Inapub Magazine Autumn 2021 Issue 96

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Issue 96 Autumn 2021 £4.95 trade.inapub.co.uk

Hosts with the roast welcoming back the winter warmers

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M I T F E L S Q U E L LWA S S E R G E B R A U T

Naturally brewed in Germany. Proudly served around the world. www.krombacher.com

info@krombacher.co.uk

@KrombacherUK for the facts

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utumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons – according to US journalist Jim Bishop – and pubs around the UK are certainly hoping autumn customers are carrying a bit more gold in their pockets this year too.

For our industry, autumn is a time of preparation, excitement and hope for the busy times ahead.

As the weather turns, so customers’ thoughts turn to roaring fires, hearty comfort food, warming tipples and get-togethers with friends and family. Nowhere does all those things better than the great British pub.

Halloween, Bonfire Night, Christmas and New Year’s Eve are coming at us in quick succession and 2021, of all years, is a year when our industry needs to maximise the opportunity all these seasonal celebrations can offer.

This issue of Inapub is dedicated to bringing you inspiration, ideas and case studies to help you make your venue THE place to be this autumn, a place where customers of all ages can come and enjoy the season and celebrate the fact that pubs are back.

All the signs are positive that consumers intend to party like it’s 2019, having been confined to their houses during the Christmas lockdown of 2020. In this issue we share the latest research on how they typically choose a venue and what they are looking for once they get there.

All of us at Inapub will be spending a good deal of our time over the coming weeks enjoying the hospitality in pubs across the country. We wish all our readers the very best for a successful and profitable season – you deserve it!

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this month Halloween • Get set for Christmas

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drink Whisky • Beer • Festive drinks

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play Women’s sports

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stay Surviving the off-season

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A diabolical dinner • The Sunday roast

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time at the bar Richard Molloy • Santa Claus • Graffiti art

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The Inapub Team Editor Caroline Nodder Contributors Matt Eley, Claire Dodd, John Porter, Richard Molloy, Katy Moses

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Production editor Ben Thrush

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Chief executive Barrie Poulter Sales manager Katy Robinson

Visit us online at magazine.inapub.co.uk

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28/09/2021 23:07

7 Seasonal suggestions

by KATY MOSES

There are already signs that the UK’s pub-goers are planning on making up for the wash-out that was Christmas 2020 with a bumper celebration this year – and there is no doubt that the pub industry needs that extra revenue like never before. Katy Moses, managing director of insight specialist KAM Media, has recently carried out a number of pieces of research to get to grips with exactly how licensees can capitalise on this year’s celebrations. Here she shares her thoughts on what you should be doing to prepare.

There is no denying that Christmas 2020 will go down in history as being well and truly cancelled for the majority of the UK pub industry. With the exception of those doing delivery, most of our doors remained firmly closed. And with last Christmas being a wash-out for most people, it’s no surprise that so many Brits are keen to make this year a bumper celebration.

One person in three is intending to put more effort into celebrating Christmas this year compared with a normal, pre-Covid Christmas. This is likely to mean that people will be spending more and planning earlier, with an impressive 3.3 million saying they’ve already made pub or restaurant reservations for the festive period. It may well actually be a season to be jolly this year.

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Get your Christmas bookings open

By the end of September, one in four of those who celebrate it had already started planning for Christmas. So, if you haven’t already got your Christmas offer sorted, with bookings well and truly open, then you’d better get on it, because you’re already missing out. Our research found that hospitality footfall on

Christmas Day itself looks set to return to pre-Covid levels this year, with one in 10 intending to visit a pub or restaurant – this matches intention level in 2019. The same can be said of New Year’s Eve, with a very similar proportion of consumers saying they intend to visit a pub or restaurant vs 2019 (22 per cent.)

But be warned, one of the top five things that makes customers decide to switch venues or, worse, stay home instead, is having difficulties with making reservations.

Under-34-year-olds have the least patience with this. So, no surprise that your booking process needs to be as slick as can be.

Approximately half of customers prefer to book online and may not even consider venues that don’t offer online booking. Whereas the other half prefer a simple phone call (the emphasis is on simple, easy and stressfree.) Smart publicans are offering both options to maximise their bookings and give customers the choice.

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Put hygiene front and centre

It doesn’t feel very festive to talk about hygiene but it is now a critical part of

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what’s new.

Pubs are hopeful this year will see the return of Christmas cheer

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Customers may forgive you if service is a bit off but they will not give you a second chance if they decide your venue is unhygienic

KAM Media’s Katy Moses

the customer experience and so should be high on your agenda.

Our recent research showed that over the total festive period, the frequency of visits is likely to be slightly down against pre-Covid numbers for the pub industry overall – this probably doesn’t come as a huge shock.

Twenty per cent of consumers said they intend to visit pubs MORE often, compared with 26 per cent who say LESS often. The decline is driven by the over-55-yr-olds. This is the age group which is most concerned about Covid, most nervous about returning to pubs and thus most concerned about health, food safety and hygiene. But it’s not by any means the only age group which feels this way.

Recent research we’ve done with safety consultancy Food Alert suggests that where “hygiene” may have been lurking in a customer’s subconscious pre-Covid, it has now moved to the forefront when it comes to customer experience and loyalty. And you only get one chance on this, or rather one chance to screw things up. Customers may forgive you if food is so-so or service is a bit off, especially when it’s busy, but they will not give you a second chance if they decide your venue is unclean or unhygienic. You’ll get put on their naughty list for good. It’s not very sexy but we need to keep it clean!

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Don’t forget alcohol-free options

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Get onto their table at home

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, one in four visits to pubs does not involve alcohol – yet more than 20 per cent of these customers will default straight to tap water. I consider that a lost sale, and a pretty boring experience for the customer. The range of soft drinks and low and no drinks is ever evolving, ensure your range is fresh and inspiring or you risk losing these one in four visits.

We’re all aware that delivery has boomed over the last 18 months. During lockdowns people welcomed hospitality into their homes, whether it was a hot meal delivery, a meal kit or afternoon platter or even letterbox cocktails. Research we did with online ordering platform Slerp suggests that the demand for “at home hospitality” is not going away. Whether its maximising take-aways, expanding into catering platters, festive hampers or even take-away kegs,

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many publicans are realising that they don’t have to wait for their customers to come and visit them, they can get their food and drinks straight into their customers’ homes, and Christmas is no different.

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Get into Santa’s sack

How excited would your customers be to wake up and find you under their Christmas tree? People are increasingly buying their friends and family gift experiences rather than physical presents. Consider offering gift cards and gift experiences (think a ticket to a wine-tasting evening or beer taster box) as an additional income stream around this time, ensuring you communicate them effectively both online and in venue of course.

them. If you don’t show up on a “Google near me” search, then add it to your to-do list and mark it as urgent.

Social media obviously plays a considerable role too here, but not surprisingly with huge generational swings. Gen Z and Millennials, in particular, are heavily reliant on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok for ideas and inspiration. Be careful to target the right channels to fit with your target customer base though. It’s unlikely, for example, that 65-year-old Carol and her WI friends are going to be looking on Instagram or TikTok – not impossible, but unlikely!

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Make sure you’re front of mind

This is the time for publicans to bolster their marketing and make sure all those potential customers who are looking to book Christmas events and get-togethers can easily find you.

When people are looking for new or different venues, their decision is increasingly digitally driven. After asking friends and family for recommendations, the next place most people turn is a “general internet search” (38 per cent) followed by the “Google near me” search tool (25 per cent) and then a hospitality review website/app such as TripAdvisor (22 per cent.) This represents a huge opportunity for publicans to either influence potential customers or lose

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Make the most of rising demand

If we can put staffing issues, turkey shortages and potential Covid restrictions to one side, consumer demand this Christmas will definitely be on our side. Our research shows that UK consumers are currently feeling excited about this Christmas and that eating and drinking out will play as big a part in their celebrations as it did pre-Covid.

Obviously, we’ve learnt the hard way that a lot can change between now and Christmas but, assuming the current restrictions don’t change, it’s looking very likely to be a very Merry Christmas for UK pubs this year.

