Comments (0)

By Matt Furnell, 21/02/2011 3:29 pm

As a growing number of consumers latch on to the crusade for better customer service lead by the indomitable Mary ‘Queen of Shops’ Portas, Greene King Pub Partners is helping their licensees by boosting its customer satisfaction training.

From this February Pub Partners’ licensees will be offered new training to gain invaluable skills and advice on how to serve and impress customers. Its all part of Greene King’s new ‘Retail Excellence’ course.

The training scheme has been launched to ensure all Greene King licensees offer the excellent levels of service that customers expect, helping the pubs to improve customer loyalty and profitability.

The training covers eight key areas:                                                                                      

•        Customer service and the profit chain: the commercial impact of great customer service

•        Shaping excellence: helping licensees create an excellent customer experience cycle for their pub

•        Retail service excellence: where retail excellence can go wrong, and what is needed to excel

•        Driving up performance: how to use the customer experience cycle

•        Service and standards: reviewing the customer experience against standards

•        Customer feedback: the importance of gathering feedback and using it effectively

•        Engaging people: getting staff on board to deliver excellence

•        Action: implementing best practice across all Greene King pubs

Simon Longbottom, managing director for Greene King Pub Partners, says service is undeniably essential to customer retention, loyalty and business success.

“Research has shown that a high level of customer satisfaction has a direct correlation with customer spend. And with programmes like Mary Portas: Secret Shopper, attracting an audience of three million people each week, customers are demanding better service levels than ever, and that means in pubs as well as on the high street. Our licensees need to be at the top of their game and we’re helping them to achieve that.

“The programme helps licensees understand the impact of staff training and retention on customer service, and how overall standards and offer can have an ultimate effect on how the customer feels, acts and spends.”

Greene King Pub Partners has already invested extensively in quarterly customer satisfaction surveys for each pub and believes that combining these results with effective customer service training and action plans they will improve profitability for each pub. 

The Retail Excellence training will be available to all Pub Partners licensees across the country from February.  All business development managers in the business have been through the training. 

ENDS

PRESS CONTACT: ELAINE BECKETT, PR & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, GREENE KING PUB PARTNERS, TEL: 07974 132844

Comments (0)

By Matt Furnell,

Local businesswoman Clare Hindle and food consultant husband Graham have great new plans for their first pub business, the Woolpack pub in Fornham St Martin. 

Graham who is a former chef and runs his own food retail consultancy has already created a traditional British menu sourcing supplies from around the area. The couple who are serious foodies say there is a shortage of pubs offering good quality food at affordable prices. Graham said “The Woolpack is a classic country pub with loads of charm and character. We want to offer our customers great British pub food and drink in a relaxed and inviting environment, sourcing everything from as near to the pub as possible.”

His wife and new business partner Clare, who already runs Copeland Interiors in Bury St Edmunds has used some of her creative skills to give the pub an initial redecoration but has bigger ideas creating boutique style bedrooms and transforming the exterior.

The Greene King pub currently has a large restaurant of 50 covers, a bar with pool table, a function room and a large garden for families to enjoy. On top of all of that the couple want to enhance their services to the local community by offering speciality food nights, business lunches and a village shop! Clare says “We have always dreamt of running a pub together and when the Woolpack became available we jumped at the chance! We are fortunate to have an amazing team on board including our manager Layla Waller who has lots of experience and exceptional enthusiasm for delivering a great customer experience. We want to make this a pub this village and the community can be proud of”.

Since taking over, the Woolpack has received shining reviews for the quality of their food, the ambience and warm and inviting service.  Speaking about the couple, business development manager for Greene King, Paul Devine said “Clare and Graham with their team have developed a winning formula.  They have the skills needed to run a successful pub and they’ve created a place for everyone.  With their ongoing plans over the next year this will be a village with a pub that has it all!”

ENDS

Press Contact: Elaine Beckett, PR & Communications Manager, Greene King Pub Partners, Tel: 07974 132844

Comments (0)

By Matt Furnell, 24/01/2011 5:55 pm

For Ben Kay and wife Laura taking on a pub wasn’t just a normal challenge. But with a burning ambition to transform their lives, they decided to move 4,000 miles in 2010 to take on The Wheatsheaf in Duxford, such was their drive to fulfil a lifelong ambition – to become the proud licensees of a proper English pub.

Until March, the couple were living in North Carolina in the United States. Ben was a marketing director tied to his desk at a publishing company he part owned while Laura struggled to find a new role in HR after being made redundant from her previous job. The couple were both quickly losing patience with the corporate world. So after 14 years living the American dream, they decided to ditch their desks and move back to the UK, Ben’s home country. And it was all in the name of pursuing their lifelong ambition of owning a pub in the English countryside.

