Inapub Magazine Spring 2023 Issue 102

what’s happening Pubs that work the great outdoors

drink Cider • Summer drinks

eat Ways to play the outside service game

play Hit the Bullseye as the classic TV show comes to pubs stay Happy holidays

It’s that time of year when licensees across the country can finally crank the thermostat down and look forward to reaping the rewards of all the time and money they spent on their outside area during lockdown.

A well-thought-out al-fresco space can double your covers, and take you through from early spring to the first crisp days of autumn. In this issue of Inapub we meet licensees who have maximised the potential from their gardens with innovative ideas for seating, lighting, events and food offerings designed to be simple for their teams to deliver.

It’s all very well creating a stunning sundrenched terrace but if your menu items take too long to prepare, food is cold by the time it reaches the table, or your kitchen just can’t cope with that school-holiday rush, then customers will simply go elsewhere.

It’s also vital to communicate to your guests how and where they should order their food and drinks. Is table service on offer or are your outside bars open? Do guests need a table number? Where is the cutlery? What menus are available outside?

We have also taken a look at some seasonal trends in food and drink, while acknowledging the need to offer value for money as customers continue to feel the pinch.

ideas

Elton Mouna finds some things for you to try time at the bar Richard Molloy • Susie Dent • Pub garden bingo

And if you find yourself with five minutes’ downtime before you throw open your doors, Countdown’s Susie Dent faced the tough questions in Plate or slate? and even managed to squeeze in a ‘flange’ on page 48. We hope this magazine brings you some inspiration to make your own outside space the summer sensation that gets your tills ringing this holiday season. It’s been a long hard winter, and pubs certainly deserve a summer season to remember.

The Inapub team

Editor Caroline Nodder

Contributors Mark Ludmon, Richard Molloy, Claire Dodd, John Porter, Matt Eley, Elton Mouna

Production editor Ben Thrush

Chief executive Barrie Poulter

Sales manager Katy Robinson

Theoutsiders

by MARK LUDMON

Stephen Lennox & Alex Bond

The Wild Swan, Minskip, North Yorkshire

It is two years since Stephen and Alex took over The Wild Swan in the North Yorkshire village of Minskip and now one of the final pieces is in place: a new-look garden.

“When we took over, it was all just grass and not much there,” Stephen says.

“We’ve added a bit of life and colour in time for summer.”

After renovating the interior of the 19thcentury pub in early 2022, they installed nine new tables with umbrellas in spring last year, along with a wood-fired pizza oven, offering a pizza menu on Fridays and Saturdays between midday and 6pm and on Wednesday evenings. This was a great success, so The Wild Swan is repeating it this summer.

This winter, they put down new paving and added new planting including colourful flowers, getting it ready for the official opening at Easter. The garden adds 35 more covers on top of the 60 indoors, although Stephen expects to manage with the existing staff through extra shifts.

With no heaters yet, he says they hope warm weather will let them profit from the investment. “By adding extra seats to the restaurant, we can increase what we offer and cater for different groups of people.”

The Wild Swan changes its food menus every six weeks, guided by seasonality, but pizzas and new sharing boards will feature this summer. Long, refreshing mixed drinks such as Aperol Spritzes and Pimm’s are popular, with sangria being added to the menu this year.

The Wild Swan’s new garden adds 35 extra covers to the 60 they have indoors

As this magazine went to press, licensees across the country were dusting down their patio furniture, putting up the hanging baskets and preparing for the new season. We spoke to people running three different pubs who are really pulling out all the stops to get ready.

The summer menu at Ye Olde Bridge Inn features lighter dishes. The pub’s dining domes seat eight

Hannah Lloyd

Ye Olde Bridge Inn, Oxton, Nottinghamshire

At Ye Olde Bridge Inn in the Nottinghamshire village of Oxton, refreshing Frosé, a mix of sparkling rosé and crushed ice, is being added for summer. Matching the seasonality of the food menu, licensee Hannah Lloyd says they like to use fresh seasonal ingredients such as elderberries in drinks in the summer. Under head chef Steven Elliot, lighter dishes and salads will be added but Hannah concedes that fish and chips remains an all-year-round favourite.

She took over Ye Olde Bridge Inn nearly five years ago. “We had a lot of work to do. The previous leaseholder had been here for a long time and had run it as a very different operation,” she explains. Investments included extensive changes to the outside area, extending the number of covers by more than 70 in the warmer months. “With increases in costs hitting hospitality hard at the moment such as minimum wage, we rely on that summer period,” she adds.

The garden is spread across two terraces seating 13 and 60 people and a “secret garden” plus a neighbouring field with a playground aimed at families. Furniture includes five 14-seat benches. “There was some mismatched old pub furniture when

HOW TO SERVE SUMMER DRINKS

Tips from drinks consultant Julian de Feral

LIVEN UP A SPRITZ, highball or G&T with seasonal herbs such as borage, lemon thyme or mint

TRY B I TTERS WITH SUMMERY OR TROPICAL FLAVOURS

if you cannot rely on getting fresh ingredients. Orange bitters, Ms Better’s Banana Bergamot or Pineapple Star Anise bitters bring a holiday feel

GO GREEN

Julian’s spring/summer menu at Kindred in London’s Hammersmith includes the Allotment Shandy with “green” flavours of cucumber, mint and Portobello Road British Asparagus Vodka, topped with Dream Factory Pale Ale

people each

“

By adding extra seats to the restaurant, we can increase what we offer and cater to different groups of people

Texas-style rump steak

Barbecue recipe from Ben Bartlett

1 thick rump steak (225g/8oz cut to even thickness)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon sweet paprika

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon ground allspice

Pinch of pepper

Combine the first five ingredients in a small bowl. Prepare the barbecue on a high heat. Rub the spice mixture generously on both sides of the steak. Grill the steak to your liking. Serve hot.

we took over but we built the benches for families and friends to sit together.” Three dining “domes” seat up to eight people each, and are fitted with Delonghi heaters, Bluetooth speakers and a waiter call system.

Hannah is installing a converted trailer housing and Italian wood-fired pizza oven for Friday and Saturday evenings. At night, the whole garden sparkles with coloured uplighters and garlands of fairy lights.

The Friday-evening live music programming moves outside when the weather is warm and dry. Ye Olde Bridge Inn also caters for families in the daytime, including craft workshops aimed at children. This summer will see visits by alpacas and other animals from nearby farms, and a big charity event. Although the garden makes it busier, Hannah says they can draw on the existing 30-strong team through extra hours. It has all helped the pub scoop awards such as Nottinghamshire Pub of the Year at this year’s National Pub & Bar Awards and Best Pub for Families at last year’s Great British Pub Awards.