KAM Media is a boutique research consultancy, specialising in hospitality and retail. www.kam-media.co.uk • @KAMMediaInsights

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Return of the

by MATT ELEY

wraiths

If there’s one thing in these uncertain times we can predict with a degree of confidence, it’s that Halloween this year is going to be considerably better than 12 months ago. All being well, at the very least pubs will be able to open their doors this year to guests, ghosts and ghouls for the annual spookfest.

And it should be an opportunity to get those tills ringing, with customers spending more and more on Halloween every year.

According to Statista, in 2019 UK consumers spent £474m on Halloween, up from £230m in 2013. It is a trend that is noticeable in the on-trade, where Halloween is now right up there as one of the biggest trading days of the year.

Lee Price, general manager at

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The Royal Pier in Aberystwyth, says it is an occasion that always delivers.

“In 2019 we took as much money on Halloween as we did on New Year’s Eve. It has just grown and grown and people are always up for it.”

The Royal Pier, which has a pub and a nightclub, says Halloween attracts many of the town’s student and younger population.

This is backed up by the stats. Research

by CGA indicates that while a fifth of UK adults go out to mark Halloween, this grows to a third for those aged between 18 and 24.

Lee believes the visual nature of the event lends itself perfectly to a demographic likely to be active on social media.

“Some of the costumes and make-up we see are incredible. It has gone way beyond a bit of fake blood and vampire fangs now.

“It gets quite competitive and people really try to make an impression with what they are doing. In 2019 we hired a professional make-up artist to create scars and cuts on staff, which wasn’t cheap but looked really good.”

Drinks wise, Lee says he sees an increase across the board but more generally it is often spirits sales that spike. CGA research points to vodka, liqueurs and shot sales

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Diabolical Drinks Hobgoblin The unofficial beer of Halloween always likes to make plenty of noise at this time of year.

Vampire’s Kiss Give customers a bright red fright with this cocktail created with champagne or similar, raspberry juice and a vodka liqueur.

The Ghoul’s Goblet This Diageo recipe combines 35ml of Smirnoff with 150ml of ginger ale, slices of orange and lemon and gummy worm sweets frozen in ice. Creepy!

Drop dead gorgeous... punters at The Royal PIer get their ghoulish glad rags on

increasing by more than 50 per cent, compared with an equivalent day.

Beer sales go up by around 2.3 per cent, indicating that Halloween is a high-energy occasion.

There are other ways of getting involved too. At The Harvester in Long Itchington, Warwickshire, they align themselves with activities in the area.

Licensee Simon Mills says: “We have no big plans but as a village pub we always hand out chocolate and sweets to the kids and grown-ups, and act as a mid-point toilet stop for many who are out.”

Add in a DJ to play some seasonal tunes and consider specialist food and drink offers, and you should have no fear about the success of the occasion.

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Frightening food Pumpkin Soup If you’re carving them, you might as well get them on the menu too. Pumpkin ravioli may also be a hit.

Offally good Tongue sandwiches, devilled kidneys and chicken’s heart pate are frightening options to consider.

Frank N Furters An easy option that done just right can look like someone has lost a digit in a burger bun. Yummy.

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HAUNTED PUBS 10

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Where the supernaturals will be supping this Halloween 1. The Black Bear

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Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire Let’s start with a classic: a chain-dragging, headless chap walks the corridors at the oldest inn in Gloucestershire. Possibly a defeated Lancastrian soldier, almost certainly devastated that he can’t sample the pub’s wares.

2. The Golden Fleece Pic:Sludge David Smith / Geograph.org Pic: G / Flickr

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York The 500-year-old pub claims to be the most haunted place in York. With it boasting up to 15 different spirits – no, we are not talking about the back-bar here – and having featured regularly in paranormal investigations, we are certainly not going to argue.

3. Skirrid Mountain Inn 4

Llanfihangel Crucorney, Monmouthshire One of the oldest pubs in Great Britain, according to legend this was where prisoners were given an overnight stay before being executed. Around 180 people were hung here and guests have reported feeling the grip of the noose around their necks.

4. The Mermaid Inn 7

Rye, East Sussex A woman allegedly murdered by smugglers is known to walk through doors and wait at the bottom of the bed at this historic inn.

Meanwhile in room 17, rocking chairs rock by themselves… spooky.

5. The Bow Bells Pic: Sludge G / Flickr Pic: Trevor Harris / Geograph.org

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City of London You’ll find another helpful ghost here in the East End where the toilets flush while they are being used. When the landlord held a séance to investigate the activity the women’s toilet door swung open so violently that it smashed a mirror. Less helpful.

wife would murder wealthy guests by opening a trapdoor in a bedroom that dropped them into a vat of boiling liquid below. They then sold their possessions off to local gypsies.

Ever since, ghostly figures have haunted the pub. If staying there, check under the bed.

7. Peveril of the Peak

Manchester Not all ghosts are terrifying. The apparition at the pub has been known to mysteriously levitate glasses all the way to the pot wash.

That’s one helpful spirit.

8. Mabel’s Tavern

King’s Cross, London At this Shepherd Neame pub a ghost can often be heard operating the dumb waiter, which would be fine if the dumb waiter hadn’t been ripped out decades ago.

9. The Spaniards

Hampstead, London Trust Hampstead to have a celebrity ghost.

Highwayman Dick Turpin is a former landlord of the pub and he is believed to stalk the road outside. He’s just one of three ghosts at this popular North London hangout for the non-living.

10. Ye Olde Salutation

Nottingham There are several reported ghosts at this hostelry, which was built over a system of caves. A little girl who was knocked over and killed by a carriage hundreds of years ago is known to haunt the pub, unless toys are left for her in the caves.

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6. The Ostrich Inn

Colnbrook, Berkshire Back in the 17th century, the landlord and his

Pic: Robert Eva / Geograph.org

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02/10/2020 12:42

Cask Marque Become one of the best 10,000 cask ale pubs in Britain

‘Cask Marque’ is an independent scheme that assesses the beer quality in pubs to ensure standards are driven and maintained.

Qualified assessors visit pubs to test the beers temperature, appearance, aroma and taste. pubs have increased sales since 88% ofgaining the accreditation

of accredited outlets said they would 98% recommend the scheme to other licensees Benefits include: n Featured on the CaskFinder app - used 60,000 times a month to find Cask Marque pubs n A Cask Marque plaque – recognised by 77% of beer drinkers as a badge of quality n Point of Sale material – to help promote this achievement to customers n Random inspections – helping pubs to consistently serve quality beer n Access to cellar management training n Regular newsletters Sign Up today by visiting cask-marque.co.uk or calling 01206 752212

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drink WATCH OUT FOR THE WHISKIES

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Aber Falls, the first whisky distillery in North Wales for over 100 years, was followed with Penderyn’s new distillery in Llandudno

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Cold weather makes me want to eat pies, drink cask ale, and curl up in a comfy chair with a wee dram to top off the night. Cold weather, as you can tell, is not good for my waistline.

But this hibernating instinct to seek out the warming and comforting runs true for your customers too. Naturally then, the mind turns to that most warming of spirits, whisky.

From pubs with a few dusty bottles, to the kind of establishments where whisky is an obsession and hundreds of bottles line the back-bar, a pub just isn’t a pub without it. But whisky itself is changing. Has your pub kept up?

From cask experimentation, to new make spirits (unaged whiskies) and new countries of origin, the whisky industry is evolving fast. Not least in the appearance of female-led operations and gender-neutral marketing – a necessary corrective in a category that in the past was marketed specifically at men, and that many drinkers still see as a male domain. Should some of the more interesting new liquids to come out of this dusting-off claim a place on your back-bar?

Firstly, there’s English whisky. Distillers up and down the land have been launch-

by CLAIRE DODD ing their own over the past two or three years, but one of the most highly regarded comes from the Lakes Distillery. Recent launches of its single and blended malts have included liquids aged in PX, Oloroso, Cream Sherry, Bourbon and red and orange wine-seasoned casks.