“I was tired of the rat race and we really wanted to see more of each other by working together” says Ben. “Unfortunately my wife was made redundant following the US economic downturn and had been unemployed for a little while. We knew 2010 was the year we had to take control and change our lives for the better.”

He adds; “We love entertaining, are keen to get into the food industry together and wanted to be closer to our family in the UK. So we started to look for opportunities in the pub industry. When we spotted that The Wheatsheaf was available, owned by Greene King and located in a beautiful Cambridgeshire village, it was simply too good an opportunity to pass up.”

So in June, Ben and Laura became the proud licensees of The Wheatsheaf in Duxford. “In my opinion, 2010 has been the best time to start a new venture.” Ben comments. “If you can make your business successful now, when the good times come rolling back, you’re on to a winner.”

For two people with corporate, office backgrounds, taking on the running and management of a pub posed a completely new direction. But it was a challenge they both relished. And with the support of Greene King’s Go for Growth programme behind them, they were given all the training and advice needed to get up and running, before they even set foot behind the bar.

“There is an awful lot to do when you take on a pub. And the last few months have been crazy, but exciting!” In May, Greene King put them on the Go for Growth programme, a mandatory training course for all licensees wanting to take a pub with them. The programme gives new licensees a complete induction to the pub industry, giving them the best possible start. And Ben and Laura were two such licensees to benefit from it.

“Through Greene King’s Go for Growth, we received training in finance, marketing and staff development among other things. From a newcomer’s perspective, it was a very thorough introduction to the industry.

“We both have business brains, so training in things like profit and loss was a refresher for us. But the hands-on training to equip us with the skills to run a proper pub and serve an excellent pint to our customers was extremely valuable. Between us we had experience of waiting tables and bar work, but running a pub is a whole new way of life. The training helped us make the career change and reinvent ourselves. Our mindset has shifted and thanks to the training we now think like pub owners instead of corporate office workers.”

At the end of a year which has seen them move countries and adopt a completely new lifestyle, Ben and Laura are confident it was the best move they ever made. And trade is going well.

Laura comments: “The Wheatsheaf is the hub of the local community. Our customers come from all walks of life. Business people, football fans, families, people stopping for a quick drink after work, you name it, they use it. It’s a local proper pub, and that’s the way we intend to keep it.

“It was through Greene King’s training that we received reassurance and confidence that there is always going to be business for our pub. It’s the same as any other business. If you give it your best effort, and provide excellent service, you will always do well. Put in the hard work and you will get out what you put in.”

The couple are now happily living their dream. “For me personally, the best part of my new career has been learning how to manage my cellar and serve a great pint” says Ben. “That is, after all, what a pub is all about. And the training must have sunk in as we always get lots of compliments about our beer.

“And without doubt, the most rewarding part of our new life is seeing a pub packed full of people having a great time. The first few months have been hard work. There is no denying that. But it has already started to pay dividends. Every day we’re pleased we took the pub on in 2010, changing our lives for the better.”

Comments (0)

By Matt Furnell, 11/06/2010 7:59 am

Greene King today announces an agreement to acquire four pub restaurants from Punch Taverns PLC for a total consideration of £5.3m. The consideration will be financed from the funds raised by the Company’s rights issue and is expected to complete on 8 July 2010.

These pub restaurants are highly attractive, food-led, destination sites in Aberdeen, Northampton and Nottingham and meet the strict strategic and financial criteria set out at the time of the rights issue. In the year to August 2009, these sites generated EBITDA of £342,000. We expect, following targeted capital investment and operational synergies from integration into Greene King, that these sites will return to more normalised, historic trading levels, equating to c. 7x EBITDA. Following this acquisition, from both targeted packages and single sites, we will have invested £100m of the rights issue proceeds in acquiring and improving 34 high quality, freehold, retail sites and repurchasing below par debt.

Rooney Anand, Chief Executive of Greene King, commented: “We are very pleased to have acquired these sites. They are freehold retail sites in great locations currently trading below their potential. We expect to convert the sites into our market-leading pub restaurant brands, Hungry Horse and Eating Inn, further strengthening our position in the UK eating out market”.  
For further information:
Greene King plc Rooney Anand, Chief Executive
Ian Bull, Group Finance Director Tel: 01284 763222
  
Financial Dynamics Ben Foster
 Tel: 0207 831 3113

Comments (1)

By Matt Furnell, 15/04/2010 4:51 pm

Greene King Pub Partners commissioned Oxford Brookes University to carry out research into their Go for Growth mandatory induction programme for new licensees.  The training course is compulsory before licensees get the keys to their pub and results show it’s an enormous success.