Antony Gri th Harris

The Boxing Hare, Swerford, Oxfordshire

The garden at The Boxing Hare has been revamped since Antony took over the former Masons Arms six years ago. “When I arrived, it was just cheap picnic tables like you would pick up from B&Q,” he says. The large garden, with views over the valley,

adds 80 covers to the 80 inside, featuring 14 solidly built tables, with umbrellas in bright colours such as yellow, fuchsia, peacock blue and orange, plus a gazebo.

A covered, heated terrace, seating 20 and fitted with astroturf, was added during the pandemic. “In the summer, everyone wants to be outside,” Antony adds. “We do around 140 for Sunday lunch which is our busiest time.” Maintaining high levels of service requires two to three more staff. “It’s a hell of a trek to the end of the garden.” Antony has also enlisted a local gardener to regularly refresh the flora, such as cherry trees added this year.

Antony, who previously ran successful west London restaurants such as First Floor Dining Room in Notting Hill, works with head chef Nick Anderson, who had Michelin stars at previous restaurants. The food menu changes twice a week to reflect what is available seasonally from local farms, with more salads and summery flavours planned.

During Covid, Antony added dining “pods” – covered tables with parasol heaters, under-floor heating, cushions, throws and twinkly lighting – and these remain popular on cooler evenings. Due to the garden’s popularity, there has been no need to do anything more such as live music. “We don’t really have to push the garden as it’s so visible from the road,” he says.

“We’re very much a destination pub with lots of repeat business.”

The dining pods at the Boxing Hare are popular on cooler evenings

Garden of earthly delights

by RICHARD MOLLOY

Looking at the Tamworth Tap, it’s hard to believe that only five years ago this was a closed Tourist Information Office for the market town in Staffordshire.

In that time, George and his wife, Louise, have transformed the shop, building and its outside space into a multi-award-winning brewery, pub and beer garden. In that order, as George explains: “It started as a little brewery project which became a commercial brewery.”

Following pressure from passers-by tapping on the window and enquiring when there was going to be a taproom opening, George obliged. “I did a couple of pop-up bars, and it just didn’t close,” he says. The ascent of The Tap was so steep that it led them to the CAMRA National Pub of the Year award just four years later.

But it was the operational regulations of the Covid period that really energised the beer garden overhaul. “We became a

bottle shop during lockdown because of the brewery. People were queuing down the road; socially distanced, of course,” George says. “And when we reopened, that’s when we realised the potential of the garden. We could get 168 people seated safely.”

It wasn’t long before a wasteland with dilapidated outbuildings was transformed into a space named Best Pub Garden at last year’s Great British Pub Awards, described as “a medieval fairytale” by the awards’ organisers.

Hops, flowers, historic brewing artefacts and trees complement traditional beer garden furniture and subtle lighting. A music stage, kitchen, cinema screen and outdoor bar that doubles as an off-licence add to the convivial ambience that attracts

The Tap is blessed with an epic historic location, which it makes the most of with a programme of live music, cinema, craft classes and beer festivals

so many “Tappers” (the affectionate term for Tamworth Taphouse drinkers).

When you consider that all of this is fitted into a 16th-century walled space with the Elizabethan Tamworth Castle looming large as a next-door neighbour, you begin to understand how The Tap’s acclaim has blossomed in such a short space of time.

Working the garden

Of course, few publicans are blessed with such historic surroundings, but George is quick to point out that it’s not just the pub’s position that brings in the crowds. His team works hard to make the most of the space: “We have regular Sunday music events all year round that we put on outside through the summer, as well as spoken word events and folk music meetings.

“We have fortnightly cinema screenings on Saturdays. As well as classes in wreathmaking, graffiti, and creative writing, as well as regular beer festivals.”

Anything else, George? “We have a white witch come in once a year to bless the king apple tree at a wassailing event. We even have our own Tamworth Tap wassailing song.” Er, OK then, George.

“And bats in the belfry!”

The bat club meets regularly to observe and discuss the colony of bats that inhabit the Belfry of Tamworth Castle.

With all this leading to an increase of around 40 per cent in trade during the summer months, it’s plain to see just why

George, Louise and the rest of the Tamworth Tappers put so much effort and thought into their garden and why it’s a source of so much pride.

It’s also a great lesson for other publicans who are considering maximising their earning potential by making more of the outside areas at their disposal. Although white witch wassailers aren’t exactly two-a-penny.

HOW TO GROW YOUR GARDEN

George’s top tips

GET THE LIGHTING RIGHT

Create a comfortable atmosphere and warmth with the right lighting

KEEP IT CLEAN

Make sure staff are monitoring and cleaning regularly. So many pubs forget about their gardens and neglect to clean tables and ashtrays

RECREATE INDOORS OUTDOORS

Keep people stimulated, interested, and coming back for more

We have a white witch come in once a year to bless the king apple tree

Licensee George (right) with local councillor / St George impersonator Richard Maycock

Pic: Charlotte Salaman

The Tamworth Tap Tamworth, Staffordshire

CAMRA National Pub of the Year

Best Pub Garden, Great British Pub Awards

RHS Gold winner, Britain in Bloom

County Winner, Pub & Bar Awards

drink

BOTTLES OF BRITAIN WINDSOR’S A WINNER FOR ENGLISH WINES

Can we expect the Coronation to start another wave of Cool Britannia?

While the image of a family having a major tiff might be infinitely more relatable than anything else the Royals have ever done, the rush on commemorative plates and biscuit tins perhaps didn’t make Royal waves on quite the level of 1953.

Charles, sorry King Charles III, is well-known for his championing of the British countryside, and in particular British produce. And in a roundabout way, this has included English wine. Just last year he revealed that his car has a better diet than 90 per cent of us when he noted that the Aston Martin DB6 runs on surplus English white wine and whey from the cheese-making process.

But with a flurry of English wine brands having launched commemorative plonks to toast the Coronation, the event has put this growing industry rightly back in the spotlight. With exceptional wines now being produced, and food miles and transportation costs a growing concern for customers, there’s arguably never been a better time for your pub to showcase what English wine has to offer.

Creating a special summer menu of

English wines, specific food and wine pairings, or even having an English wine of the month, are all simple ways to introduce your customers to it. English Wine Week is also scheduled for 18 to 26 June; pop it in your calendars.

One wine to look out for is Louis Pommery England, the first English sparkling wine created by a Champagne House, Vranken Pommery. Made from 36 hectares of Louis Pommery England vines that were planted between 2017 and 2022 on Hampshire’s Pinglestone Estate, it combines Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Gris grapes.

