SHOULDER OF MUTTON VILLAGE SHOP
KIRKBY OVERBLOW, NR HARROGATE, NORTH YORKSHIRE, DL11 7JH
APPLICANT AND BACKGROUND
David and Kate Deacon are the licensees at The Shoulder of Mutton in Kirkby Overblow, roughly halfway between Harrogate and Wetherby, and having established themselves in the village over the last four and a half years, along with their young family, they decided to open up a small retail establishment in the village alongside the pub.
PROJECT SUMMARY
It has been quite an undertaking for David and Kate, but also one that they had planned on right from the beginning, as Kate explains. "We had the idea before we came here, but because of the realities of running a pub, especially being new to it, you soon find that a year has gone by. “In our case it was two years before we were able to look at the shop idea again."
The intention is that the shop will serve as a village convenience store for everything from cereals, cakes, jams and butter to fish and meat, even supplying pet foods too. It is envisaged that as the shop’s reputation grows it will become easier to source and attract this type of produce into the shop. David and Kate have an existing supplier base and ultimately the shop will also become a destination as well as a convenience.
There is a substantial benefit in providing local produce for sale, both in terms of ease of availability for the shop and to distinguish it from other shops in the area e.g. farm shops. It is ideally suited totake advantage of locally produced goods from the surrounding areas. "We already have quality suppliers to the pub, whose produce we intend to sell through the shop as well. We are providing a meat and fish service, but we won't have either on display. We will have a blackboard showing what people can order, from rib-eye steaks and sirloins to all types of fish. We
will then make sure we fulfil the orders in 24 hours."
OUTCOMES
David and Kate have a belief that success is more down to good management and maintaining quality.
"Because the shop is on the pub site, and we're already being charged rent for the area we have, the shop will share the overheads with the pub rather than having to survive as a stand-alone business.
"The village school has 90 children and we hope that many of their parents will visit. We have something like 500-700 customers a week in the pub, so hopefully that will help too. The reason why the previous shop in the village closed is because it was a stand-alone business."
Increasing viability will ensure that the shop remains a focal centre, so that it can continue to offer local people social and economic benefits. The shop also provides employment for at least two local people.
The Shoulder of Mutton's trade is now more 70/30 in favour of food (dry trade) rather than drink, and wine actually outperformed beer for sales in the pub for the first time last year, but they have been keen to ensure their beers are of excellent quality.
LESSONS TO LEARN
- Keep on top of the project and financial management
- Working in partnership provides support and insight
- Team work is important and you need to have the time to drive the project forward
- Build on the reputation of local services and produce
PROJECT CAPITAL COSTS
After an expenditure of £30,000, the Shoulder Shop is now ready to serve its village and surroundingcommunity.
David believes their existing contacts at the pub, which has won a shoal of awards recently, will stand them in good stead with the shop trade.
LICENSEE CONTACT
David and Kate Deacon Tel: 01423 871205
PUB OWNER: Punch Taverns
