anywhere you like and we cook and serve a three-course dinner, bringing our own utensils and pans. People just love it,” he added.