Marston's plans new-build carveries

The Guelder Rose in Southport, near Blackpool, is the first of the new generation carvery sites, with a capacity for 180 diners inside and 60 outside, overlooking the seafront.

The concept was devised as a way of running a carvery operation that appealed to both traditional carvery-goers in the older age bracket as well as younger diners and couples.

This is achieved through a new design creating a brighter, lighter space with an illuminated ‘carvery’ sign built into the floor, and plenty of booth seating and benches, as opposed to the traditional tables and chairs of an old-style carvery.

Younger generation​

"We haven’t had a full trading week yet, but in its first five days it took far more than we thought it would take in a full week," said operations manager Neil Dawson.

"We are averaging 600 covers a day. The hope for the carvery is that it will remain attractive to all and appeal to the younger generation while not scaring off the traditional carvery base. The new site is more contemporary with an urban dining feel."

The concept has a ‘proper pub menu’ as well and sales are split equally between that and the carvery. The top sellers are fish & chips, gammon and steak, but there are also fresh pastas moving the offer away from typical pub fare, which are selling well. So far a 55p increase in food spend per head has been achieved in comparison to the traditional carvery sites.

The next opening will be a rotisserie concept in Andover, Hampshire, with a new-build carvery site launching in Port Glasgow in 2014.

"In time we will convert existing sites, but the focus at the moment is on new-builds," said Dawson.