Profiting from 2012 Business Tracker – the Nothe Tavern, Weymouth
Over the coming weeks we'll introduce the three operators that we'll be following as part of our Profiting from 2012 Business Tracker programme. First we look at the Nothe Tavern in Weymouth, where James and Caroline Parsons are getting in shape for the sailing. James Stagg reports
Located on a spit of land at the entrance to Weymouth Harbour, the Nothe Tavern will be at the centre of the action for next year's Olympic sailing events.
With only one road dissecting the Nothe (a Saxon word for protrusion), the pub is set to become a staging post for sailing fans visiting both the hospitality and public viewing areas.
James and Caroline Parsons have been running the Nothe Tavern for four years, overseeing a steady rise in trade. But nothing will compare to the the spike in business driven by the Olympic and Paralympic sailing competitions.
"The ticketed area holds 4,500 people a day," explains James. "It's just down the road - 100m away. All spectators will be walking past our business. In addition, over the road there is a beach where all those who aren't paying will watch from. I dread to think how many people will be in the area."
But that dread is tinged with excitement at the opportunity to capitalise both during and after the games. After four years of building the business up the couple now have the chance to really put it on the map.
Through a service-led approach organised by Caroline and great quality local produce cooked by James, they have managed to gain the trust of the local community.
"When we came in we realised this is very much a word-of-mouth-type town," James adds. "People don't like change too much, so we kept the menu the same for a year while people got to know us. Then we started changing things, and it's totally different now. Looking back on trading figures for June compared to the June when we were first here, trade has doubled."
Despite taking the Nothe Tavern on just as the recession was about to hit, James and Caroline haven't been negatively affected by the econimic climate.
Caroline explains: "When the height of the recession was hitting the country we had a phenomenal year. It was amazing, because people didn't go abroad that year so we were a holiday destination as well as having our locals all summer. People took advantage of visiting relatives round here and holidaying for free."
However, it hasn't all been plain sailing in the lead-up to the Olympics. With great numbers of people come infrastructure problems - which have been dealt with by rapid construction of new roads and traffic systems. "There's a £93m new road and massive upheaval with traffic lights," James says. "We've had 30 years-worth of road works in 18 months. So last year we took a 10% drop because people found it difficult to get here. We'd had such a good year previously we had taken extra staff on, but then had to lose some."
Many of the pub's customers are over 50, attracted by the two-for-one weekday lunch deal aimed at them, and they were put off when faced with the prospect of an ever-changing road system. But now the works are finished the business is back on track, with James projecting a record-breaking year.
It's now a case of capitalising on the opportunity presented. Landlord Marston's has taken a greater interest in the business, which could mean structural improvements in the coming year.
"Marston's didn't have any idea that this was on their doorstep," James says. "They now recognise the value of the Olympics to the business. It had been emergency repairs only for tenants, but now we're being asked whether we've all the equipment we need or whether we'd like a bigger kitchen."
It would be welcome investment, since the kitchen plays such a major part in the pub's success. "I do a lot of cooking," says James. "There's only two of us - me and another chef - and we've got three kitchen assistants. We have a traditional pub-type menu but we make everything ourselves. There's also a specials board and that tends to be locally caught fish. We're flexible, we'll just do new things."
Barbecue on the patio
For the duration of the games James hopes to be able to sell food for people to take away into the ticketed area, as well as offering the usual lunches and introducing a barbecue on the patio to take some of the strain off the kitchen.
But the crowds will also mean complications. "We're just a small pub, and we'll suddenly have to figure out how to manage large crowds," Caroline adds. "We will need security and will have to work out the times of the day when deliveries can take place."
Though the Nothe Tavern will have what amounts to a captive audience for two weeks, James and Caroline are all too aware that it is just a fortnight - albeit a potentially profitable one - and they must still look after the locals who provide their regular clientele.
Caroline explains: "Its important to do it in a way that we capitalise on it, but we also need to plan to take care of our local trade. We need to somehow cushion the impact on them and make sure they're looked after and are still getting the same service."
With the car park over the road being comandeered for local residents, the risk is that regulars will go elsewhere and not return. But Caroline already has some ideas to tempt them back.
"We'll be talking to them before, letting them know, and inviting them back," she says. "We might have a big diners club afterwards to invite them back. It's certainly going to be an interesting period."
James and Caroline Parsons are being mentored by Johnny Johnston, an ex-multiple operator and chairman of the BII Benchmarking & Accreditation Services steering committee.