96% plan for the growth of their business rather than just working in it
96% review customer care as part of their ongoing strategy
96% developed and managed their staff more effectively

Speaking about the results, director of recruitment and training, Caroline Hollings said, “We developed this course for all new licensees on the back of our BII NITA Supreme Award training course, Go for Growth.  Many in the industry didn’t believe it when we said all our licensees irrelevant of their experience had to attend the course before they got the keys to one of our valuable assets.  Even some licensees were shocked but all of them get so much from the training when they attend and we know that they’re fully prepared for taking on such an important business and making a profit.  These results show that this training is right, relevant and un-mistakenly an asset to all licensees going into a Greene King pub”.

Prasong Suppadungchon, licensee of the Old Tom in Oxford took over his pub from a restaurant background, since attending the course he has increased gross profits by 50% and reduced operating profits by 10%, he says, “The course totally boosted my confidence, it focused my attention – I was so busy running the business and making it a nice place for my customers I completely forgot about profit”.

After attending the second day six months later he added, “I would definitely recommend this course to others, it makes you focus on what’s important to the business and spend time planning the way forward”.

Another attendee is Vernon Blackmore of the Anchor pub in Woodbridge.  Vernon was a chef but had never run a pub before.  Since taking on the Anchor and attending Go for Growth Induction he has seen turnover trebling, saved £2k on bank charges and improved wage percentage by 5%.  He said of the course, “It showed me a lot we were doing was right, but it also exposed some things we weren’t so good at.  It made me more confident about the business and gave me clarity of vision on how I want to take things forward”.

Adam Rainford licensee of the Welcome Inn, Eastleigh adds, “The course made me look at the bigger picture – I used to spend one hour after service thinking about the business which wasn’t quality time as I felt burnt out.  I now spend two uninterrupted hours a day”.

Other licensees have also achieved real financial success following the course with Dee and Tommy Takacs from the White Hart in Fulbourn seeing turnover double in nine months and Nigel and Gail Woodley of the Golden Ball in Littlemore having turnover increase by £3,500 per week and nearly £4,500 on costs saved in a year.

Concluding Hollings says, “It’s vital in this industry that you retain the good quality licensees you have and you can only achieve that by giving them the best start.  With Go for Growth we know that everyone will have the right level of skills to operate what is a very cash driven business but also the best platform to build it in the long term.  It’s our duty to do that but also absolute business sense”.

Ends

Press Contact: Elaine Beckett, Public Relations Manager, Greene King Pub Partners, Tel: 07974 132844

Comments (0)

By Matt Furnell, 28/01/2010 3:49 pm

Greene King Pub Partners has launched a new consumer attracting campaign “SWAGs” with the help of their female licensees to encourage more pubs to attract the Sassy, Wise and Grown Up, 35+ female market.  A group with cash to spend and according to research conducted by retailers, John Lewis, a passion for “me time”. 

Speaking about the initiative, director of recruitment and training for Pub Partners, Caroline Hollings said, “We’re trying to get pubs to really get behind offering the right things for these women.  Pubs often fail to accommodate women eating and drinking alone or out with other female friends. Typically pubs generally target mainly men, under 25’s and families and we need to redress the balance”.

Pub Partners asked fifty of their female licensees, at a recent Public Housewives away day, to assess what they offer at their pubs for the SWAG market and then got them to consider how they could attract these women away from the usual places they visit.  They were given advice on how to communicate with this key target audience with practical social media tips to help them achieve this.

Adding, Hollings said, “Our ladies really went to town, after all they should know what women want.  They’ll be introducing much larger wine glasses, glossy magazines, more flowers and toiletries alongside different menu options, drink and quality coffee offers and the facebook fan pages have really taken off.  It’s not rocket science but pubs really need to look at themselves with fresh eyes and see where they can tap into this very lucrative market”.

Greene King Pub Partners is communicating on a monthly basis to its “Public Housewives” in the leased and tenanted estate to help increase SWAGs in their pubs highlighting the ideas and best initiatives by the pubs involved in the campaign.

Trish McManus, licensee of the Hare Arms in Stow Bardolph set up a fan page for the pub on facebook and gained over 100 fans in the first week.  “I hadn’t realised how easy social networking was and it’s revolutionised the way I now market my pub and the events we hold, 61% of my fans are women so this really is the way to talk to them”.

Initial research of 1,000 women aged 35 to 45 conducted by High Street retailers John Lewis, identified the SWAG group as those most likely to spend time with their children and enjoy “me time” ahead of time with their partner.  The research found the group have experienced life and spend more on quality leisure time than that of other age groups.

ENDS

Press Contact: Elaine Beckett, Public Relations manager, Greene King Pub  Partners, Tel: 07974 132844

Comments (0)

By Matt Furnell, 08/10/2009 1:40 pm

The Junction in Southampton has been chosen as an exclusive member of the new Head Brewer’s Club, a collection of Greene King’s hero cask ale pubs.