And of course it’s not summer without some rosé. Gusbourne’s newly released Rosé 2022 Vintage is a delicate blend of summer berry and orange zest aromas, and strawberry, raspberry, and redcurrant to sip, with a little blossom and ginger.

And perhaps Kent’s Balfour Winery’s most unusual wine is its Leslie’s Reserve Red NV. A sparkling red, it is made predominately from Pinot Noir and has earthy, tannic notes, with rich berry fruits from strawberries to cherry.

So why not keep that bunting up just a little longer and make a summer of it?

“ The Coronation has rightly put the growing English wine industry back in the spotlight

apple Another bite at the

by CLAIRE DODD

Despite the boom in fruitflavoured ciders, apple still accounts for 75 per cent of sales in the category

Cider consumption is changing. And so are the way and the times that customers use the pub.“It’s become evident over the last year that there are some permanent shifts in consumer behaviour,” says Tim Williams, insights and innovation manager at Westons Cider. “As working patterns settle and many employers embrace flexible working, we’re seeing a change in when people are visiting their favourite venues.”

While Saturday remains the busiest day in the pub, patterns over the rest of the week have shifted. “As people continue to work from home, and consumers have extra personal time freed up, we’re almost seeing an extension to the weekend, with more people enjoying time in the pub or at restaurants any time between Thursday and

Monday,” Tim adds.

“The biggest change over the longer term affects Thursday and Sunday, which are becoming more important, increasing their share in drinks sales value over the last three years, while Friday has shrunk versus

Top-selling cider brands in the UK*

Draught

1. Strongbow

2. Thatchers Gold

3. Stowford Press

4. Thatchers Somerset Haze

5. Inch’s Cider

6. Aspall Cyder 4.5%

7. Aspall Suffolk Cyder

8. Magners Original

9. Somersby Cider

10. Strongbow Cloudy

Packaged

1. Kopparberg Strawberry & Lime

2. Rekorderlig Strawberry & Lime

3. Kopparberg Mixed Fruits

4. Rekorderlig Wild Berries

5. Magners Original

6. Bulmers Original

7. Bulmers Crushed Red Berries

8. Old Mout Kiwi & Lime

9. Rekorderlig Passion Fruit

10. Rekorderlig Mango & Raspberry

* Westons Cider Report 2023

Summer equals cider. It’s a cliché, but it’s also a tried and true formula. But the cider market is now being shaped by a fundamental shift in most people’s lifestyles.

three years ago in 2019,” he adds. In fact, relaxed drinks and casual meals currently account for almost half (43 per cent) of total drinks spend in the on-trade, according to Westons’ new Cider Report 2023

Why does this matter for your cider range? If cider is a drink connected to mood and moment, then it makes sense that it’s not just the times when people are drinking that have changed, but what they’re drinking too. With consumers feeling the pinch as inflation soars, cider is an affordable treat.

Last year – the first with no pandemicrelated restrictions – on-trade sales accounted for 63 per cent of the cider category’s value, totalling £1.86bn in sales and surpassing the off-trade for the first time since 2019. Getting your range right has never been more important. And while that of course depends on who your customers are, it’s likely what’s right for your pub will have changed.

What the youngsters are into

“When all Covid-19 restrictions on hospitality venues were lifted, the first demographic to go out in venues was young adults,” says Joe Dunnett, Kopparberg on-trade activation manager, pointing out that, according to its data, Kopparberg has more young drinkers (18 to 24-year-olds) than any beer, wine or spirits brand. “This summer they will again be a key demographic, with more young adults drinking and eating out than any other age group.”

For younger drinkers, fruit and seasonal

trends matter. Draught fruit accounts for 18.8 per cent of on-trade sales, with packaged fruit at 18.1 per cent, according to Westons’ data. Yet, with draught fruit in overall decline, accounting for just under 25 per cent of draught cider, bottled ciders remain a key way to trial the latest trends.

While the plethora of spritz-inspired blood orange flavours first seen in 2022 continues, with offerings from the likes of Thatchers and Rekorderlig, tropical-inspired launches are also becoming more important, from Hawkes’ Pineapple Punch, to Rekorderlig’s Mango & Raspberry, to Passionfruit. Apple, however, remains crucial to sales, accounting for 75 per cent of draught cider serves, according to analysts CGA.

Got to be seen to be served

“We believe that cider should be given as much thought as your lead lager,” says James Palmer, head of on-trade for Thatchers Cider. “When considering your cider selection, start with the apple – ensure you have a well-loved premium brand on the bar such as Thatchers Gold. Visibility is important – if your cider tap is a badge on a T-bar at one end of the bar where consumers can’t see it, this is simply hiding cider away.” Joe at Kopparberg agrees: “Draught is an important volume generator for outlets, with 54 per cent of consumers preferring to buy draught cider over packaged.”

Joe suggests that pubs use a draught fruit cider on a second tap, in order to drive volumes. “Additionally, licensees can upsell

“ When all Covid restrictions were lifted, the first demographic to go out in venues was young adults

Bottled ciders offer an effective way to trial the latest trends that attract younger drinkers

Eco ciders on the rise

With more and more drinks producers making efforts to do better for the planet, cider is proving no exception. A number of producers have put sustainability at the core (geddit?) of their brands, and that’s something more and more pub-goers care about. Here’s three brands doing things better.

Sxollie

Described as a “modern craft cider”, carbon-neutral brand Sxollie was the first UK cider brand to achieve B-Corp certification. The brand uses only natural ingredients, including using only eating apples deemed too ugly for the supermarkets. Unlike bitter cider apples, that means the brand doesn’t need to add any sugar, concentrate or water. The packaging is also fully recyclable. sxollie.com

Find & Foster

Upmarket, small-batch, and out to save under-threat apple varieties, Devon-based Find & Foster, is doing thing a little differently. The brand works with small farms rather than commercial producers, to help them rejuvenate struggling orchards, preventing the extinction of local apple varieties, saving apples that otherwise would have been left to rot on the ground, and boosting orchard ecosystems, meaning they’ll go on to require minimal intervention from us humans. Seasonal, and based on what’s on hand, these methods help it make an ever-changing array of ciders, made from rare apples, so check to see what’s in stock. findandfosterfineciders.com

Hawkes

Preventing food waste is a major factor in the production of London’s Hawkes cider. It uses only “unloved” apples (meaning they’re too big, small, battered or bruised for the supermarket shelves) from orchards local to Kent and the South East. Elliot Allison, general manager of Hawkes, says: “The biodiversity of an orchard is leagues beyond that of grain fields and hop vines used in the beermaking process, so in a way, addressing sustainability is inherent to cidermaking.”

