A Brilliant Food Service Company, Not Just A Pub Operator!
Is how Mark Holden FBII, owner of Inn Cornwall and three pubs, is positioning his business going forward.
Holden has opted to pivot his operation even further as pubs begin to reopen, as he seeks to protect his business for the long-term against the worse case scenerio, which could see only 33% of trade return.
“We’ve been powering through lockdown with delivery and takeaway services. We have adapted our offering, everything from delivering frozen pasties to bulk buying takeaway containers for resale,” said Holden.
He explained that his main objective hasn’t been to “make a killing over this time”, but to turn over enough to pay his staff, whom he didn’t furlough, buy stock and put a new business model in place to ensure their future survival and long-term success.
Having created a call centre at his Threemilestone site, he completely overhauled the ICRTouch cloud-based till system, which allowed orders to be placed centrally and sent to any kitchen. The call centre also offers a friendly voice, keeping the all-important human-to-human contact.
Using the RouteMagic delivery system and app, prep and planning for deliveries is made easier, as it helps match orders to the nearest pub.
“Our mission and vision is about providing quality products at great prices that people will love. We have adapted our service and style to be as relevant to home or in the pubs.
“Our team has a commitment to improve all aspects of our business, with the passion to support each other and provide a safe, friendly service to our guests – whether that’s over the phone, serving at the tables in our pubs or delivery to people in their homes.” He continued: “To provide our staff with the hours they need, the future is about adapting. All of our premises were over the £51,000 rate deferment level, so we have been haemorrhaging costs. We have had to combat this. “In my head, this has cost us £100k so it has been important to sustain our trade. It’s a gamble and a high-risk strategy, but I’m hoping we’ll be able to provide new revenue streams,” he said.
Holden added that his biggest week (to early June) operated at just 36% of normal weekly turnover. “Generally we have been operating between 23-25% of normal turnover, which had been £70-75,000 a week across three venues. We’re currently doing £16-17,000 a week but I believe we have the potential to up that to £26,000, perhaps even higher with more deliveries and takeaways.”
With Holden himself forced to isolate, as he suffers from sarcoidosis, colleague Justin Barnett FBII has been on the ground dealing with operations.
Creative Cloud, Dropbox, etc, have become an essential part of the business, he said, adding Vimeo Pro was being used to collate training.
Over the festive period and New Year’s Eve celebrations, you would have experienced the importance of your systems in effectively managing high footfall periods and facilitating day to day operations. Undoubtedly, you would’ve implemented measures that supported your business during this period, and it might be worth considering introducing them into everyday operations as we move into 2025.
From streamlined processes to effortless performance analysis and other useful tools, the ICRTouch ecosystem offers a range of handy tricks worth implementing in the New Year. Here’s what you can do in the new year to raise the bar on customer experience and remain competitive.
As we head towards the end of 2024, the much awaited New Year’s Eve celebrations are drawing closer by the day. Customers are already planning their celebrations, and your venue should be top of their list, which is why it’s important to ensure your operations are seamless.
With the increased footfall, your systems become even more important in effectively managing high numbers of visitors and we’re here to show you how the ICRTouch ecosystem helps you with that.
Robust and reliable systems play an important role in effectively managing the hospitality Christmas rush, which is why you should consider assessing your current setup. With the increased footfall your venue will experience over the festive period, streamlining your operations becomes the ultimate recipe for success, making intuitive, modern EPoS a must have.
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