During the last decade, UK consumers have become a nation of casual diners and drinkers, but with fierce competition from café’s, chain restaurants and upmarket gastro-pubs vying for the spotlight, the everyday pub business must work harder than it ever has, to claim its share of customers so that they keep coming back for more.
But what makes a perfect pub? Here, Helen Lees, Managing Director of FindMyPub.com, gives her view on what today’s perfect pub looks like:
“The perfect pub means different things to different people and different things on different occasions. What all successful pubs do have in common is an operator who has a deep, thorough understanding of their market. Knowing your customers, their expectations, their likes, dislikes and being able to build your business model around these aspects is fundamental to a pub’s success.
However, knowing your market is not enough on its own. You need to play to it. Choosing great products, perfectly kept and served, that your customers love -whether they are old favourites or exciting new lines - will ensure return custom, the holy grail of the trade!
In turn, great products need high standards. A delicious pint of your latest locally brewed ale served in a lipstick-smeared glass on a messy bar will never be good enough no matter how great your product range is. The high standards you establish will set you apart from the crowd. Great service never goes un-noticed the success of TripAdvisor is testament to this.
To ensure these standards stay high you need to have a strong process for staff training. You will need to induct them into your way of working, your philosophy and vision for the site. They need be the living embodiment of what you want your pub to be and this does not happen by magic. Time spent training your staff, sharing your vision will pay you back ten-fold, and ensure that your customers look forward to coming back to your pub.
As a business, you will always have one eye on growth. Developing multiple income streams will ensure that you are diverse enough to ride out the inevitable storms that happen in the trade. Destination sites with letting rooms, local real ale sites with live music festivals, great food offers and family events at community sites are all easy ways to grow trade. But don’t be limited look at your market, your customers, talk to them about what they would like to see happening. They will then be invested personally in your pub and become your regulars.
So, in essence, there is no one secret formula to the perfect pub. But by knowing your market, combining great quality products with great service and being brave enough to develop multiple income streams you will have your perfect pub.”
FindMyPub.com™ offers an end-to-end recruitment service to help private pub owners find their perfect landlord. With over 1000 web visitors a day and over 12,000+ actively looking potential publicans nationwide, we will handle all your vacancy enquiries, screen each one individually and ensure only the best candidates get to you. It’s simple to arrange and there is nothing to pay till we find you your perfect business partner, it’s that easy.
Published in the BII INNfocus e-newsletter, 12th June 2017