Not to be left out, Welsh whisky is coming on strong too. Aber Falls has just released its first single malt, said to have notes of vanilla, citrus, and toffee. It may have been the first whisky distillery in North Wales for over 100 years, but it was followed with the Penderyn Distillery’s new distillery in Llandudno in May, so watch this space. And Berry Bros & Rudd has launched The Nordic Casks, showcasing Nordic whisky distillers from Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

And finally from Scotland, the north meets the Caribbean with Glenlivet’s rum cask finished Caribbean Reserve. With notes of pear and red apple with a fabulous tropical twist of ripe bananas in syrup, you can if you choose mix it with coconut water. Or try ecofocused Nc’Nean. The liquid from the UK’s first net zero emission distillery, is light, fruity, and mixes with soda water, and a mint sprig, for a lighter sip.

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drink.

Back on the beers

by CLAIRE DODD

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The pandemic reinforced the value of local food and drink, so we’re seeing strong support from local customers

Just like neckache from trying to catch a glimpse of the match on a corner TV, Scampi Fries, and those special red and mustard-coloured carpets, there’s another thing you only really find in the pub — great beer. So, was the wait worth it? Have customers starved of draught beer for months and months come rushing back?

Has cask once again reaffirmed its place as something of a national treasure? And have consumers kept to their pandemicstrengthened penchant for supporting local businesses?

“We had a real rush of orders initially when pub gardens opened,” says Rupert Thompson, managing director of Hogs Back Brewery.

“I think the pandemic reinforced the value of

local food and drink, so we’re seeing strong support from local customers. [However] some pubs have since been more cautious about ordering cask beer, which has a limited storage life, and that’s likely to continue.”

For lagers too – a category that has increasingly captured the attention of craft and ale brewers of late – it’s a similar situation. Matej Krizek, head brewer at Bohem Brewery in

- Rupert Thompson, Hogs Back Brewery

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Our beer Hugh Macaulay, The Bell Inn, Aldworth, Berkshire CAMRA’s Pub of the Year, 2020, The Bell Inn has been owned by the same family for over 250 years and is the only pub in Berkshire with a Grade II-listed interior. With no lager at all on draught, the freehold pub concentrates on local brewers including the West Berkshire Brewery, Arkell’s, Rebellion and Loose Cannon.

“We’re a free-flowing family business. I’m the main man at the moment, but my mother, Heather, is still the licensee. She’s the matriarch of the Bell; she was born here.

We’re a village pub, and we’re very, very old-fashioned. There’s no draught lager. No mobile phone signal. No music, no TVs. Proper bench seats. No cushions. It’s as a pub would have been 60 years ago.

Beer-wise, we use as many local brewers as we possibly can. It’s all proper draught beer. We’ve got a proper old draught engine, which supplies three of the beers; that’s been there for about 150-odd years. So we’ve just about worn that in. We don’t live life in the fast lane out here.

Beer is the most important thing. We’ll take what the local brewers are making, such as lighter-style beers in the summer. Everybody gets a fair crack of the whip, and we promote them as much as we possibly can. Arkell’s, we’ve had on forever. Rebellion, their wonderful Roasted we use throughout theyounger year. We havewho Loose Cannon Abingdon, Pink products areNuts in fashion, particularly with the drinkers are keen to get from back in the pub especially their Bombshell in the summer. We’ve got a very lovely mild on at the minute from a little brewery out of Chaddleworth called Indigenous. And we take things from some little micros. Being local is the main thing.

Our local customers, they stick to their guns. You can’t change what they like. But we have customers come in from all over the place, and they like to try different styles a bit more. I like to let people have a try, but I make them drink all the sample. I tell people who ask for lager to have a try of this light ale instead.

People missed us during lockdown, and have said there’s nothing quite like having a proper pint of draught there.

We haven’t had the same level of custom back yet, people are still nervous. We’ve just got to keep our heads down and hopefully we’ll have an Indian summer.”

‘You want a Flake in that? Bohem Brewery’s Matej Krizek calibrates the head

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Tottenham, London, says: “Demand is definitely more unpredictable than before the pandemic.

“It seems that consumer behaviour waxes and wanes in line with the headlines. If the news is good, orders are strong, but when concern about the number of new cases increases, demand is lower as consumer confidence suffers. We’ve benefited a little from being able to supply authentic Czechstyle lagers at a time when imported beers are facing problems.”

There’s no doubt that supply issues are confounding many businesses supplying pubs, and choices in the short term may have to be based on what’s available. But out of what’s available, what is likely to make you the most money? It’s an important consideration.

According to CGA data from December 2019, beer accounts for half of the money spent in pubs and bars, delivering £12.8bn in revenue

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every year. “We have found that consumers are happy to move to stronger ales since we have reopened after the pandemic forcing all hospitality venues to close,” says Tom Foddy, head of sales and marketing at Charles Wells Pub Company’s holding company Wells & Co. “Amber ales over four per cent ABV have seen massive growth this year versus 2019 levels in our pub estate. We discovered this early after reopening as our 4.3 per cent ABV DNA amber ale was outselling our 3.7 per cent ABV Origin Pale Ale by around two firkins to one.”

The rise of new “craft lagers” may antagonise some purists, and we mean the term literally. Of course, for a beer style dating back over 500 years, with many historic brews that follow the purity law of 1516 (which permits only four natural ingredients – malt, water, hops and yeast – to be used in the brewing process) already on the market, some may ask “what’s new?” And some may even marvel at the seeming turnaround from craft brewers who once called lager a blot on the beer industry.

What is “craft lager”? Characterful brews of various lager styles from craft producers (a debatable term in itself), many are made to the purity law, and crucially are authentically lagered (aged) at low temperatures for a period of time.

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“Lager has always been the mainstay of the on-trade and now represents 62.5 per cent of craft volumes,” says Jez Galaun, co-founder of Brixton Brewery, which brews ales as well as the new Coldharbour Lager. “Drinkers want to enjoy the refreshment that lager offers without compromising on taste and quality, and are looking for new super-premium brands with provenance and authenticity in this category.”

A sesh to refresh

Matthew Willson, managing director of Freedom Brewery, maker of Freedome Helles, Pils, Pale and Lager, says: “Before Covid we had already seen a trend of consumers reverting to lager from the more challenging IPAs and pale ales, moving towards a sessionable drink that quenches their thirst. When Covid then hit, forcing pubs to close, it was clear there was a pent-up demand for draught lager, something that cannot be re-created at home.”

Brewers of fresh beer served straight from the tank, such as the memorably named German Kraft, are also emerging. Budweiser Budvar launched tank beer in the UK more than five years ago, and the concept is gaining in popularity.

Felix Bollen, co-founder, says: “German Kraft was born out of the desire to revive the ceremony that traditionally surrounds

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Emma, Marketing Controller at Greene King, tells us all about

Abbot’s fresh new look… bbot has been in the Greene King stable since 1951.

The Head Brewer, Bernard Tickner, created a fabulous new brew and a competition was launched to name it. We have Mr L F Whitehead from the King’s Arms, Haughley, Suffolk to thank for coming up with ‘Abbot Ale’. His idea was inspired by the famous Abbey which sits in the heart of our home town, Bury St Edmunds. He won £20 for his brilliance!

Originally Abbot was only packaged in bottles, but it wasn’t long before it was available in casks.

Today, roughly half of Abbot’s volume is sold from cask and the other half from supermarkets in 500ml bottles and cans. This demonstrates the loyalty of Abbot fans, whether they are at home or in the pub, they insist on Abbot every time. This has been particularly evident throughout the pandemic, when pubs were sadly closed.

Regulars couldn’t get hold of Abbot in their favourite pub, and so supermarket sales of Abbot soared.

2021 REBRAND We rebranded Greene King IPA in 2019, creating a more modern design with greater standout on the bar. Very often, Abbot sits next to IPA and in its current guise was beginning to look a little tired and dated. We couldn’t leave this jewel in our crown behind the times, so embarked on a brand refresh.

Looking back at Abbot designs throughout history, it has taken many forms. Sometimes the Abbot is centre stage and other times slightly hidden away. The shape of the pump clip has also morphed throughout the years. We showed the previous designs to Abbot drinkers to see if there was anything from our history which they particularly liked that we could incorporate into our redesign. The result is a return to the shape inspired by the Mitre headdress, worn by Abbots on ceremonial occasions. Also seeing a return is the Abbot icon which we believe last made an appearance in the 1970s.

