Winning ways to boast your roast

Raising awareness​

Knorr’s British Roast Dinner Week competition has attracted 80% more entries this year than in 2013, with more pubs buying into key ways of promoting sales.

Previous winners Sisi and Andrew Ryder, at the Phoenix, Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, attract significant online feedback about their quality roasts, while others report boosts in volumes and wet sales.

Gareth Leakey, group manager for the Adam & Eve in Mill Hill and Prince Albert in Camden, promoted loyalty and awareness of Roast Dinner Week by offering a free dessert (£5.95) with every Sunday roast (£12.95) sold during September, exclusively to monthly newsletter recipients.

An average of 30 desserts were given away across the two pubs weekly, increasing dwell-time and wet sales.

Singing for supper​

Creating an atmosphere where locals feel at home in their pub is a top priority for Sue and Rachel Hawkins, who have transformed the Bell, at Stow-in-the-Wold, Gloucestershire.

The promise of a late lunch with a singalong in the bar brings a laid-back feeling to Sundays at this year’s Great British Pub Awards’ Best Turnaround Pub – the seventh site revamped by the duo.

Sue and her niece Rachael, who bought the freehold from Enterprise last September, now offer a full menu from midday to 9pm, and roasts from midday “until the last slice is carved”.

On Sunday evenings local musicians play acoustic sets from 7pm-9pm, encouraging customers to linger during the extended dining period.

No gluten​

Customers unable to tolerate gluten will be given more information on pub menus from 13 December, when allergen regulations change.

Gravy made without gluten is so popular at the Rat Inn, in Anick, Northumberland – placed for two consecutive years in the Publican’s Morning Advertiser’s​ Top 50 Gastropubs Awards – that owners Karen Errington and Phil Mason now serve it to all 100 customers with Sunday roasts, with local beef the top seller.

“About 10% ask for gluten-free gravy, but all our diners love it,” says Errington. “We’re well-known for offering it and this information is often shared via social media.

“The new regulations may seem demanding, but adapting to a range of diets and publicising your ingredients can boost business – it brings us plenty of satisfied customers.”

Pushing the boat out​

A large gravy boat is always available at the Bell at Alderminster, Warwickshire, where being able to choose their shared Sunday joint in advance attracts groups of six to 10 customers to book tables.

Chef Lee Hartley presents the roast on a platter at the table, along with carefully made gravy using the rich meat juices; roast potatoes; fresh seasonal vegetables and all the trimmings.

Hartley is happy to carve the joint or nominate a guest to wear the hat. A choice of pork, chicken, Warwickshire topside, lamb or vegetarian options costs £25, or £12.50 for children aged 11 and under. Around 15 sharing platters are sold on a typical Sunday. ​

Competitive choice​

As a vegetarian, Zoe Rodgers, Enterprise tenant at the George Payne in Hove, East Sussex, “hates nothing more than finding only one veggie option on a pub menu”.

Her vegetarian customers get a better deal that keeps them returning to her award-winning pub, where she serves three veggie options on Sundays (£11) alongside four meat roasts – chicken or pork for £11.50, or beef or lamb (£11.95).

Options include carrot & cashew bake – also suitable for vegans; lentil, cheese & mushroom loaf; and Quorn sausages, accompanied by vegetarian or vegan gravy, roast potatoes and four other vegetables.

Of 180 recent Sunday lunches, about 30 were suitable for vegetarians.

“More pubs should value vegetarian Sunday diners,” says Rodgers. “Our dishes are simple to prepare and serve, and definitely boost loyalty.”

Spicy Sundays​

Caribbean Sunday roasts set Margate’s Westcoast Bar & Grill apart in the busy Kent town, says owner and licensee Eli Thompson.

Calypso chicken, mild jerk rib-eye, and Caribbean seasoned pork, at affordable prices from £6.95 to £10, bring Eli and his wife Heather a “comfortable” 75% GP, and most importantly, keep customers returning.

Thompson seasons all meat for at least 24 hours, cooks it slowly and adds the rich stock to Bisto, producing “a savoury gravy that is not too spicy”.

Many customers match the roasts with Caribbean Red Stripe lager or malty Eichbaum beer, pushing up Sunday wet sales. Eli says: “Getting your roast right gives you half a chance of surviving in this ultra-competitive market: ours have turned our business around.”

Campaign trail​

The grey pound has contributed significantly to the 12-fold turnover increase in the five years since Star Pubs & Bars tenants Brian and Elaine Rey took over North Yorkshire’s Ship Inn, in Aldborough, Boroughbridge.

Their loyal following was partly sparked by their ongoing Campaign for Real Gravy, launched at the Fenwick Arms, in Claughton, Lancashire, during the couple’s appearance on Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares​, which attracted a huge international response.

“Our huge repeat business is down to three things – our real gravy, my famous Yorkshire puds and slow-cooking our sirloin for 24 hours, so that it’s well-cooked but still pink,” says Brian. Free mini-Yorkshire puddings are offered with gravy at the bar to tempt customers, in a pub where Sunday lunch was not on offer before the Reys took over.