Bucking the trend

23 April, 2008

Welsh publicans have been lamenting the decline of the trade this month as the first anniversary of the smoking ban arrived. But in a village near the English border, one licensee has been watching her business go from strength to strength.

Kimberley McGibbon of the Fox & Grapes, a Punch Taverns pub in Hawarden, has thrown her all into making her business a success – and is reaping the rewards with prizes and boosted revenue. But none of it would be possible without her staff, she says.

They are so hard-working and innovative that they have won this month’s award in The Publican’s Proud of Your People initiative being run throughout 2008 in association with Fairy – plus a £300 cash prize and £50-worth of Fairy products.

So how has Kimberley’s team managed to buck the industry trend?

A key factor is an insatiable drive to come up with new initiatives, she says. Even when her team are out in local town Chester, they are evidently “on the job” as they frequently come back with ideas picked up in other bars or pubs. Weekly staff meetings allow them to put their suggestions forward.

Recent examples include asking people to put business cards in a box for a competition – building up a database of customers – and updating the website with downloadable flyers. The Fox & Grapesalso started offering pre-ordered meals for large groups to cater for the quick-lunch business crowd.

Workaholic Kimberley has grown so confident in her team’s business nous that she has finally managed to loosen her grip on the reins, freeing her up to spend more time on PR and product research.

“When I started out I was new to the pub game. I was in the pub all day long and then on the net after work trying to learn more about the trade and doing the accounts,” she says. “But now I have an excellent manager who does the day-to-day running. And we’ve trained one of our barstaff, Lesley, to be accounts manager.”

Lesley is not the only one to benefit from an in-house emphasis on training. Kimberley is so keen on career progression (she used to work in NVQ management) that at times it sounds like she is running an academy rather than a pub business.

All of her staff – from the cleaners to the managers – receive training. They are offered courses on everything from health and safety to cellar management. Kimberley even hands out special Fox & Grapes certificates.

“The staff love it because they feel they’re working towards something,” she says. “Some of them are only 17 and this sort of thing is good for the CV. They aren’t necessarily going to want to stay working here forever.”

With their futures secure, employees seem happy to muck in with the smaller jobs such as keeping the smoking area “spotless”. They even donned hard hats to help take down walls during a £35,000 refurbishment.

Employees are given encouragement through an incentive scheme – quarterly bonuses to managers and smaller prizes, such as free meals or music vouchers, for other staff. Morale is clearly high. The team’s enthusiasm during last year’s Proud of Pubs Week – when they were interviewed on Sky TV – showed how much fun there is still to be had in the industry.

And the customers are feeling it too. One year after Wales went smoke-free, the Fox & Grapes is doing well.

“We have learned that people don’t come to the pub to have a cigarette,” she says. “They come for the atmosphere, the food and the staff. That’s a testament to our team.”

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