He says the Nothe Tavern is in a fantastic position to profit from the Olympic sailing events. "We've spoken about a number of things and I think we'll need to look at varying the menus if James and Caroline are going to tap into the market that will be there," Johnston says. "Many people will want fast food early on and will probably want breakfast as they go in, depending on the timing of the event."
He is also planning to arrange for James to spend some time at a pub near a busy function venue to get an idea of the challenges crowds present.
An experienced publican, Johnston is a senior member of BII and one of 35 award-winning licensees and consultants offering their services as part of the BII Mentoring Scheme.
â- For more details on the BII visit www.bii.org.
Caterer Olympics Market Barometer - Operators intent on improvements
According to this month's Caterer Olympics Market Barometer, sponsored by ACT Clean, the majority of operators already have plans in place to make improvements before the Olympic Games.
Of the 300 operators quizzed, some 41% said they had already identified the areas that needed improvement, while a quarter said they intended to do so in the coming months.
Meanwhile, just over half of the respondents recognised the benefits of business mentoring. More than a third said they made use of a mentor for advice, and 23% said they would like to.
Many emphasised the different perspective a mentor brings. One said: "It's useful to have a fresh pair of eyes, open-minded and not emotionally attached to the business. Another commented: "They can have the ‘helicopter' view and be someone who you can bounce around ideas with who isn't inhibited by the day-to-day operational challenges."
Have you identified the areas in which your business needs to improve to make the most of the Olympics?
41% Yes
25% Not yet, but will do so
7% Will not do so
27% Our business will not be affected by the Olympics
Do you ever make use of a mentor or other business person for hospitality industry support and advice?
34% Yes
23% No, I would like to do so
43% No, I am not interested
Capitalising on outside catering
As well as capitalising on food at the pub, James and Caroline Parsons have seen an opportunity to expand their offer to outside catering.
"One of the top-tier sponsors of the games recently hired a luxury yacht and we did the catering for it," James explains. "We're currently trying to set up our outside catering so if anyone wants corporate events during the games we can cater for that too."
So, in addition to running the Nothe Tavern, James has now launched Halyards Hospitality, which will offer customer service training as well as catering packages.
James says: "It's all born out of the games. If the Olympics weren't coming we probably wouldn't have done it."
It's been billed as the biggest show on earth. Many people have described it as the greatest sporting event we will see in our lifetime. For sure, it's a spectacle, with a reported one billion people watching the opening ceremony alone in 2008 - that's 15% of the world's global television audience. You can prepare as much as you want and undertake as many dress rehearsals as you like, but the simple fact is that there is one chance only to make each event the phenomenal success that everyone expects.
With just under a year to go London's, and indeed the whole of the UK's, hotels and restaurants are preparing for the biggest event in the world.
At ACT Clean, we've been helping London's top hotels and restaurants to prepare their "stage" for over five years, with overnight cleaning, kitchen porters and housekeeping. We've always worked in partnership with our clients to understand not only the job that needs to be done but how and when best to do it.
The goalposts will be moving a little for us all next summer. And we're not totally sure by how much or when at this stage, making it all the more important to plan for as many eventualities as possible and to keep listening to advice and develop plans accordingly.
At ACT Clean, we're expecting access to be a big issue for us. Employing over 1,000 people cleaning on a daily basis many of the hotels and restaurants that will be most busy, we don't have the option to work from home, as has been suggested in some quarters - nor can we be late due to road closures or changes in public transport arrangements - we've only got a limited time to make them sparkle. If we can't move our people and machinery around in an efficient way, then we can't deliver the job expected. And if somewhere is not clean, that impacts directly on the guest's experience and the reputation of the hotel, restaurant or venue.
So we will be working more closely than ever with our clients to make sure that this never happens. We'll be closely monitoring the advice of local government, the 2012 committee and industry leaders and our client's own understanding of the issues that will affect us, so we can plan accordingly and test-drive our contingency - after all, Usain Bolt didn't run the 100m just once!
We're looking at how we can maximise our resources, experience and our people to provide the same high levels of service that our clients are used to. If we can help them to profit further from our partnership by adding more value to the guest experience, then we will profit further too. We're taking a much longer view on how we can be part of great guest experiences to help create a legacy for hospitality that extends far beyond the reach of the games.
Because we are so passionately committed to the hospitality industry at ACT Clean, we felt it was important to support the Profiting from 2012 and Best for Business campaigns so we can all benefit from each other's experience and help create the greatest show on earth.
E-mail your comments to James Stagg here.
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