Following a rigorous selection process, the Junction was picked by the Bury St Edmunds brewers as worthy of the accolade for its dedication to great cask beer.

Greene King head brewer John Bexon says: “Cask beer is a fresh, natural product, produced with wholesome ingredients. You can’t buy it in the supermarket, it is available only in the pub because it’s fresh. The landlord or landlady finishes off the brewing process in the pub cellar and it is their efforts that determine the quality of beer served to the customer. When served in great condition, cask ale is the best drink in the world and I want to pay tribute to these licensees who do it really well. 

“Membership of the Head Brewer’s Club means the guarantee of a great pint and top notch service. The Head Brewer’s plaque of honour will indicate the high standards you can expect.   Hearty congratulations to Martin and Dawn of the Junction on their achievement.”

Martin Gentry, licensee of the Junction says: “We’re very proud to be chosen to join the Head Brewer’s Club.  We know our customers love our ale and are very proud that the brewers have also given us their seal of approval.

“There is a real enthusiasm for cask beer, so now is the time to try it if you aren’t already an avid fan”. 

Members of the Head Brewer’s Club include an assortment of tenanted and leased pubs from historic country inns to thriving community locals.  For more details about the ‘Head Brewer’s Club,’ an insight into a day in the life of a head brewer and details of other member pubs in the area, please visit www.headbrewersclub.co.uk

Comments (0)

By Matt Furnell, 02/10/2009 2:54 pm

Greene King Pub Partners has enhanced its induction programme further to lay down secure roots with Cellar Management becoming a mandatory subsidised course alongside Greene King’s Go for Growth programme for new licensees before they go into a pub.

Speaking about the compulsory training introduced for all new licensees, director of recruitment and training, Caroline Hollings said, “You wouldn’t let a chef in your kitchen if he couldn’t crack an egg and the same applies for running a pub.  Suggesting that a licensee can enter a pub without understanding the importance of cellar management, beer quality and dispense is tantamount to disaster in this trade.  Part of a pub’s appeal is serving a good quality pint so training is vital and we decided to make it mandatory for all new licensees who are already attending the Go for Growth programme”.

The training is subsidised by Greene King and provided by their cellar trainers within Brewing Company.  The licensees receive a full days training in all aspects of operating a cellar and serving a perfect pint. Mandatory training has already been successfully implemented with Pub Partners Go for Growth, Planning for Success induction programme which focuses on preparing new licensees to take on their pub effectively and help it grow.

Adding, Hollings said, “We’ve seen an improvement in retention of new licensees as a consequence of our Go for Growth training with our retention currently tracking at 89% for licensees in their first year.   Making the cellar training essential too will help licensees make more of their business at the very beginning. This early training along with our Specialist trainers and final interview by an operations director ensures we have the right people in the pubs but most importantly the right start to make their businesses a success”.

Comments (1)

By Elaine Beckett, 24/09/2009 4:33 pm

Renowned multiple licensee Ted Docherty has got another “pizza the action” by taking on his third pub with Greene King Pub Partners under his tailor made concept.

Ted already runs four successful food pubs, two with Greene King and is now launching the Kings Arms in Litton near Bath under the tailor made pizzas and tailor made fish banners.

Speaking about his new venture Ted says, “Our concept works because people have their favourite foods and what tailor made invites them to do is build their own dish just the way they like it, so you choose a pizza base and the rest is up to you. If you want plain cheese and tomato or sausage, squid and pineapple you can have it. The same goes for the fish dishes, choose the fillet, the size and weight, how you want it cooking and away you go. Our fresh counters display the food customers can choose to eat – they make the decisions not a faceless chef”

Ted first brought his tailor made steak and burger concept to the area at the Warwick Arms in Clutton only last year following his success at the Greene King pub, the Percy Arms in Guildford.

Adding he said, “It’s all about satisfying the customer and not keeping to a rigid menu. Customers are being far more adventurous these days and so tailor made enables them to create something different or just enjoy one of their old favourites. The result is, everyone’s happy”.

Operations director for Greene King, Steve Worrall said, “It’s brilliant to be able to work with Ted on another pub. His passion for food and customers makes every venue he opens worth a visit and we’re extremely happy that his new site is from our quality pub estate”.

The Kings Arms opens on Monday 8th June and there’s 50% off every meal for the whole of June.

Ends

Press Contact: Elaine Beckett, Public Relations Manager, Greene King Pub Partners, Tel: 07974 132844

Pub Contact: Ted Docherty, Tel: 07748 305052, http://www.tmsteaks.co.uk/