The resulting design is a blend of Abbot’s wonderful heritage and modern iconography. The burst of colour with vibrant purple and red, nods to the brands’ legacy and gives increased standout on the bar. We hope loyal fans will love it and we’ll attract new drinkers, and maybe encourage those who haven’t tasted Abbot in a while to give it a go. The Abbot might have a new change of clothes, but rest assured, we haven’t altered the recipe one jot. Brewed for longer, with fruit cake character and superb hop balance, it’s the same beer we know and love.

The Greene King team has worked on the rebrand throughout the lockdown and to see it now come to life in pubs is fantastic. The response so far has been terrific, and we hope it will encourage cask drinkers back to pubs to enjoy their favourite pint!

So… sit back, reflect and unwind, sip and savour, and most importantly; relax with an Abbot.

TO ORDER CALL

0345 600 1799

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Trending new beers Beavertown Brewery Bones The London brewer’s brand new lager is intended to be crisp and super refreshing. While Beavertown has previously focused on characterful ales, the company said it wanted to try its hand at the biggest beer style in the world, “and the bones of British drinking culture”. It packs a 4.4 per cent ABV and is brewed with Akoya and Saphir hops.

Dark Star Orbiter Best Bitter Described as having a citrus aroma with notes of caramel, a rich, malt-forward body, and a crisp clean but hoppy finish intended to tap into the recent renaissance of Best Bitter as a beer style. The four per cent ABV beer aims to satisfy both connoisseurs and novices with its accessible flavour.

Amber ales now account for the largest volume segment of cask ale, worth 75 per cent of the total category.

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beer in Franconia, a big part of which is the freshness of the brew. Pouring the beer fresh from the tank at the place where it is brewed is not only the most sustainable way of producing and serving beer but it allows the taste to be unbeatable.”

Punters are voting with their wallets. According to CGA data, the craft beer category is expected to grow to 15 per cent market share by 2025. It stands at 8.5 per cent now. Craft currently delivers greater retail sales value, at an average price per pint of £4.85 compared with £3.33 for classic lager.

According to Jez from Brixton Brewery: “Although penetration of the category is currently 18.7 per cent and rate of sale is up by 20 per cent, there are still many more drinkers to recruit to the category, which is why Brixton is driving additional awareness this year.

“We’ve always produced modern takes on our favourite traditional styles – so of course we had to make a lager. Coldharbour is unpasteurised and unfiltered, for maximum flavour. In a market where other lagers such as Camden Hells have now entered mainstream consciousness, drinkers looking for something less ubiquitous, with great provenance and an easy-drinking flavour-profile.”

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77% of drinkers want to see a nationally recognised beer on the bar.

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drink.

Fingers crossed for a

cracking Christmas

by CLAIRE DODD

Ding dong merrily, it’s nigh. With the nights drawing in, and the headlines about a lack of turkeys becoming ever more frantic, it must be time to get ready for Christmas.

Don’t panic. It goes without saying that Christmas 2021 brings with it its own unique set of challenges and uncertainties, not least staffing. But with last year’s festivities cut short, what is certain is that those punters who are able to celebrate in the pub, are going to want to let their hair down.

Nick Gillett, managing director at Mangrove UK, whose brands include Black Cow Vodka, Portobello Road Gin and Don

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Q rum, says: “Christmas 2021 is a great opportunity for those who had their celebrations curtailed last year and will be wanting to make it extra-special. I predict a bumper season for the on-trade with people making the most of being doublevaxxed and celebrating the festive season by going out to bars and restaurants with family and friends.”

So what to do? With the parameters still liable to change – as the Government reacts to any winter spikes – and budgets tight, the best advice is to keep it simple, play to your strengths, and be prepared.

The good news is that we know exactly what customers opt for at Christmas.

According to data from CGA, 37.5 million customers went out over the festive period in Great Britain in 2019. Encouragingly for wet-led pubs, Christmas visits are predominantly drink-led. In 2019’s festive season, drinks accounted for 52.6 per cent of sales, while food accounted for 47.4 per cent of sales. Thirty-nine per cent of customers went out just to have drinks.

People are looking to celebrate – 49 per cent of customers say they spend more on going out to eat or drink over the Christmas period than other times of the year. The average outlet experienced a 24 per cent increase in sales during the Christmas period; six of the top 10 trading days in 2019 fell in December.

Though last year was far from a normal trading year, we do know that soft drinks (up 16 per cent) and wine (up 17.5 per cent)

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Our Christmas James Keogh, manager of The Churchill Arms in Kensington

“We love Christmas at The Churchill, absolutely; the magic and delight it brings to people. We’ve been getting more festive every year. We started putting trees up outside the pub around 1987, and as the years went by we just kept increasing. We couldn’t stop. We were so excited. Our record is 100 trees from 2019, and around 25,000 lights.

Last year was a bit different with a pandemic, but we still put up 48 trees. It was a tough time and we didn’t want to disappoint people, but it was still superb. They cheer people up. I do also have a Christmas jumper with little flashy lights. We turn them on in mid-November, but have an official switch-on early December.

The cost can be anything between £15,000 to £20,000 overall, but the business it brings us is enormous. The pub is packed out all day long all through December. Thanks to social media, we’re well known worldwide. We’ve had TV crews from China, America, France, come look at the awesomeness of it. From that, people come visit us all year.

People see us on Instagram and say, I must visit this pub.

Make sure you’re advertising what you’re doing; your Facebook and your website must be up to date. Make sure you’re staffed and have all the right festive drinks. And make sure you execute, because you’ve only got that one chance. Doing it well means people will come back and support you and you’ll get new customers.”

enjoyed growth, as Covid restrictions required any alcohol to be consumed alongside food. Though spirits remained largely flat, due to the usual celebrations being cancelled, liqueurs and specialities saw sales increase over Christmas 2020 as people looked to treat themselves.

And it won’t surprise you which special tipples these were; cream liqueurs were up 1.8 per cent, flavoured vodka was up 1.5 per cent, white rum was up 0.5 per cent, malt

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AUTUMN 2021

whisky was up a smidge at 0.4 per cent, and “other specialities” (think festive flavoured liqueurs) were up 2.2 per cent.

Bearing those top sellers in mind, there are plenty of products out there for pubs looking to target these festive preferences.

Vermouth

We all know how popular mulled wine and cider are when the mercury drops. Warming spices such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice,

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Our Christmas Jethro Scotcher-Littlechild, licensee of The Cambridge Blue, Cambridge

“We usually combine our Christmas celebrations with Mill Road Winter Fair. There’s bands, street performers and dancers, food fairs on the side streets. For the last few years, we’ve hired some reindeer, we get a proper Father Christmas, and we give a gift to every kid that turns up. Now a lot of the kids think Santa lives at the end of our garden.

“It’s our biggest trading day of the year, though we don’t actually make any money because of all the extras we put on. It’s more a loss-leader, if you like. This year, the Fair has been cancelled, so we will be holding our own mini fair with some craft stalls. And hopefully we’ll have our brass band as well; we do that as near to Christmas as possible. It’s a 35-piece band, and we usually have around 300 people turn out and see them.

“We go very traditional with our decorations, and we

have a large heated marquee. From December we usually burn some festive scented candles, so when people walk in, it feels Christmassy. We’re not a food pub. We just do pies. So in December, we make our pies more Christmassy; it keeps things manageable.

“Drinks-wise, we have mulled cider and wine, a couple of gins, such as a Frankincense gin, and hot chocolate, to which we add a shot of Bailey’s or whatever people want.

We don’t do cocktails, we’re just too busy. We sell an awful lot of whisky; we’ve got over 125, and at Christmas people are happy to spend a bit more.

“I think you’ve got to keep it simple, do what you do, but do it well and make sure that the pub is a welcoming environment. If people are comfortable when they come in, they’re going to linger longer and spend some money.”

and nutmeg just scream Christmas. Add a splash of a spiced vermouth for a luxurious upsell; Sacred’s English Spiked Vermouth is made with English wine from Gloucestershire, organic wormwood, thyme and sweet orange studded with cloves.

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But mulled wine can be as divisive as Marmite. Why not offer a new take on Christmas spice, with a Christmas spritz? Swap out the bitter aperitif for Azaline Vermouth, which is inspired by the spices and botanicals of the Silk Road and made with blackcurrant,

magazine.inapub.co.uk 28/09/2021 23:23

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saffron, cardamom, orange peel, tarragon, juniper and coriander. Mix one part vermouth to three parts tonic, and add a fresh orange slice.

