Feature 185 Watling St.
Winchester “always comes up with a good wine list, is always consistent on price, and is hugely supportive in terms of staff training and in supporting our Pub Club events.” Coath adds: “He’s a wine aficionado who really loves what we do and is proud to be working with us as we expand. “We encompass local ales wherever possible and our price for a pint is less than £4. We’re tied for beer at several sites so cocktails are an opportunity to make a good margin, and we have a good relationship with Diageo. Overall, our drinks sales are a good mix. Soft drinks are important because we have a lot of drive-to destination sites and coffee is a key part of allday trading. Bedford likes a lot of prosecco and wine, while Northamptonshire loves spirits and cocktails. We expand different elements of the drinks mix according to local taste.” With seven bedrooms at Mill Street and nine at The Knife & Cleaver, accommodation is seen as a third string to the Epic bow and is a priority as the business looks for more sites. “I’d like a 20-bedroom hotel if we could find one, and that part of our experience is part of our appeal to groups with big sites that need a lot of investment and a skilled operator to run them,” says Coath.
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Cocktails at The Anchor
Epic’s split in favour of food across the business
The Anchor
The rooms are hotel standard, appealing to business and tourists alike. Coath says: “We’re in tourist areas like Woburn and Rutland and we’ve been doing breakfast and dinner packages in the pubs with rooms. We expect there to be more staycations this year because of Brexit, and we’re gearing up for that.” The post-Brexit economy brings challenges as well as opportunities and, in common with other operators, Epic is planning for rising food and drink costs. “Our prices have to be reasonable; there’s a broad spectrum of customers in villages and market towns and, at the moment, unlike some of our competitors, we get no price resistance,” Coath adds. “There’s going to be significant food inflation, we’ve already seen it with wine, but we’re not passing all of it on to the consumer. Wherever possible we’re keeping our prices reasonable.” The all-day food offer, including breakfast and afternoon menus built around sharing and sandwich dishes as well as lunch and dinner, helps to maximise trade. Working with the group’s suppliers, Austin has identified a number of fish and meat cuts that can be employed across the menus, delivering the required gross profit while still offering chefs the freedom to develop their own dishes. Austin says: “It means every pub can have a cod dish or a pork ribeye, for example, but we’re not creating a dish for them. We’ve negotiated a good price and they’ll make the gross profit, but they still get freedom with the dish.” Austin acknowledges allowing chefs to exercise their creativity while maintaining margins across the business is a juggling act, but he emphasises it is at the heart of what
makes Epic stand out. He says: “We’re making our bread, our dressings, our ice cream and sorbets all fresh. That’s our difference, and we’re enticing good chefs.” Coath adds: “We have chefs that have come to us from fine dining. Mark has given them the level of freedom they want and we keep them engaged with regular menu changes. We have to educate our guests to an extent to ensure they appreciate the produce, taste and quality in our menus and understand the value they get.” Alongside maximising day-by-day trading, special events are also key to the Epic model. In summer 2016, a DJ set by BBC Radio One’s Jo Whiley attracted 500 guests to 185 Watling Street. “We’re going to do some more exciting things this summer, using our outside spaces,” says Coath. “It has to be far more than a beer garden and standard barbecue food. People love to have a party so it will be a grown-up offer on Friday nights, Saturday is all about the family, and Sunday will be more relaxed, with chill and jazz. We want to give our guests a reason to stay in the area by trying to bring a little bit of London into our pubs in terms of pop-ups and the latest drink trends.” The customer programme also includes Pub Club evenings, held six times a year at each site. These are run in partnership with suppliers and include events such as sit-down game feasts, butchery classes and wine tastings.
Mystery visitor With a focus on maintaining standards, Epic is also launching its own mystery visitor programme, Epic Eaters. Coath says: “Reviews on social media have become very powerful so, along with some of our regular customers, we’ve recruited people who have left comments for us on TripAdvisor. We have ten for each pub who we’ll invite in for a dining experience through ▲
www.propelinfonews.com ¡ SPRING 2017 ¡ PROPEL QUARTERLY
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