In addition, the brand sends any leftover pomace from the cidermaking process to a biodigester to be converted into green energy. wearehawkes.com

“ We believe that cider should be given as much thought as your lead lager

New launches

Brothers Raspberry Ripple Cider

With a coronation, cluster of bank holidays, and summer on the way, it’s fair to say that street party friendly flavours – read as classic British puddings – have been a common theme across drinks launches. Brothers Raspberry Ripple certainly taps into this growing mood of nostalgia. Offered bottled, at 4 per cent ABV, it’s described as combining raspberry flavours with a “delicate swirl” of vanilla. Serve chilled, over ice.

www.brotherscider.co.uk

Rosie’s Pig Tropical Cloudy Cider

Didn’t we say the tropical trend was a thing? Hoping to “inject some fun into summer” Westons has added a new Rosie’s Pig flavour with pineapple and coconut. The brand says the launch offers a quick way for pubs to tap into a “growing consumer demand for cocktail-inspired ciders and spirits”. At 4 per cenrt ABV, it’s available as a 10-litre bag-in-box format.

www.westons-cider.co.uk

Kopparberg Summer Punch

Punch inherently feels like a party drink, and this version from Kopparberg combines peach and apple flavours. Why peach? According to the brand, the flavour has been trending across social media of late. Offered in 500ml bottles, it clocks in at four per cent ABV. For more details, PoS, and business advice, licensees should head to Kopparberg’s brand new on-trade website www.kopparbergbehindthebar.co.uk

Hawkes Bermondsey Barrels

Here’s something a little different from Hawkes. Previously produced in 2021, this small-batch cider is soon to be re-released as a limited edition, and will be available on draught only, making it exclusive to the on-trade. Made by aging apple cider in Bourbon whisky barrels, its described as having deep, rich and earthy notes. www.wearehawkes.com

on draught by providing pitcher or cider tower pours, which are excellent for attracting larger crowds of young drinkers.” As cask beer sales decline, there’s also room on the bar for licensees to trial a bag-in-box cider, to boost visibility, use any spare handpulls, and trial new or unusual products.

New horizons

Beyond the mainsream, the cider market is moving into nuanced and interesting new directions. A growing but fragmented segment of smaller craft producers are experimenting with everything from “pet nat” (naturally sparkling) ciders, to those made from almost extinct apple varietals. With small, often only locally available releases,

they’re a hard ask for many pubs to buy into. However, eco-minded products are a growing area that can’t be ignored (see “Eco-ciders on the rise”, previous page). Products such as Hawkes’ Fruit Machine, a tangy blend of supermarket-rejected apples, blackberries and hops, address both eco and flavour trends. With no heating required for fermentation and apples sourced locally, cider’s eco credentials may make it better at withstanding rising cost pressures too.

“World Cider Day on 3rd June is the perfect opportunity for licensees to reinvigorate their cider stock,” says Elliot Allison, general manager of Hawkes. “Encourage new consumers to get out of their comfort zone and take a chance on cider.”

EXPAND YOUR SEASONAL RANGE WITH 4.5G CASK PINS

AVAILABLE FROM JULY LAUNCHING WITH ALE FRESCO AND NEW TRICKS

Cask ale is at the heart of a great pub, driving footfall and guest loyalty. Introducing smaller 4.5G pins will provide you with the opportunity to expand your range and offer seasonal ales that provide a wider choice of styles and flavours to your guests.

More choiceLess wasteBetter Quality

Talking Quality with Beer Genius

Beer Genius is a source of brand information, online training videos, free e-learning courses and problem solving tools to enable anyone working within a pub to learn the essentials required to serve the perfect pint. Visit www.beer-genius.co.uk for more information.

What’s hot this summer

by CLAIRE DODD

Make the most of your summer offering with Greene King cask pins

By John Malone, head of brewery engagement, Greene King

“To fail to prepare is to prepare to fail,” said some annoying berk somewhere. But they were right. And so, here are the four key trends you need to boost your summer sales.

sumers who choose a spirit and mixer serve say it is important they recognise the spirit brand used. “So listing out ingredients on a cocktail menu, table talkers, or chalkboards will be key.” For serve suggestions using Diageo spirits including Gordon’s Sicilian Lemon Distilled Gin or Gordon’s Distilled Pink Gin go to www.diageo-one.com

The launch of pins for Greene King is one of many ways we are investing in the cask beer sector and in the industry. We continue to address the challenges serving this unique product can bring, and we believe the introduction of pins will help our customers serve our fabulous beers in perfect condition every time, whilst minimising wastage and maximising profits.

Introducing pins will also provide our customers with the opportunity to expand their range and offer seasonal ales, with a wider choice of styles and flavours, to their guests.

What the fudge actually is a spritz? The term seems so interchangeable it’s hard to know. Slapped on every serve since Aperol blew up the apéritif market with its distinctive and super-simple orange-hued cocktail, it’s set to be bigger than ever this summer. It was traditionally a wine-based cocktail, but customers now expect a lengthened spirit or wine-base, something light and fizzy.

“Spritz serves are now one of the top 10 mainstream cocktails and growing,” says Alex Haslam, head of category development, on-trade, at Diageo. He adds it’s important to have “easy-to-make serves that are of a high quality, yet do not require specific cocktail-making expertise – make it as accessible and visible as possible,”

Alex adds that 45 per cent of con-

Distiller’s Cut Spritz

For traditional gin drinkers, add 50ml Whitley Neill Distiller’s Cut gin and 25ml Elderflower cordial to a glass filled with cubed ice. Top with 50ml soda and 25ml Prosecco. Garnish with cucumber and mint.

Rhubarb Spritz

For something fruity and warming, add 50ml Whitley Neill Rhubarb & Ginger Gin to a glass over ice, pour in 50ml lemonade or soda water and top with 25ml prosecco. Garnish with mint and a lemon wedge.

Tropical Spritz

For a cocktail that makes you feel like you’re on the beach, use 30ml Ciroc Coconut Vodka, 10ml fresh lime juice, 30ml Belsazar Riesling, and 50ml Franklin & Sons Pineapple & Almond Soda.

Cask ale is at the heart of a great pub, driving footfall and guest loyalty. We aim to support our customers in serving the best range of quality beers for their bar.

We also offer key support tools for customers, including full cellar training and guidance for pubs, to ensure they have all the knowledge and support they need to store and pour great quality cask beer.

For futher info, visit www.greeneking.co.uk

Drinks trends come and go quicker than senior Tory ministers at the moment. But with people looking to kick back as much as possible this summer, with the Women’s FIFA World Cup, Wimbledon, Rugby World Cup, and an optimistic hope of good weather all to look forward to, prepare to be busy.