Flavoured gin

Is it really Christmas without a festive flavoured gin?

We’re partial to a sloe gin, of course.

Plymouth, Hayman’s, Monkey 47, Sipsmith and Chase all get a special tip of the hat for flavour. But in recent years, Christmas flavours have become somewhat more literal; think Gingerbread, Mince Pie, and Candy Cane among others.

New for this year is a limitededition Christmas Cake Gin from Warner’s. Each year the recipe is given a tweak, with the 2021 vintage said to feature dark chocolate, treacle, ginger, blended with cherry juice, and sloe gin macerate. There’s notes of caramel, and cherry, said to resemble a Jamaican ginger cake. Serve neat, or top simply with Coke.

Gin liqueurs – lower-strength and sweeter – are also an option, and seem to be increasingly competing for the prize for the most bonkers bottle. If you want a drink that also doubles as a light-up snow globe, then gin liqueurs are for you. Snow Globe Gin Liqueur’s bottle features an illustration of a stocking-laden fireplace, while the liquid includes shards of edible 23ct gold leaf. Turn

on the lights on the base, and shake.

The liqueur itself is flavoured with Seville oranges, gingerbread, cinnamon, and spice extracts. Add to Prosecco or a festive cocktail, mix with tonic or pour over ice.

Flavoured vodka

Why eat a Christmas pudding when you can sip one? Following on from flavoured vodka’s popularity last Christmas, it might be time to stock a festive one. Black Cow’s new Christmas Spirit contains all the ingredients found in Christmas pudding (citrus, cloves, cinnamon, figs, currants, raisins and a touch of vanilla), steeped in the brand’s pure milk vodka. Drink it neat over ice, topped with champagne, or mulled in hot cloudy apple juice.

Rum

Sharer serves are always popular when the line for the bar is long. And with sales of rum on the rise, a simple rum cocktail can fit the bill. Proof Drinks is offering branded cocktail jugs for its Cut Rum this Christmas, to give licensees a sharing option.

Lucy Cottrell, marketing manager at Proof Drinks, says: “This year, more than ever, we expect to see parties and more group gatherings as consumers look to make up for lost time, so point-of-sale that can help staff to increase speed of service will be appreciated and result in more cash in the tills.

“The Cut Rum cocktail jugs are perfect for table service and trade-up opportunities, and can be used indoors or outdoors, making for a safe yet flexible offering for operators.

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10/05/2021 11:18

eat.

eat DINING WITH DISASTER

“

The curry was stone cold, with four still-frozen prawns bobbing about sadly in it

I hope I’m amongst the more tolerant of pub customers when it comes to recognising that things don’t always go to plan when it comes to serving meals, but I recently had a stark reminder of just how badly wrong a pub can get it.

On the way back from a brisk Bank Holiday walk on the south coast, we’d booked a table for two at a pub on the Surrey/ Sussex border where we’ve eaten several times before – in fact, I’d presented a Pub Food Award to its previous owners some years ago.

With the pub having suggested 2.45pm as an alternative to our 3pm request, we assumed they’d be quite busy. It was a surprise then, to arrive to a neardeserted car park and a sea of unoccupied tables.

Having been told by our server that “none of our specials are available” we perused the menu – and given that the specials were all printed on the menu, I struggled to work out what made them any more special than other dishes, other than their apparent scarcity.

I ordered a burger,

BY JOHN PORTER

with a couple of requests for variations in terms of ingredients, mainly leaving out the sticky BBQ sauce, which I always find too sweet.

Our server made no attempt to note this request down. Mrs P ordered a Thai curry and agreed to stump up an extra £3.50 to add prawns.

My burger, with grim inevitability, arrived with a generous dollop of BBQ sauce.

Far more worryingly, the curry was stone cold, with four still-frozen prawns bobbing about sadly in it. Fortunately, we noticed, as one mouthful would have been a food safety disaster. It’s also worth noting that the accompanying “tomato, lettuce and onion salad” turned out to be a single limp lettuce leaf.

Our server was apologetic, accepted my offer to pay for our drinks, and we left. Thirty miles closer to home, we stopped at a pub where the food and service were great.

At the time of writing, the first pub, which has all my contact details, has yet to get back in touch. l only tell the story because, post-lockdown, there are still a lot of people who have to choose whether or not to become pub regulars again. Experiences like this won’t help.

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Sunday drivers

by JOHN PORTER

The classic Sunday roast doesn’t always come top of the table in listings of the best-selling pub dishes, for an obvious reason. While the likes of fish and chips or steak and ale pie have seven days to build up their sales tally, Sunday lunch get just one day a week to do the business.

In that context, the fact that it’s fairly consistently in the top five best sellers and most widely offered pub meals, as well as selected by consumers as their favourite dish, shows just how important the Sunday roast is. It’s also a dish that comes in a variety of formats, from a setprice carvery to an à la carte gastropub special.

Oisin Rogers, manager of central London pubs The Guinea and The Windmill, believes that Sunday lunch is the way a pub sets out its stall. “It’s extremely important. It defines a pub, because other than your mum’s house – depending what sort of a cook she is – there’s nowhere better than the pub to have a Sunday roast,” he says. ”It’s one of the things we can do really well, and really consistently, and it’s a British institution. Sunday lunch fits with the atmosphere, conviviality and the whole ethos of what a pub should be.”

Oisin believes the roast is also a meal that pubs are adept at matching to their price point. “If you’re in a market where a

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“

The most important thing about a Sunday lunch is that it’s got to be generous.

Some businesses underportion the meat or skimp on the veg and people feel cheated

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Sunday roast has to cost £9.95, you can still get it right, even if it won’t be a patch on a roast that sells for £20, made with premium ingredients and cooked by a chef. There’s a sliding scale, because for the majority of pubs, price is a sensitive issue.”

With beef prices very high this autumn, he suggests that pubs look at pork belly, pressed pork or chicken as alternatives, “although for us, we won’t compromise on the quality of the beef, we explain the pricing issue to our customers.

“The most important thing about a Sunday lunch is that it’s got to be generous. The mistake you see some businesses make is that they under-portion the meat, or skimp on the vegetables, and people feel cheated.”

Remixing the roast

While it’s easy to think of the Sunday roast as timeless, trends do evolve. Fresh produce supplier Oliver Kay has identified an increased focus on premium and local veg. Its website at www.oliverkayproduce. co.uk includes recipes such as salted caramel carrots and roasted sweet potato wedges, adding a new twist to traditional roast accompaniments.

Alex Hall, Executive Chef at Unilever Food Solutions, which runs the Knorr Professional Great British Roast Dinner competition (www.unileverfoodsolutions.co.uk) says: “Like every classic dish, the traditional roast dinner can be a difficult thing to get right and each element can divide opinion, with

many chefs having their own unique twist on what makes a great roast.”

However they approach a roast, Alex makes the point that chefs increasingly have to take into account consumers’ nutritional expectations and dietary requirements, with rising awareness of allergies also having driven legislation on allergen labelling.

Knorr Professional meat and poultry gravy granules are made to a “No Allergens to Declare” recipe, making them suitable for vegans and vegetarians, as well as saving kitchens the need to make separate allergen-free dishes for customers.

He adds: “Meat-free eating was once solely associated with vegan and vegetarian lifestyles, but nowadays, an increasing cross-section of the community is choosing “flexitarian” eating habits, incorporating more plant-based food, and reducing their meat intake to lessen their impact on the environment and improve their health. For chefs, having one gravy that is suitable for both your meat and your vegan or vegetarian dishes delivers convenience and consistency in a busy kitchen.”

As Christmas looms, research by Bidfood and 3Gem has found that a traditional roast with all the trimmings on the menu is a key consideration for 48 per cent of consumers, while 32 per cent want a choice of roast meats, and 13 per cent want meat-free options in a traditional roast. For pubs that can get it right, the roast dinner is a winner.

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A right Royal roast

by JOHN PORTER

Who’s driving the Sunday trade? The tourist authorities are good at capturing certain statistics.

