25-Nov-2010
BII Business Licensee Profile - Yorkshire's Finest
A failing restaurant in a tiny village in the heart of Sam Smith country – not ideal for your first pub, surely? Try telling that to this industrious local couple. Andrew Pring ABII reports
IT’S THE TRADE’S $64,000 QUESTION. JUST HOW DO you turn a failing pub into a
winner? Everyone’s got their views on the answer but ask top licensees Ashley McCarthy FBII and his wife Kelly McCarthy MBII the secret of their success and they’ll name three essential attributes. “In no particular order,” they say,“ it’s the willingness to make it your life’s work, being a ‘people’ person, and tolerance.”
Those are the qualities that have helped them transform Ye Old Sun Inn at Colton, Tadcaster over the past five years, taking it from £3,500 a week and falling to over £12,000 and rising, and turning it into a multi- award-winning pub (and BII Licensee of the Year shortlisters in 2008).
So you really wouldn’t argue with their given formula for success. It’s delivered them enough cash to buy the Sun outright from Enterprise, as well as pick up a farmhouse cottage with four letting rooms next door and now take on the lease of a second pub 10 miles away, the White Swan at Wighill. But talking to the McCarthys and seeing what they’ve achieved, there’s clearly more to it all than the clear-sighted focus, relentless effort and winning people-skills they talk about, however crucial those attributes may be.
Cooking brilliantly, as trained chef Ashley is too modest to claim for himself, and knowing the customers you’re cooking for, have also been fundamental in helping put the 64-seater Sun firmly on the Yorkshire culinary map. Understanding their place in the market, and selling the offer constantly is another of their key business traits. Having a rock-solid partner who matches you for drive, determination and work ethic plays rather a big part too.And without the zest and energy of youth to do it all while raising three kids – he’s 33, she’s 26 - even they would probably be nowhere.
But whatever it is that Ashley and Kelly have individually, it’s their combination of skills that makes them such a successful couple. And ultimately, it’s that unique chemistry, and the knack of making a business and personal relationship work in the most testing of circumstances, day in, day out, year in, year out, that determines which licensees and which pubs come out on top. Being named Publican’s Publicans of the Year just recently, as well as a slew of local foodie and pub awards, means they have certainly done that. As Kelly says: “We are very competitive. We’re always
striving to do our very best.”
FIRST- PUB SUCCESS
What’s even more remarkable about the McCarthy’s story is that the Sun is the first pub they’ve ever run. After college, Ashley had honed his craft at some good
establishments including Hazelwood Castle and taught for a while, but was always conscious he was making more money for others than he was for himself. Both of them felt Ye Old Sun Inn, the only pub in a tiny village of 30 homes near where Kelly had grown up, a mile from the A64 and 20 minutes from Leeds and York, would be perfect for that first step into running their own business.
The pub had been operating as a restaurant, yet had not really made its mark on the locals. “It was a 90- 10 dry-wet split. We wanted to reposition it as a pub that served food,” says Kelly. “And we aimed to make it a true village local, one that really served its community.”
From day one, they tore up the old menu and began offering modern pub food and gastro cuisine - good, wholesome, rustic fare using only fresh, locally sourced produce (97% is from Yorkshire). They revised the beer and wine offer, installing five local real ales and sourcing wines from Yorkshire suppliers. The wet trade is now up to 36% of sales. “I’m happy with the split now,” says Kelly. “It gives the pub atmosphere.”
EXPANSION PLANS
Their masterstroke, though, was to create a deli-shop, situated at the back of the pub, which quickly became the hub of the village for picking up life’s essentials as well as interesting items from the pub kitchen. They even used it to offer a home-delivery service for the house-bound. “The deli attracted huge local support,” says Kelly. “And it meant people came to the pub and saw the changes we were making to it, which they’ve really liked.” So successful has the deli been that the McCarthys are now planning to move it to the front of the pub and make more of a feature out of it, and change the layout of the pub’s four small rooms to accommodate its expansion. At the same time, they want to open out the kitchen, which currently only holds three staff.
It’ll cost about £300,000, and their bank looks to have come up with the cash. They’d been hoping for a regional grant to ease the burden (helpfully steered that way by friends at Pub is the Hub) but that fund has just been axed by the Government. However, they’re still confident they can pull it off, and they certainly seem to be good with money – as buying the pub and other investments clearly demonstrate. “We never spend any money on ourselves,” explains Kelly. “We save hard and put every penny back in to the pub. It comes naturally to us - we’re both Yorkshire born and bred!”
Their background may also explain that industriousness mentioned earlier. “We’ve never overemployed, and we’ve always worked seven days a week, and every shift. We aim to keep our staff costs at 16% of turnover.” They’ve had to work hard because success has not been an overnight affair. “We made slow progress in our first year,” says Kelly. “Partly because we didn’t want to over-publicise ourselves until we’d got the product right.” By year two, things started to take off, and the last three years have each seen 10-12% growth over the previous year. Sales have been helped by an extra three hours on Sunday evening, and opening for evening meals on Monday, when they used to be closed all day.
BETTER VALUE
They were smart enough to alter the menu early in 2009, when they foresaw a challenging year, and introduced a “Pub Classics” section, featuring traditional dishes such as fish and chips, bangers and mash, pies and grilled steaks, all set at £10.95, as against normal main meal prices ranging from £13 to £20. They kept the margin the same – 65%. “We’re now equal to or cheaper than most people round here, but much better value,” says Kelly. “The last thing we wanted to do was put the cost of our meals up in a recession. Yorkshire people know their prices."
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