1. Spritz me good

THE NATION’S FAVOURITE MIXER BRAND * PRESENTS THE WATERMELON ROUGE TWIST.

NEW SODA MIXERS

To

2. Exotic mixers

Sip them on their own, or mix them into a simple cocktail, fancy flavoured mixers are a simple way of giving your customers more options. “As the number of flavoured gins increases, demand for flavoured tonics continues to grow,” says Amy Burgess, senior trade communications manager at CocaCola Europacific Partners (CCEP).

Last year it added Schweppes Slimline Elderflower Tonic and Schweppes Russchian Pink Soda, while this year has seen the launch of Schweppes Flavoured Sodas, with Melon Watermelon and Peach Coconut in 200ml glass bottles. Licensees can obtain activation kits from My.CCEP.com.

“Dual-flavour sodas and tonics such as our Pineapple & Almond Soda offer the consumer a premium and unique flavour that adds value but doesn’t require any additional training for barstaff and minimises strain on the service,” adds James Stimson, Senior Brand Manager at Franklin & Sons, whose range includes Guava & Lime Soda, and Rhubarb & Hibiscus Tonic. “If you take mandarin and ginger, for example, they are both easily identifiable and well-known separately, but when combined in the same soda, offer a unique, new experience.”

Watermelon Rouge Twist

Schweppes Melon Watermelon Soda, gin, Campari and a sprig of rosemary.

Peach Opal Fizz

Schweppes Peach Coconut, vodka and peach purée.

3. Spiced rum goes fancy

They’ve had a bad rep for being overly sweet. And for a long time, they’ve kind of been ignored when it comes to new products. Yet all of a sudden, brands are now investing in spiced rums.

“Rum sales are on the rise, with data released last year from CGA by Nielsen IQ showing sales are up 51 per cent on 2019. It is spiced and flavoured rums that are leading this charge, making up 60 per cent of total rum sales in the last year,” says Simon

Webster, brand ambassador for the Island Rum Company. Its range includes Cubanmade Black Tears, which is spiced with coffee and cacao, and has a lower sugar content than many other spiced rums.

“Of all spirits, rum is synonymous with beaches and holidays so it is no surprise it is such a popular base spirit for summer drinks,” adds Simon. “Consumers are more aware than ever about the quality of the products they are drinking, with ‘real’ ingredients and lower sugar increasingly becoming a bigger consideration for their purchasing decision. In the last few years a range of more premium spiced and flavoured rums have hit the market using fresh fruit such as Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple, or reducing the sugar such as Black Tears Dry Spiced Cuban Rum.”

In fact, in the past few months, there’s been several launches. The Isle of Wight Distillery’s Mermaid Spiced Rum combines rums from Trinidad and the Dominican Republic with fruits and spices from the Isle of Wight, including rock samphire, fresh white cherries, apricots, honey from its own beehives and black salt from the Island’s coastal flood tides. The spice is provided by local holy grass, cassia and vanilla.

Bacardi too wants in on this premiumising category. Bacardi Caribbean Spiced is its first “spiced aged product”, flavoured with coconut, pineapple, and coconut blossom. There’s

Island Rum’s Cuban Tears aims to capitalise on rum’s growing popularity by evoking beach holidays

Brewers are experimenting with new styles and formats to retain their core drinkers while attracting new ones

also cinnamon, vanilla, and some subtle oaky char from the barrel. The brand says it can be sipped neat, mixed with coke, or in cocktails such as a pina colada.

www.57Skye.com

Just add tonic “Tonic doesn’t just have to be the domain of gin or vodka,” says Simon from Island Rum “it works exceptionally well with coffee or chocolate flavoured spiced rums”.

Black Tears Espresso Martini

Take 30ml Black Tears Dry Spiced Rum, 15ml Kahlua, 30ml Espresso coffee, and 5ml sugar syrup. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice, shake until shaker is ice cold, strain into a martini or coupe glass, and garnish with coffee beans.

3. Cheers for beers

Proving you can teach old dogs new tricks, a number of well-known ale brewers are stepping into new beer styles and formats. Timothy Taylor’s core business remains in cask beer, but Hopical Storm pale ale has become a core keg product, and is now available in can. At four per cent ABV and triple-hopped, it has notes of mandarin, mango and passion fruit.

Doom Bar-maker Sharp’s meanwhile has launched its first ever nationally available cask hazy IPA, Solar Wave. “Demand for hazy beers and IPAs continues to rise, up

by 68 per cent since 2018. Specifically within cask – the prominence of cask IPAs, pale and golden beers has increased, now accounting for 27.5 per cent of the overall category,” says Stephen Groucott, on-trade category management controller at Molson Coors Beverage Company. He describes Solar Wave as “the perfect balance between what existing ale drinkers want and the bold, exciting flavours needed to attract new people to cask”.

Black Sheep too has recently launched several new products “to answer the demand for fresh and fruity drinks at summer events”, says James Johnson, marketing manager. Respire is a Session IPA with notes of citrus and tropical fruits. The brew is carbon-neutral, with every pint helping plant trees in the Yorkshire Dales.

Pubs can profit from the thirst for cask beer over the summer by expanding their draught range, according to Greene King. The brewer has launched cask pins, a 4.5-gallon unit containing 36 pints – half the size of the industry-standard nine-gallon container.

This means licensees can offer more beers with less worry about wastage or quality degrading, bringing greater flexibility for managing lower throughput at quieter times. The cask pins are available to all lessees and tenants and freetrade customers this summer with Greene King’s rolling portfolio of seasonal cask beers, Fresh Cask Releases.

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THE GREAT OUTDOORS MAKE SURE ALL IS ROSY IN YOUR GARDEN

Do they need a table number?

Should they send someone inside to announce their presence?

As pubs know well, customers don’t usually need much encouragement when it comes to declaring the arrival of summer, at least in terms of enjoying food and drinks outdoors.

Two years ago, the relaxation of lockdown rules to allow outdoor service meant that many determined customers were enjoying their first outdoor pub meal of the year as later-than-usual flurries of snow swirled around them. In 2022, an early spell of decent weather in many parts of the country found pubs across the land pulling up the shutters to find expectant-looking customers sitting outside before the outdoor preparations were even in place.

So far, 2023 has gone more or less to plan. Despite being early, the Easter weekend came through with good weather in many areas, which saw outdoor areas busy.

The bonus of three May Bank Holiday weekends, including the Coronation, helps to build on that performance, but there is clearly still plenty of uncertainty as pubs continue to deal with higher costs and lower consumer confidence.