So we know that in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, there were 40.9 million inbound visits to the UK, more than 6.2 million people visited the British Museum, around three million people attended the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and 47 million tourist trips were made to Cumbria and the Lake District.

What we know with far less certainty is how many of those people, whether they were overseas visitors or UK residents, tucked into a hearty Sunday roast in a traditional Britsh pub as part of their experience – although it’s very likely that it was a significant number of them. And that, says Matthew O’Keefe, owner of the Royal Standard of England (RSoE), in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, is wherein lies the prob-

p36-37 roast pub profile.indd 36

lem in estimating when trade might return to previous levels.

“I reckon we’re probably 20 per cent down on where we’d expect to be,” says Matthew, who runs the RSoE with his wife Anna (pictured). “We’re a traditional pub that people bring guests to for Sunday lunch, whether that’s visitors from overseas or friends and family. In tourism terms, they’re unrecorded visits. You can record how many

28/09/2021 16:35

The Royal Standard of England Beaconsfield, Bucks Age: Claims to be the oldest freehouse in England, with parts of the building an alehouse in Saxon times House beer: Marston’s Owd Rodger (for more than a century now) Formerly known as: The Ship. Charles II is said to have approved the Royalist haunt’s new name

“

You have to serve the very best food you can have for the price, particularly with a Sunday roast.

It’s part of our culture and we want to keep that going

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tourists visit hotspots, but no one specifically records how many tourists come to pubs, even though Britain gave pubs to the world and everyone want to visit one.”

The RSoE is undoubtedly a tourist guide’s dream in terms of what a pub should be.

It styles itself as the oldest freehouse in England, and there’s been an alehouse on the site for at least 800 years. Over the centuries, the pub has been the hangout of royalty, highwaymen and even the occasional ghost, and its tile floors and wooden beams make it a regular setting for film and TV productions.

The Sunday lunch offer is built around a classic roast dinner with a choice of beef, pork, lamb, chicken and venison, priced from £17.95 to £19.95, as well as a wide choice of hearty starters and desserts. “I put the price of Sunday roast up by a quid after lockdown, as it was obvious there would be price rises coming through, which there have been,” says Matthew. “I thought people were less likely to notice if it was there from the start.”

The overall approach is that “you have to serve the very best food you can for the price, particularly with a Sunday roast. It’s part of our culture, and we want to keep that culture going.”

Comeback season

There’s almost certainly no pub business for which the lockdown came at a good time, but for the RSoE, it closely followed the builders packing away their tools and wheeling the cement mixers back into the lorry after the pub added a significant extension

in 2018/19, which increased the indoor dining capacity by 50, to 200 covers.

“Sunday lunch is always our busiest day, and whereas before the pandemic we’d do three sittings in a day, currently we’re only doing two – and what’s missing is those overseas visitors.” However, as autumn Sundays kick in, “I’m hoping to turn up the fires and hoover up that cold-weather trade as people are forced back inside.”

The Sunday clientele is mainly the extended families of the couples and groups of friends who are the RSoE’s core dining demographic through the week: “It’s extended friendship groups or bigger family groups.”

You mess with expectations of a classic pub meal at your peril, as Matt and the team have discovered. “During lockdown we took the opportunity to look at how things are presented on the plate. Not so much the roast itself, which has always been good, but the lamb shoulder and belly of pork, and some of the starters.

“The feedback from some customers has been that they like the look of hearty food on the plate – they assume that when you improve the presentation, the portions must have got smaller.”

Ultimately, says Matthew, “our competition isn’t other pubs and restaurants, it’s the supermarkets, and people eating and drinking at home.” The new dining area has the look of a medieval hall. Matt muses: “I’d love to cook on a spit or grill over the open fire and carve and serve Sunday lunch at the table.

Let’s see the supermarkets match that.”

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play.

play SPORT FOR ALL

“

There are more opportunities than ever for pubs to highlight women’s sport

magazine.inapub.co.uk p39 play intro.indd 39

The remarkable achievement of Emma Raducanu in winning the US Open will undoubtedly drive a lot more interest – as well as pub-friendly TV coverage – of women’s tennis, and is hopefully on more step on the road to all women’s sport, from local clubs to elite competition, being given parity of importance by sponsors, broadcasters and, of course, viewers and spectators It would be foolish to suggest that the prejudice that saw women’s professional football entirely banned by the FA for 50 years has been entirely overcome.

For this issue, we contacted several major pub groups to see if they could suggest a pub which supports or sponsors a women’s football team, and the response was basically “well, we must have, let me check, er…” followed by radio silence.

So all credit to The Railway Tavern in Dereham, profiled this issue as sponsor of the Tavern Ladies team. But even the licensee there admits that there’s still a way to go before watching women’s sport in the pub catches up with the grassroots popularity that is seeing not just women’s football, but also participation in sports such as cricket, rugby, volleyball and netball flourish.

There are more opportuni-

ties than ever for pubs to spotlight women’s sport as part of their TV offer. For example, Sky Sports is showing at least 35 Women’s Super League football matches during the 2021/22 season, while BT Sport shows the Women’s Champions League. The Women’s Euro finals will be played in England next summer, bringing an even higher profile to the game.

The BBC has agreed a deal to show the Women’s Six Nations as part of its rugby coverage, while women’s cricket, volleyball and the US Women’s National Basketball Association are also among the sports with regular TV slots.

Just as importantly, pubs can take the opportunity to encourage their female customers to get active as well as watching.

The charity Women In Sport (www.womeninsport.org) has launched a campaign to encourage more midlife women in particular to participate in sport. Setting up a tournament could be a great way for local pubs to engage with the community.

Game on!

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sportswomen

Supporting the

by JOHN PORTER

There are, according to the FA, almost three million active female football players in the UK, making football the biggest women’s team sport in England. Add to that women playing everything from darts and pool to cricket and rugby, and there are plenty of good reasons for pubs to support their local women’s teams.

One pub already doing so is The Railway Tavern in Dereham, Norfolk, which sponsors the Tavern Ladies football team (pictured above). The Tavern Ladies play in the Norfolk Women and Girls’ Football League Division 1, and also had a decent run in the BT Sport Pub Cup. Sport is integral to The Railway Tavern’s offer, with 15 screens inside and outside the pub showing a broad range of live sports from Sky and BT Sport.

The pub even made the national press several times by putting up football stands outside, enabling up to 500 spectators at a

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time to watch major tournaments.

Licensee Paul Sandford says sponsoring the Tavern Ladies has broadened the pub’s customer base still further.

“The team came to me about five seasons ago, when women’s football was proving hard to get off the ground locally. They’d been going for about a season, but were being held back because of the way some people viewed women’s football,” says Paul.

“Of course, it’s come a long way since then. Locally, there are now three divisions, where there was just one when we went into

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Women’s sport by numbers Football focus

The Railway Tavern sets up outdoor stands for major football tournaments, enabling them to host crowds of up to 500

“

Sportswomen’s social club

The team use us as their social club, which obviously works for me from a business point of view 42

p41-42 women's sport.indd 42

the league. It’s a contrast with the men’s grassroots game, which seems to be suffering a bit.”

The sponsorship package includes supplying kit, and the rental fees for the pitch nearby where the Tavern Ladies play their home fixtures. The team members are also regulars in the pub. “The team use us as their social club, which obviously works or me from a business point of view,” says Paul.

The pub also hosts two men’s teams, and in terms of turning out for training and matches, “the women are far more committed than the men,” he adds. “The commitment in men’s football is shocking compared to what it used to be. Women also listen more to coaching advice, they’re more receptive than men.

“We also have darts teams, including a ladies’ team, poker and pool teams, so there’s a good selection of sport based at the pub.”

By using the outdoor stands, the pub is able to double its viewing capacity for England games. For now, there is relatively low demand to watch the women’s game, but as more high-profile tournaments are televised, Paul expects interest to increase. “At the moment, we put it on when it’s on. I wouldn’t say women’s football is drawing in big crowds to watch, but as the popularity of the game increases, it will do.”

AUTUMN 2021

Football remains far and away the highest participation team sport in the country, with FA figures showing: • 8.2 million adults participate in football regularly, of whom 6.25 million are men and 2.03 million are women • 3.35 million children aged 5 to 15 play regularly •2.49 million of these are boys •860,000 are girls The number of women’s teams in affiliated football has risen five per cent since 2010, while over the same period, participation in traditional men’s football has seen a 10 per cent drop.

