Arms pushes ahead
Things started going wrong last October. It was then that disagreements between the Earl of Bradford, owner of the Countess's Arms pub in Weston Heath, Shropshire, and head chef Mark Hands started to come to a head. "We had differing ideas about pricing and quality," says Bradford. "We decided to part company."
Bradford felt that the dishes on the menu were becoming too expensive, moving the venue away from its original aim of presenting itself as a pub with food rather than as a restaurant.
The problem was compounded, he adds, by the failure to make a clean break. "When somebody is going to go, it's much better if they just go," he says. Hands did not leave until early November, and relations by then were strained. Then, two weeks before Christmas, things went from bad to worse, when two more members of the kitchen brigade walked out.
At that time of year, in rural Shropshire, it was impossible to find replacement staff. General manager Alison Frizzell and assistant manager Craig Egdell were forced to step into the breach and take over the kitchen. "They performed superhuman efforts," says Bradford. "And they did it well."
But the turmoil inevitably led to a drop in consistency and a subsequent loss of trade. In true British style, most customers did not complain, but simply voted with their feet. Over a six-month period, net takings were down by about 25%, from the previous level of £60,000-£65,000 a month. Bradford admits that the business lost "a small amount of money, not allowing for depreciation or bank interest" during the period. Importantly, though, its overdraft did not increase.
Since March, however, things have begun to turn around. Bradford has recruited a new head chef, Richard Harvey, previously with the Punchbowl Inn in nearby Bridgnorth. He joined at the end of February, but it has taken him three months to assemble a new brigade. Director Neil Wornham feels that the atmosphere in the kitchen is now much better. "It's professional, but it's fun," he says. "The guys are having a good time." The menu has also been overhauled, with a separate, full bar menu now on offer. Dishes here range from soup (£2.95) through filled baguettes (£3.95-£4.25) to Mexican chilli (£6.50).
The full menu, with waitress service, is now available only in the extension and gallery areas of the pub. Dishes include a starter of goats' cheese and walnut in a filo parcel (£3.95), fillet of sea bream with lemon and lime sauce tartare (£6.25), and beef Stroganoff (£7.95). The most expensive item is now an 8oz sirloin steak at £9.50. Flexibility has been added by the simple step of putting the menus into slide-in holders, rather than laminating them, a costly process that discouraged frequent changes and led to a heavy reliance on the daily specials board to add variety.
The interior of the Countess's Arms has seen a few changes, too. Banquette seating is gradually being introduced to the bar area, the rest of the wooden bar furniture has been upholstered, and a fireplace has been installed. The effect is to make the place cosier, more like a pub, and less like a London bar. Marketing has been stepped up, with a new monthly newsletter promoting live music on Sunday nights and "food from around the world" on Mondays. This recently gave the pub its best-ever Monday evening, with takings doubled at just under £2,000.
Despite the appalling summer weather (which has seen the outside bar and barbecue open only once this year), weekly sales are now running at about £12,000, net of VAT. Management believe they are on course to return to £60,000 or more per month.
Bradford concludes: "The trouble with any business is, if you don't get the quality right, people are going to be reluctant to come back. But we're winning them back again now. In the past few weeks, we've started seeing faces we haven't seen for some time."