In that context, a decent summer would be

very welcome, and the continued trend for UK holidays and days out should also drive customers into pub gardens. So, with every penny of spend more important than ever, it’s vital that the rules of engagement for the pub garden are clear.

It’s not always as easy for staff to monitor arrivals outdoors as it is inside, so particularly when arriving as part of a larger group, or with children, customers need to know how the pub manages garden trade. Should they pick a table and wait to be served, or send someone inside to announce their presence? Do they need a table number? Is there a separate outdoor menu? A few wellplaced signs, or information on tables, can help make customers feel welcome from the word go.

Another issue is that pub kitchens can easily get very busy when orders start to come in from the garden on a sunny day. A realistic estimate of how long food will take to arrive will usually be enough to keep most groups happy, particularly if the drinks keep arriving. So get ready, because here comes the summer!

A few wellplaced signs can make customers feel welcome from the word go

Summer grubbin’

by JOHN PORTER

What could be simpler? Just scrape the accumulated winter debris off the picnic tables, check the chairs for splinters and the parasols for hibernating hedgehogs, laminate a few menus, and your al fresco pub food offer is good to go, right? Right?

Not so fast, cautions chef and licensee Oisin Rogers. “The way to approach serving food in a pub garden varies enormously, according to the style of the business, and its demographics,” he says. “A family pub with a children’s play area is a very different proposition from a walled garden in a country gastropub.

“As an operator, you have to think about what the experience is going to be for the customer, but a garden menu also has to be deliverable for the kitchen, which is why many pubs offer a streamlined version of their full a la carte menu in their outdoor areas. When they’re busy, pub gardens tend to be crazily busy, with orders flying in, so simplicity is very important.

“Dishes which work well in an al fresco

environment where groups are eating together, wanting to enjoy themselves as well as to eat great food, tend to be things like burgers, nachos, chicken wings and burritos. Menus also need to be balanced, so you also need lighter summer dishes such as salads, and you have to make sure you appeal to customers looking for meatfree and healthier options.”

With the headlines about the challenges facing the pub sector having been almost as gloomy as the winter skies over the long haul from January through to spring, many pubs will be hoping for brighter times ahead in business terms.

However, with customers still expected to be in cautious mode when it comes to spend on eating out, summer pub menus that offer good value for money are likely to have strong appeal.

Consumer research by CGA and NielsenIQ recently showed that while 71 per cent of people say that eating and drinking out is the treat they most look forward to, 42 per cent say that they are dining out less frequently than they used to, and 61 per cent say price is the most important factor when choosing a venue.

By their nature, outdoor food sales are weather-dependent, so pubs should adopt a cautious approach, believes Gordon Lauder, managing director of distributor Central Foods. “Frozen options can prove costeffective, as they reduce waste – only

When serving a busy pub garden, simplicity is important

KaterVeg’s Vegan burger. Plant-based dishes can be more cost-effective than meat-based ones, helping your business tap in to two current trends

defrost and use what is required – keep food at its prime for longer, and are great as a back-up in case of unexpected demand.”

Vegetarian value

Favourites such as sausages and burgers can easily be adapted from the main menu to outdoor options. Gordon suggests: “Make them more inclusive by serving tasty plantbased versions of these traditional favourites. That way, everyone can enjoy them. It will also save you prep time in the kitchen, as one dish will suit all.

“There’s been a huge growth in awareness of – and interest in – vegan and vegetarian foods over recent years, but we’re now seeing other factors come into play, namely the fact that the ingredients of plantbased dishes can be more cost-effective than meat-based meals.

This is becoming an increasingly important consideration at the current time, with spiralling costs for everyone.

“Including plant-based dishes on the menu can help cash-strapped publicans manage budgets and keep costs down, while at the same time maintaining value for customers.”

Quorn has expanded its ChiQin vegan range, which includes Crispy Wings, a

Buttermilk Style Burger and a Vegan Fillet.

Phil Thornborrow, foodservice director at Quorn Foods, says: “From messy burgers to delicious sharers, pubs that offer a high-quality meat-free version will attract the growing numbers of flexitarian and vegan or vegetarian consumers.

“By focusing on bold flavours, taking inspiration from cuisines around the world and providing a range of generously comforting and delicious meat-free options, pubs can build a menu that really connects with customers.“

With the trend for UK rather than overseas holidays expected to continue, this focus on flavours which remind customers of travels abroad is forecast to be a popular choice for summer menus this year, with sharing and hand-held, street-food-style dishes working especially well outdoors.

“Global flavours have high appeal as they make the eating out experience that bit more exciting, and some consumers even expect now to see something out of the ordinary on menus,” says Holly Rogers, Research & Insights Manager for Bidfood.

“The unusual fusion trend is about taking the ‘no rules apply’ approach and having fun with your menu. This is perfect for pub classics, so think of swapping a traditional

“

When they’re busy, pub gardens tend to be crazily busy, with orders flying in, so simplicity is very important

Small

scotch egg to a falafel equivalent, or take your classic lasagne and spice it up a notch with Mexican tortillas.”

Greta Strolyte, brand manager for Asian food brand Lucky Boat, says lighter summer menus, with plenty of small plates and sharing dishes, can also appeal to those with a limited spend who might otherwise have

settled for a drink only.

“The vast scope of ingredients and flavours inspired by world cuisines, combined with a little imagination, allows operators to offer a range of exciting salad dishes, such as rice vermicelli noodles flavoured with zingy ginger and fresh lemongrass. Lighter meals such as these can easily cater for dietary requirements too.

“Noodles can be a substantial ingredient for a satisfying meal and provide the perfect base for umami flavours and spicy or citrus notes.”

For a Mediterranean feel to outdoor food, bakery specialist Pan’Artisan supplies Mini Dough Bites, frozen and part-baked, which can be loaded with a range of toppings. Charlotte Perkins, trade marketing manager, says: “Increased exposure to world foods via street food markets, along with the accessibility of travel, has resulted in a swell of interest in global, regional cuisines, and a desire for authentic, good-quality food.

“Snacking and small bites have also become popular, with an emphasis on premium quality and indulgence gaining favour.”

Noodle dishes can help you offer lighter options and add some zing to a salad

plates, such as these chicken lollipops from Lucky Boat, can tempt those who might otherwise have settled for a drink only

Host the best barbecue

A pub garden barbecue is a classic way to drive custom once summer starts, and forward planning will help to make it a success, says Ben Bartlett, award-winning barbecue chef and pub menu consultant.