A growth opportunity Figures from Statista show the number of women who participate in any kind of sport or physical activity in England is slowly and steadily increasing. In 2020, around 17.8 million women participated at least twice a month.

However, Sport England estimates that there are 313,600 fewer women than men who are regularly active, and more men than women do sport and physical activity in almost every age group.

When asked, 13 million women said they’d like to do more sport and physical activity, creating an opportunity for pubs to sponsor, support and motivate women’s teams across the range of activities.

Getting back into gear In post-pandemic research, Women In Sport found that: • 39 per cent of women said that losing their fitness during lockdown would have a long-term impact • 25 per cent of women were worried that getting back into the habit of exercise post lockdown would be hard • 61 per cent of women say they will put more effort into being fit and active now lockdown is over.

trade.inapub.co.uk 28/09/2021 15:54

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SPONSORED BY STAY IN A PUB

Challenging the chill

by MATT ELEY

It’s been a summer to remember for pubs like The Three Horseshoes in the Lincolnshire Wolds. With overseas travel complicated by Covid, the pub has benefited from the trend for staycationing and seen its camping pitches and 10 glamping pods frequently booked out between May and September.

The challenge for pubs that rely on tourism as the winter looms and foreign holidays open is in how to keep visitors coming back.

“Our business is based on the staycation market and it has been absolutely vital to us this summer and the period in 2020 when we were able to open,” explains Ian Peet, who owns and runs the freehouse business with his wife Denise.

“We opened for a bit of takeaway food as well but it has been the accommodation that

has kept us going.” However, the outdoor pursuits that are such a big draw to a rural location in the summer are less attractive in the winter.

Ian continues: “They come here for glamping in the summer so they can enjoy the outdoors life and then come back to the pub. At this time of year we try to make the inside more appealing because not many are going to come in the winter and sit around a campfire.”

This means the pub and its open fire come into their own. “I always think that if you have 20 people in the pub it creates the atmosphere that makes someone else want to come in and experience,” says Ian. “We find that traditional board games work really well for us to keep the chat going and to keep people in for a little longer after eating. We have all sorts of games around the pub that have proved popular. We actually find the digital ones are much less social.”

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stay.

The Three Horseshoes Louth, Lincolnshire Pods: 10 Rates: £50 to £80 per night (based on three-night stay) Grass pitches: 16 Website: www.the3horseshoes.com

Summer was good this year to businesses like The Three Horseshoes that rely on the staycation market

“

If you have 20 people in the pub it makes the atmosphere that makes someone else want to come in and experience

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The business also tries to keep prices down on both accommodation – which can be roughly half the price of the peak season – and on food. “We try to get people to enjoy a meal for £20 to £30 for a couple, rather than £80, which is not sustainable. This can increase dwell time,” he adds.

Marketing also plays a key role, with Facebook a particularly strong device for attracting guests.“We do find that we are getting repeat customers and that even in the winter people have reasons to travel, such as birthdays and events. People were at home for so long during lockdowns and they need to get away. We do what we can to extend the season but we will make more in the summer and get through the winter.”

Sticking with the staycations

Potentially, the business will soon face the challenge of an increase in foreign holidays, but Ian is confident the staycation market will remain attractive.

Pub accommodation website Stay in a Pub also believes that holidays at home will remain an attractive proposition for UK guests.

Sophie Braybrooke, Stay in a Pub marketing consultant, says: “We believe that British people have fallen back in love with their green and pleasant land. Of course, they will go in search of warmer climes when travel opens up, but we feel that eyes have been opened, new demographics have been

wooed and the concept of multiple shorter breaks away will remain popular. The staycation is here to stay.”

Staycations have always been Stay in a Pub’s primary focus, with 83 per cent of visitors to the site domestically based guests looking for short breaks of around two nights.

While that 17 per cent of overseas visits has dropped off, it has been more than made up for by the additional demand from UK guests. Stay in a Pub has tried to help pubs capitalise on the extra interest.

Sophie continues: “We have taken the time to really talk to our potential customers – to find out their likes, dislikes, interests and pastimes. We use this information to make holiday suggestions, highlight activities and interests and promote special offers specific to their desires and motivations. We are doing this for all our member pubs, helping them to extend their staycation bookings.

“We encourage all our member pubs to provide details of any attractions and activities in the local area. These help guests to plan their staycation whilst supporting the local economy. We communicate regularly with member pubs asking for any special offers, packages, news and highlights that can be communicated to our bookers, subscribers and followers.”

For more information visit www.stayinapub.co.uk

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back-bar business

Time to take stock

Let’s face it, stocktaking might not be the most thrilling task on your ever-growing ‘to do’ list, but it’s one that can’t be overlooked and could ultimately be the difference between profit and loss. There are different ways of keeping a close eye on what is coming in and going out of your business, and a regular and thorough stocktake can keep cash flowing and reduce your exposure.

by MATT ELEY

Tim Foster

head of being awesome at Yummy Pubs

With such a bold job title, you could be forgiven for thinking that something as seemingly routine and mundane as stocktaking would not get the juices flowing for the Yummy boss.

But along with ‘‘the customer experience” stocktaking is right at the top of the list of important items for Tim. He empowers managers and senior members of staff to carry out a monthly stocktake, with a weekly one for dry goods.

“Lockdowns really highlighted the importance of regular stocktakes,” he says. “At one

10 JULY 2015

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stage we were carrying £50,000 too much across the four sites, which is too much exposure – and we all know that cash is king.

“We trust and empower our staff to do this every month, with our support, because it exposes them to the true cost of things and helps them better understand GP margins and cash margins.

“We do it simultaneously across the four sites because we find that if we are carrying too much stock at one pub we can simply get in the van and share it with one of our other sites.”

The stocktakes take two to three hours to complete and are done with support from data provided by the business’s integrated till system. “The analysis is really interesting and highlights things that you shouldn’t really have on your menu. We have had staff

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“

The analysis highlights things you really shouldn’t have on your menu. We have had staff worry about a couple of comments on a dish but when you see you’ve sold 1,000 of them, it becomes less of a concern

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Tech support While the human touch is still required with stocktaking, there are numerous products available on the market to make life a little easier.

Zonal’s Mobile Stocks app eliminates the need for printed count sheets and manual entries. It even has an integrated scanner so products can be entered via their barcode.

Meanwhile its “purchase and pay” system Acquire shows the supply chain in one place, so licensees can see what’s in, what’s on its way, and what needs to be replenished.

worry if we have had a couple of comments about a dish but when you look and see you have sold 1,000 of them, it becomes less of a concern.”

From a practical point of view, he adds, regular stocktakes ensure areas such as cellars and kitchens are well maintained and that items don’t go missing.

Brett Webslade Chairman of the Institute of Licensed Trade Stock Auditors

Brett agrees with Tim that stocktakes should happen once a month but he advises pubs use professional stocktakers to do the job, adding that the money spent will be more than covered in the things a professional can unearth. In fact, industry specialists Venners say their professional services can increase gross profit by an average of three to seven per cent.

“When you take on a pub you have a professional stocktaker advising what items can and can’t be included in the sale,” says Brett. “We recommend pubs continue to use an ILSTA-qualified member for stocktaking every month.”

Benefits of a professional visiting include highlighting where deficits are and how these can be controlled. Brett says: “A professional can advise on any supplier price increases to help maintain GP and on any government duty increases to help maintain GP margins and highlight any incorrect

supplier prices or supplier deliveries.”

Brett points out how vital it is that all deliveries are checked properly before being signed for and that licensees ensure delivery notes also tally with invoices. Pros, he says, will pick up on discrepancies and save pubs money over the course of the year.

He adds that technology can help with the process but that it should not be overly relied upon at the expense of manual checks.

“The implementation of EPoS systems has been an important step for many licensed premises in helping standardise their operations,” he says. “They are very useful for stocktakers to be able to see what has been sold over the stock period as long as the set-up is correct.” But he points to pitfalls such as hot drinks being listed as “wet sales”, which could lead to a business paying more than it needs to in VAT. With a combination of human expertise, tech-driven data and good old-fashioned diligence, regular stocktakes will help you understand your business and realise its true potential.

