Restoration acts
Scottish & Newcastle has just reopened the 140-seat Egerton Arms at Chelford, Cheshire. It is the ninth Chef & Brewer (C&B) brand pub to receive a refit - this one to the tune of £550,000 - and has seen the 18th-century building totally refurbished to fit within S&N's new concept.
Formerly, the Egerton Arms' takings amounted to a paltry £2,000-£3,000 per week. Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) is hoping to emulate the success of other refitted pubs such as the Greyhound at Milton Malsor, Northampton, where a 15th-century building was revamped at a cost of £500,000 and consequently upped takings from £2,000 per week to today's £23,000.
The 133-seat Greyhound, which re-opened in March 1996, was the first in a proposed string of upgrades by S&N. Construction nearly doubled the pub's size, and interior redecoration included installing real log fires and suitable traditional furniture and fittings. The new dictum for the brand is to return pubs to a traditional old-English style. S&N plans to upgrade a further 70 in the coming financial year.
Each of the revamped C&B pubs is returned to the traditional old English image. The quality of the people employed, the food served, the furniture and fittings - even the music played - have all come under review in an effort to captivate the fickle public and make them want to return to their local Chef & Brewer time after time.
John Rush, manager of the Greyhound, notes that the turnaround there has been considerable. "Not only have the takings gone up, but the wet/dry ratio has changed dramatically. Formerly food accounted for a negligible amount, today the split is 50/50," he says.
Rush was installed at the beginning of the upgrade, and is keen to promote his job to other prospective managers. "Managers are given the autonomy to experiment and evolve new ideas, push the barriers and follow customer demand. The philosophy behind the new C&B is to put the landlord back behind the bar and chefs back in the kitchen. I chat to my customers, keep an eye on food trends, and the chefs cook fresh, home-made meals. That's the way it should be," he says firmly.
These days 2,500 covers are served each week, with an average spend of £8. That tends to be fairly standard throughout all the refurbished pubs, according to Bob Ivell, managing director, restaurants and developments division of Scottish & Newcastle.
Ivell is emphatic about the necessity to choose the right managers with a good mix of skills for the refurbished pubs: "The key is getting quality management. We are very selective. Food knowledge is essential, the emphasis is there. We install our managers at the beginning of the upgrade, so they are part of the process. In the weeks prior to a new opening, a C&B training executive tours competitor pubs in the area together with the new landlord. Together they set criteria for smoking, music and food standards. A service and standards charter is drawn up for the pub, setting guidelines for staff and customer service."
Managers at the Egerton Arms are Lee and Katrina Russell. Both have previous industry experience: Lee managed the Kings Head in Chester, while his wife worked front of house. Before that he was head chef at the Bodington Arms in Wilmslow - proving Ivell's point about the food emphasis.
S&N acquired the Chef & Brewer estate from Grand Metropolitan in 1993, gaining 1,600 pubs throughout the UK.
"As an acquisition it provided some of the best sites in the country. Six hundred well-sited, under-used London pubs were part of the deal," says Ivell.
"We sat on them for a while, took our time and researched the market. Everyone else was going down the theme-dining path, but nobody had tapped into real pubs serving real food.
"We recognise we have an educated public these days. A more sophisticated market out there wanting quality food in pleasant surroundings. This was clearly an untapped area, people who didn't want à la carte, but relaxed, affordable dining in a traditional English pub, one with old beams, log fires, a real ambiance and no themes. What better than a log fire and a nice bottle of Chablis?" he asks.
Ivell is coy about revealing the percentage C&B returns to the group, but admits each of the pubs turns over approximately £20,000 nett per week. That's a huge step up from the £2,000 most were taking a year ago, though each upgrade has cost about £500,000. Retail sales within S&N were up 16% in 1995/96, and investment on refurbishment continues to accelerate, according to its reports, with the average return on capital being 24%. S&N won't reveal individual section results, but operating profits for S&N retail division grew by 8.2% to £87m in the six-month period to 27 October 1996. Group pre-tax profits were £195m from a £1.66b turnover.
Gross profit on food is maintained at 62% over all establishments. Drink commands a similar percentage, although Ivell is once again reluctant to commit himself to a figure. "We're doing a similar level, or better, than Beefeater," he boasts.
Part of the drive in the update is to provide fresh food. Ivell sees the industry as having de-skilled in all directions in recent years. In his view it's possible for a housewife to purchase chicken tikka from Tesco that is a carbon copy of what many pubs sell. C&B pubs cook on site. The chefs prepare and cook the food to recipes tried and tested by S&N's development kitchen.
Food costs are closely scrutinised. Specifications for presentation, quantities and ingredients are controlled closely to keep returns on food high. A central distribution unit is operated. Holroyd Meek supplies all outlets with their requirements, delivering three times a week.
More than 60 items are offered on the blackboard menus, with fish holding sway over all else. The menu carries a wide selection of seafood with such items as a Symphony of Seafood, a mixture of mussels, fresh salmon, sole, cod and haddock in a béarnaise sauce (£9.95); Cajun snapper (£8.95); or stuffed lemon sole Italian (£8.95).
Chefs are encouraged to create new recipes and send them off to be evaluated and costed, then added to the manual each kitchen works from.
"We tend to over-complicate in this industry," Ivell says wryly. "There are a lot of traditional ways of doing things that are still relevant. Also, I think, when it comes to dining, the British tend to be over-themed. I think it's to compensate for our food and drink quality. S&N has gone down the minimalist route with the upgrade: we won't need to refurbish totally again, just replace and update as necessary."
There has not been a massive marketing campaign on the back of the refurbishments. Instead, Ivell prefers to let pubs rely on word of mouth to build their reputations. "Chef & Brewer is not the product, it is an endorsement - the brand behind the quality," he says.