“You need to set yourself apart, so conduct a quick search of what is going on in the area around you, he says. “Look at other pub gardens – look at their menus, their prices and see how, why or if they stand out. Once you will know who you are competing with, you’ll be able to put a menu together.”

In terms of equipment, options start from portable barbecues which can be wheeled out when needed, to a built-in kitchen station which allows barbecue menus year round, and which can be useful for pubs hoping to boost their function trade.

When it comes to the menu itself, Ben’s advice is: “Don’t get too clever, the real art of a successful BBQ lies in making simple food taste superb. Create your menu and then shop around for a supplier. Local provenance always carries weight.”

While a premium Aberdeen Angus steak might need nothing more than a little light seasoning and cooking at the right temperatures to taste delicious, Ben suggests that in the current market, pubs can work with cheaper cuts as long as they put in some preparation.

“Cheap chicken, often the most tasteless of barbecue food, can be transformed by soaking in a mouth-watering marinade. Value steaks can taste like the finest sirloins if they’re rubbed with a dry mix or paste full of herbs and spices, and even the humble sausage can become a taste sensation if it’s grilled using a herb brush,” says Ben.

barbecue grilling is all about intense flavours and intense seasoning. Food that’s been marinated takes

“To put it bluntly, a barbecue doesn’t lend itself to cooking subtle cuisine; in fact, great grilling is all about intense flavours and intense seasoning. Food that’s been marinated takes on a wonderful flavour and is less likely to dry out, so proper preparation is as essential to great barbecuing as a good grill and proper tools.

“The mainstay of any barbecue is beautifully prepared meat, focusing on lamb, beef or pork. However, with more and more people adopting a meat-free diet, it makes sense to have a few tried and trusted highly profitable vegetarian recipes in your barbecue repertoire.”

Finally, Ben advises: “Always remember, barbecues have a wicked sense of humour and the window during which food will be at its best is always quite small. In other words, never leave food unattended on the grill, or you’ll come back to burned burgers, blackened bangers and carbonised kebabs!”

“ Cheap chicken, often the most tasteless of barbecue food, can be transformed by soaking in a mouthwatering marinade

Let’s take thisoutside

by JOHN PORTER

The Beehive Egham, Surrey

There’s a buzz around The Beehive in Egham, Surrey, all year around, but it definitely gets louder in the summer. And not only because of the hives themselves, which are located in the pub’s garden.

Chloe Lay, who co-runs the tenanted Fuller’s pub with her mother Michelle Perkins, says: “The pub itself is small, so when summer hits, the garden triples the number of covers we can do, as well as enabling us to run parties and events.”

all freshly cooked from seasonal ingredients. While the same menu is offered inside and outdoors, “we change it regularly, so when the weather is good, we’ll have more summery specials and lighter dishes,” says Chloe.

Thursday evenings see The Beehive’s kitchen close and the staff given a night off, which has proven a useful recruitment and retention incentive. In their place, a local food truck operator, DawgHouse Pizza, sets up in the pub garden. Customers order in advance, and their pizzas are freshly cooked at the appointed time.

“We don’t have pizza on our menu, so it’s a very different concept to what we offer, but Dawghouse also champions local ingredients, and takes time over choosing the ingredients, so has a similar ethos to ours,” says Chloe. “We put some thought into who we’d allow to be here, it’s very complementary.”

Summer also sees a series of ticketed Supper Club events in the Beehive’s garden, with long tables set up for guests to create a very different feel. The events are hosted by a guest expert, such as a local chef who forages for wild ingredients, and a local wine blogger.

“We couldn’t get by just on the covers inside, so it’s about making the most of different opportunities outside,” says Chloe.

“We aim to make as much use of the garden as we can all year around.” So, from January to early April this year, the Beehive offered

It’s that time of year when bums on benches mean many pubs are able to double their dining capacity. Al fresco dining can provide a big boost to your food operation, but it brings its challenges too.

We look at how three pubs rise to the occasion.

Food truck Dawghouse Pizza helps The Beehive

the sport of curling, accompanied by an Alpine menu that included hot dogs and fondue, as well as winter cocktails and spritzes.

“There was a real winter wonderland feel,” says Chloe.“Of course, it wasn’t as busy as in summer, but we’re making the most of every opportunity.”

The Bellflower Garstang, Lancashire

Another pub with a strong outdoor seasonal trade is The Bellflower in Garstang, Lancashire, one of the winners of the 2023 Community Pub Hero Awards. “We more than double in capacity when the sun comes out,” says Marston’s licensee Heather PorterBrandwood. “We have 170 covers inside the pub compared to 182 in the garden.”

With the full menu available indoors and outside, staff flexibility is key to managing the sudden spikes in demand that good weather generates. “We normally do a few more salads and light bites in summer, and we get more social groups ordering grazing dishes, but there are also those who still want the mixed grills, burgers and pies.

“We’re lucky with our kitchen team, they’re able to manage the volume of food that comes out. The majority of the team are cross-trained, so the kitchen can come out front if we need it, and the front-of-house

team can go in the kitchen.”

Regularly swapping staff between inside and outside service during shift helps to ensure no one spends too much time in the sun, with suntan lotion also provided as a staff welfare measure.

The Red

Lion

Ealing, London

Business partners Luke Swain, Suzanne Posthumus and Helder Goncalves have just taken over the tenancy of The Red Lion in Ealing, West London, their second pub with Fuller’s. They’re putting their bespoke-built charcoal barbecue, located in the pub’s garden, at the heart of the pub’s summer menu.

Dishes will include sharing specialities such as côte de boeuf, tomahawk steak and whole fish, targeting parties of four and six who want to enjoy a meal together and “just tear bits off and eat it”, says Luke. “The idea is that we’re going to cook as much as we can, particularly in the summer months, outside on the barbecue.

“Even if you order inside, you’ll still be seeing the chefs heading out to the garden to cook your meal. Our a la carte menu also includes barbecue-friendly dishes such as ribeye steak and burgers. Anything that we can cook on the barbecue outside to give it more taste and flavour, we will.”

The Beehive puts its bespoke-built barbecue at the heart of its outdoor foodservice

(Pic: Ray Murphy)

“

Most of the team are crosstrained, so the kitchen can come out front if we need it, and the frontof-house team can go in the kitchen

PULL YOUR SOCKS UP GET KITTED OUT FOR A SUMMER OF SPORT

DAZN For Business is a sports broadcasting service for pubs, bars and hotels. It’s the only way to show DAZN content in your venue. For more information about up-andcoming events on DAZN For Business, please visit business.dazn.com

With the domestic football season coming to an exciting conclusion it can only mean one thing. That’s right, more football!

The summer is always a great time to pack the pub and beer garden with sports fans for major events, and 2023 is no exception.

