New Year bonus
The first Christmas at the new-look Hogarth's was a success, but business in January is turning out to be the most surprising present. Andrew Davies reports.
Christmas at Hogarth's 30-seat restaurant in Bournemouth was celebrated with the jingling bells of the till. Between 10 and 25 December, chef-owner Ian Mclelland did as much trade as during the whole of October and November put together.
While this isn't unusual for a restaurant at Christmas, Mclelland was still breathing a sigh of relief. This is the first Christmas in his first restaurant, and knowing that it's a guaranteed money-maker is reassuring.
It wasn't looking that way during the previous month, though. "The last week in November was dead," Mclelland says. "It meant I turned over £10,000 for the month when I was expecting £11,000. Then the first week of December was the same, really quiet. I'm going to remedy that next year. It was difficult because I didn't open until the end of October so I didn't get a chance to do much advertising before Christmas."
Despite the slow start, Hogarth's still turned over £12,000 during December. Most of the big Christmas parties were from the local businesses where Mclelland did manage to target publicity. He did a special menu at £19.95 per person, less than his usual set menu price of £21.50.
But did anybody get out of hand while fuelled with Christmas spirits? "Funnily enough, the wildest party we had was my future father-in-law and his golf club," Mclelland laughs. "They were crazy and drank more than anybody else."
New Year's Eve was slightly more subdued. In fact, Hogarth's stayed shut and Mclelland was left at home holding the baby while his girlfriend worked.
"We'll definitely open next year though, because that's the big money-making night," he says. "If we'd done that this year then we would've made £14,000 during December rather than the £12,000 we did do."
The good Christmas was a relief for Mclelland who, like most restaurateurs, was anticipating a slow January. It's never that simple, though, is it?
"This restaurant is unbelievably unusual," he says, shaking his head. "We were closed until 3 January and then suddenly the phone wouldn't stop ringing and we've had bookings for every night since. If it keeps up like this for the whole of January it'll be a better month than November. I thought we'd do £6,000 or £7,000 for the month, but at this rate we'll do £10,000. I've never worked anywhere that's busy at this time of year."
The new year has also brought a few subtle changes to Hogarth's menu. "I'm trying out some more expensive dishes," he explains. "I've put on foie gras and some scallops and we'll see how it goes. It'll be a £5 supplement on the set price. I've been offering local brown crab for a £2 supplement and that sold well, so we'll have to see what happens."
But with the restaurant so busy, finding the time to fit in all the hundred other small jobs that still need doing could be a problem. Mclelland isn't complaining, though. "We've even got a few Christmas parties booked for January," he shrugs.
The story so far
Canadian chef Ian Mclelland, 28, is realising his dream of owning and running his own restaurant, the 30-seat Hogarth's, in the Ferndown area of Bournemouth. Under the same ownership for the previous 12 years, the restaurant had built up a solid base of regular customers, and Mclelland was keen to take it over as a going concern. With the first successful Christmas out of the way he's looking forward to the New Year.
Hogarth's
173A New Road, West Parley, Bournemouth, Dorset
Tel: 01202 574769
Owner/chef: Ian Mclelland
Opened: 22 October 2001
Purchase price: £42,000
Number of seats: 30
Investment: £35,000 from NatWest, £35,000 own money
Turnover November 2001: £10,000
Turnover December 2001: £12,000
Previous owner's figures - annual turnover 2000: £122,000; annual profit 2000: £21,000
