Platforms for expansion
Think state-of-the-art bar with tropical fish tanks, contemporary food and an early twenties clientele. Put that bar in a railway station, use a large contract caterer and the result is the Reef.
This pub/bar/café is the brainchild of Select Service Partner (SSP), part of the Compass group. Using customer focus groups to provide information about what the travelling public was looking for, SSP began changing the image of its railway station outlets.
Previously, pubs trading under the Coopers brand offered alcohol in a somewhat dark and smoky atmosphere. Now its outlets, trading under the Reef brand, are meeting places rather than just drinking places. Up-to-date décor, coffee in addition to alcohol plus good-quality food were what the focus groups told SSP to provide.
With contracts for 32 licensed premises at the UK's major rail stations, SSP has used the information to transform the Cooperspub at London's Paddington Station into the Reef, which fully embodies the new concept. The second transformation was the updating of Bonapartes in Waterloo Station,London.
"What is happening with Reef and Bonapartes reflects what is happening in the marketplace generally," says Steven McGinnes, SSP brand manager for bars and pubs. "People don't want separate eating and drinking areas anymore."
As a food service operator, Compass felt the time was right to attract a more commercial market. McGinnes makes it clear, however, that the new idea is more than Compass/SSP merely capitalising on its existing eateries and coffee shops in stations: namely Upper Crust and Ritazza.
"This is SSP's way of stepping into the café-bar culture," McGinnes says. "It is our first venture but the move had to be made because there is no longer such a big gap between the alcoholic and non-alcoholicmarkets."
Small though this gap may be, the Reef and Bonapartes are attempts to bridge it. The 200-seat Reef serves 15,000 covers a week. The addition of 100 seats last June boosted covers in the last six months of 1999. This equates to revenue of £37,000 per week - more than doubling the £15,000 Coopers bar used to record.
The more recent transformation, Bonapartes, re-opened in June last year. An investment of £180,000 turned the bar into a Continental-style café-bar that is recording weekly revenue of £25,000, that is rising by about 7% week-on-week.
Although the Reef is much bigger, 5,500sq ft as opposed to the 1,500sq ft Bonapartes, the principles of the changes were the same. Waterloo's 75-seat eaterie was also given bright décor and lighting, a revamped menu with popular beers - Guinness, Kronenbourg, Budweiser - and a comprehensive wine list.
Bonapartes' general manager, Kunle Aderugbo, who heads a team of 23, believes the new-look bar has "carved a niche for itself in the station, whereas the old Bonapartes wasn't really thought of as anything special by customers".
The transformations have also helped capture the all-important female market. As Guy Hernandez, the Reef's general manager, points out: "Coopers was very male and alcohol orientated, it just happened to be a pub in a station. The Reef is female friendly and seen as a place where you can have a cup of coffee - that is an important consideration for women."
Illustrating this are increasing coffee sales, which now makes up £7,400 of the total £37,000 weekly turnover. Alcohol accounts for just under half of that revenue. Earlier opening times at both premises (7.30am), together with closing at 11pm, have aided this coffee revolution, as well as putting the bars indirect competition with rivals such as Costa Coffee.
Revamped menus, freshly prepared food that changes seasonally, are also helping target new customers. The Reef offers a simple but wide-ranging menu with guaranteed cooking times (10 or 15 minutes) depending on the meal.
"We are able to provide the same quality food in five minutes as in 50 as virtually everything is made on the premises, even the sauces," says Hernandez.
Average spend is £3.56, including drink. The menu is split into six sections. Starters range in price from £2.95 to £3.75, with a wide variety of dishes, from chicken satay sticks to deep-fried Camembert with cranberry sauce. Main courses, such as smoked haddock fish cakes and pancakes stuffed with roast vegetables, range from £4.95 to £6.95. Among the sharers section is a trio of dips (taramaslata, hummus and tsatsiki) from £3.99 to £6.85. Side orders are from £1.45 to £2.05, and puddings range from £1.75 to £2.25.
The Bonapartes menu is simpler, with a heavy emphasis on the bar's Continental appeal. Light meals, salads, and filled ciabattas are available alongside moules marinières - mussels in a white wine, onion and parsley sauce, served with baguette and butter (£4.94), roasted vegetables with goats' cheese salad (£4.50) or Gruyère cheese, tomato and chutney filled ciabatta (£4.25). Here food accounts for just over £4,000 of the £25,000 weekly sales. This represents an increase in food revenue of 144% from the old Bonapartes.
The Reef and Bonapartes are only the start of what SSP hopes will be the conversion of other outlets. Already under construction, again at Waterloo, is a 300-seat Reef café-bar, while on the floor below it SSP is working with the American chain Let Us Entertain You, to open an eaterie called Deli Mento.
Other London stations earmarked to get Reef-style establishments are Canon Street, Liverpool Street, and Victoria. Possible sites outside the capital are Glasgow's Central Station and Bristol Temple Meads.
Railway stations could be just the start of SSP's plans. McGinnes says the company is confident enough to put its brands in high streets. He cites Fuller's Fine Line brand and Scottish & Newcastle's Bar 38 concept as its two nearest competitors.
"Yes, I think the Reef is strong enough to make it to the high street, but it would take a while. We're busy concentrating on stations right now," he adds.
Select Service Partner's history
Compass Group UK bought the Traveller's Fare brand in 1992. In 1993 Scandinavian Air Service was bought by Compass. In 1996 Select Service Partner was formed by the amalgamation of Compass Commercial Services, Traveller's Fare and Scandinavian Air Services.
SSP operates more than 700 food and beverage outlets across the UK with sales in excess of £200m. Familiar names include Upper Crusts, Croissant Shops, Quick Snack, Bonapartes, Coopers, Burger King and now The Reef. Of these 32 are fully licensed sites, although some of the Quick Snacks and coffee shops are also permitted to sell alcohol. Properties are leased on a percentage deal from Rail Track and this percentage varies depending on where the unit is located.
FACTS:
Reef
Weekly turnover: £37,000
Average customer spend: £3.56
Weekly covers: 11,000
Bonapartes
Weekly turnover: £25,000
Average customer spend: £4
Weekly covers: 6,500
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 13 - 19 January 2000