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time at the bar

RICHARD MOLLOY Ch-ch-ch-ch changes, Turn and face the strange…

This has been my earworm for a while now. I’m not sure whether the ghost of Bowie mocks me or props me, but he’s with me whatever. He serenades me every time I see someone in a mask taking a photo of their ice cream with a telephone, or a friend greets me by jousting me with their elbow.

[David Bowie voice] “Embrace the new world, Richy,” he says to me, “and stop fucking moaning, man!”

He’s right, of course. There’s no value in pining for those unbeknowing utopian days of 2019. Winter is upon us and with it comes the refunnelling of people back into pubs – a relief for those who operate without beer gardens, terraces or stolen loading bays, a challenge for those of us fortunate enough to be able to serve the beautifully eclectic British public outdoors between the sundried serenity of the best of the summer and the toddler-tantrums of its worst.

For me, winter is where the local pub comes to the fore; slouching with a good drink in front of a log fire in a pub just a short, chilly walk from your home is a pleasure that shouldn’t be undervalued. It’s the season that cements your local trade and when real bonds are formed by an almost imperceptible communal knowledge that the effort taken to trudge for a drink with friends on a filthy January evening far outweighs the dehydration-driven, impromptu pop-ins of a summer afternoon.

Within this period of early darkness, frosty mornings and hard nipples, there are nuggets of madness to keep us sane: Halloween has long been a quandary for publicans – you can either do nothing and have a quiet evening fending off trick-or-treaters with the soda gun, or spend hours decorating your boozer with skulls, cauldrons and cardboard cut-outs of Priti Patel, then spend the night wondering which of the customers in fancy dress is that dickhead you barred last week for pissing up against the quiz machine.

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Within this period of early darkness, frosty mornings and hard nipples, there are nuggets of madness to keep us sane

Richard Molloy is director of four-strong pubco White Rose Taverns and the microbrewery Platform Five

Christmas is also a welcome break for pubs, loosely flanked as it is, by the pious guilt-crusades of Go Sober for October and Dry January – schemes that disproportionately affect small businesses and demonise pubs whilst completely and deliberately bypassing any battle with larger restaurant chains who coax children into their profit traps of obesity and ill-health.

For those few weeks in December a large portion of Great Britain is intermittently smashed. The works Christmas party laughing too loudly at things that aren’t funny in an annual stab at bonhomie, the shoppers glowing with relief after crossing the last item off their list. But for me, Christmas begins properly on Christmas Eve when my nostrils flare at the familiar smell of the local butchers having their festive drink. I smile and inwardly thank them for their toil as I attempt to ignore the raw meat stench and try not to wonder how many turkeys they’ve fisted today.

It will be different of course. Possibly everything has shifted forever, but, conversely, this is the way it has always been. Things change over time, but the magnification of change over the pandemic period will make this winter an interesting one, and possibly a challenging one, but what winters in pubs aren’t? Most of us have been in the game long enough to adapt without even realising or remembering how and when things were different. Generations of publicans have overseen and endured all kinds of oddities and made the grade, but it’s down to us to weather a winter of changes, and it’s our turn to face the strange.

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PLATE OR SLATE? Where the season’s key players stand on the really big questions Santa Claus

Most famous resident of the North Pole, extreme sleigh driver and world ambassador for seasonal cheer Arguably the only place busier than a pub over the festive season is Santa’s workshop. Luckily he was able to spare us a few minutes for our quick-fire question round while his elves got on to his main suppliers about all the delays affecting this year’s present production schedule (don’t worry kids, Santa assured us everything would still be ready in time for Christmas!). Fortunately all the elves have permanent residency at the Pole and reindeer don’t need an HGV licence. Ho ho ho!

Plate or Slate?

I’ve eaten many a mince pie off a roof slate between deliveries over the years, but the last thing I want when I am having a nice meal out with Mrs Claus over the summer is a reminder of all the roof action that awaits me when I’m back at work… so I’d have to say plate.

Roaring fire or sunny pub garden?

partial to a onesie once the hard work is done in December too.

Naughty or nice?

What do you think?! My algorithm is not infallible though, so I do get the elves to double-check the naughty list for me each year – there are a surprising number of politicians on it this year for some reason…

My nether regions are certainly not partial to a roaring fire when I’m climbing down a chimney, I can tell you! But nothing relaxes me like enjoying a cold pint of beer in a lovely sunny pub garden over the quiet months, and me and Mrs Claus are regularly to be found doing just that.

Wear what you like or uniforms for the staff?

Cocktails or cask ale?

Elf or It’s a Wonderful Life?

The elves are all about cocktails at the moment but I must say I am more of a traditionalist when it comes to my beverages, so cask ale every time – with a whisky chaser of course when I’m doing the rounds.

Will Ferrell and Jimmy Stewart have a place on the permanent nice list – and that is a very short list I can tell you! We play both films on loop all season in the canteen and elf lounge. Personally I’d have to go with It’s a Wonderful Life though – has me in tears daily.

Background music or silence is golden?

If I turned Now That’s What I Call Christmas off in the workshop any time between September and December 26th I’d have a riot on my hands!

Dress up or dress down?

Six months of each. I have two wardrobes. One contains 80 identical red suits, boots, belts and matching hats and the other is mainly shorts, t-shirts and loungewear.

I am

Uniforms are really important to us here at the workshop during the season, as they keep us all in the Christmas spirit despite the long hours and hard work – Mrs Claus makes them all by hand over the summer.

Mince pies or Christmas pudding?

Mince pies are what get me through the night at Christmas, so thanks to all the children who leave them out for me with their stockings – don’t think it goes unnoticed.

Rudolph has developed quite the taste for them too. The more brandy the better!

Elves or reindeer?

You can’t possibly expect me to choose!

Both are an essential part of the seasonal supply chain and I couldn’t do it without the whole team behind me. I can’t stand the whole “Elf on The Shelf” thing though, it’s inspired the workshop elves so I never know what chaos I’m turning up to each morning these days.

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POSTCARD from the pub frontline

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he’s painted, as well as running poetry events and helping homeless people get off the streets. The artwork was curated

by Rob’s friend, local graffiti artist Teddy Baden, who worked with around 20 local and international artists. Teddy told Inapub: “I didn’t want to tell artists what to paint or give a theme necessarily, just to paint the walls as usual, because that’s what we do!”

Rob added: “I knew the venue from old as I used to go to parties there, and always thought it would be great if someone could turn itNOVEMBER back into a proper Graffiti art has always / boozer.

DECEMBER 2017 been a feature of our pubs and we put it in the planning applica5 tion that the outside of the pub would remain covered in graffiti.

“Since we opened, none of the windows have been tagged – kids around here know a lot of the artists, so they’re respectful of their work. But it is an evolving piece of art – it’s been constantly changing for 20-odd years, so it can’t stay still.”

Pic: Sludge G / Flickr

Over its 150-year history, The Lord Napier in East London’s Hackney Wick has been renowned for various reasons. When the pub opened in the late 1860s, it was a social hub for the thousands of workmen who toiled in the factories nearby. The Dickensian East End it was woven into was a rough-and-ready place, and this continued through the 20th century, with The Lord Napier regularly cited in the press in connection with assaults and robberies. When the pub closed its doors in 1995 it soon became known as “the graffiti building”, its walls a constantly updated canvas for local street artists, while inside played host to squat parties and illegal raves.

Now, after a 26-year hiatus, the building is a working pub once more. As The Lord Napier and Star, it joins Rob Star’s eight-venue-strong Electric Star Pubs group. In keeping with the modern East London vibe, the offer features local craft beers, DJs spinning everything from old-school R&B to vocal house, and street food from the likes of the KraPOW Thai food collective.

While the reopening returns the venue to its roots, the exterior decor pays homage to its more recent heritage.

The brick facade is covered in graffiti art. Figures depicted include a tracksuited spaniel on the chimney, and a character wielding a pair of scissors, threatening to sever a rope and drop an anvil onto the pavement below. There’s also a tribute to local figure Kevin, who passed away a few years ago. Kevin used to sell the Big Issue in the very spot where

by BEN THRUSH

‘The Graffiti Building’ during the boarded-up years

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