With the men having gone out to Qatar for the unique experience of a winter World Cup, the Lionesses will be contesting their own global tournament at the more tradi tional time of year.

could be selling more bacon butties and pots of tea than usual.

Another major event that will generate huge interest is a home Ashes series.

Saturday 22 July, 10.30am

England vs Haiti

Friday 28 July, 9.30am

England vs Denmark

Tuesday 1 August, 12pm

England vs China

Saturday 20 August, 11am

World Cup Final

And there will be huge hopes that the European champions can recreate the amazing scenes of last summer when the nation got fully behind Sarina Wiegman’s superstars as they won their first major title.

With the tournament taking place in Australia and New Zealand (Monday July 10 to Sunday August 20) pubs will need to be open early to catch the action. England’s group matches against Haiti, Denmark and China kick off between 9.30am and midday, which means you

England take on the old enemy in a five test series that starts at Edgbaston on June 16 and will conclude at the Oval just six weeks later. After all the thrills that Bazball brings, it will be the turn of the women to take centre stage in another Ashes series. Add in regular favourites Wimbledon (Monday 3 – Sunday 16 July), The British Grand Prix (Sunday July 9) and The Open Championship (Thursday July 20 to Sunday July 23) and it really is a summer to bring the sports fans to you.

Oh, and there’s the small matter of the Ryder Cup in Europe in

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The famous Ashes urn stands at just over four inches tall. That’s smaller than a standard pint glass (six inches) and almost as iconic.

Pic: Danile Greef

Pic:Mikolaj Barbanell / Shutterstock.com

You can’t beat a bit of Bully

by MATT ELEY

Cult TV show Bullseye ran for 15 years from 1981 and still holds a “super, smashing, great” place in the hearts of many people of a certain vintage.

These days the programme is now primarily seen via repeats and the occasional reboot. But pubs can now enjoy their own bit of Bully, with a digital version of the game being one of the latest developments in competitive socialising.

The augmented reality Bullseye game was launched by Home Leisure Direct earlier this year and has been taken on by various pubs and groups including Stonegate and Amber Taverns.

The set-up requires a subscription, along with investment in a projector and a specially crafted white smartboard, so the game’s graphics can be beamed into the pub.

Players can take part in all of the familiar rounds, including the general knowledge and prize boards. Questions are asked and scores managed by the accompanying interactive app.

At a launch event at competitive socialising venue Gravity in Wandsworth, London, Andy Beresford, owner of Home Leisure Direct, explains why he was so keen to bring the concept to the hospitality sector.

“Interactive darts is huge, as we have seen with Flight Club,” he says.

“They have amazing venues and a great food and beverage offering, but there’s no branded content.

“There are loads of venues looking for this type of interactive game, where people can play and enjoy a great night out.”

Oches are starting to pop up across the country, with venues charging players to help cover the costs of the set-up.

Don’t underestimate the darts

The launch continues the huge boom in competitive socialising venues, which has given games such as darts, pool and mini golf a new lease of life.

However, the link between pubs and darts goes way beyond the new wave of high-tech venues. For many, a more traditional version of the game still pulls in the punters.

Craig and Debbie Mansell have been licensees at Thwaites pub The White Boar in Bury for the best part of a quarter of a century.

Craig says: “I’ve played darts since I was 13 and at 18 joined a pub darts team. We started the darts team here.

“Now we have men’s and ladies’ Monday night teams, mixed league teams, and run the Bury Super League out of here. We have 40 or 50 regular players and those players and the pool players keep the pub going

Staying out of the black and in the red is the opposite of what most licensees are currently striving to do. But for darts fans in the 1980s it was a familiar catchphrase that ended with there being “nothing in this game for two in a bed”.

Gospel Oak licensee Kirsten Davies with darts World no. 57 Jamie Hughes. Jamie’s shirt bears the pub’s name as part of a Sky Sports sponsorship

Craig and Debbie Mansell see darts as a vital part of the business at The White Boar, where 40 to 50 players keep the pub busy midweek

midweek. We’ve had exhibitions with pros here as well, which is another way to get people in.”

Darts on TV also pulls in customers, especially for major events such as the PDC World Championship and the Premier League, both of which are on Sky.

Tracy Harrison, director of marketing at Sky Business, points to figures that indicate darts players and fans are an asset to a pub.

She says: “According to CGA BrandTrack, people who watch darts in the pub spend an average of £116.95 a month on eating and drinking out in a pub – 24 per cent more than those who don’t watch sport.

“They are also frequent out-of-home sport watchers, ranking second, behind football fans, for watching sport in pubs and bars weekly. By offering darts you can attract someone who spends more and visits more frequently than someone who

doesn’t watch sport.”

At the PDC World Championships this year pubs featured on the shirts of five players as part of a sponsorship from Sky. This included world number 57 Jamie Hughes displaying his West Midlands local pub The Gospel Oak on his shirt.

He says: “I’m more than happy to wear a shirt encouraging locals to head to The Gospel Oak – it is somewhere that always offers a warm welcome; great food and drink; good conversation, and of course a great atmosphere when live sport is showing.

“It’s an incredibly important place for Tipton locals and I hope this activity encourages more people to head to their local to enjoy the darts.”

Whether it is interactive, traditional or as a TV sport, it’s well worth pubs checking out the darts.

Triple top Three darts legends who owned pubs

Phil Taylor

He was the greatest of them all but what could he do on a cold and wet midweek night in Stoke?

He could pull customers into The Cricketers Arms, is what.

Eric Bristow

The Crafty Cockney ran the Double Top in Romford, Essex, before it changed name and eventually closed for good in 2006.

Andy Fordham

The Viking was one of the most recognisable players. The 2004 BDO champ was also the landlord of The Rose in Dartford, Kent.

“ By offering darts, you can attract someone who spends more and visits more frequently than someone who doesn’t watch sport

stay

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Holiday inns

by MARK LUDMON

Eviivo

Helping pubs and inns manage guests, bookings and travel agencies and promote their rooms online

Fraser Potter took over The Taybank in the Perthshire town of Dunkeld, picturesquely located beside the River Tay, three months before Covid.

“It was a tricky time but not all negatives as it gave us time to put some focus on the direction we wanted The Taybank to go in,” he says. “The rooms were derelict and the upstairs restaurant wasn’t getting used at all.” He and his team set to work, developing five rooms plus two holiday apartments with kitchens and their own garden.

but Fraser has been developing new guest experiences for summer. They include walks with foraging in the pub’s five-acre walled garden four miles away, where it grows many of its ingredients, followed by open-fire cooking back on the riverside.

The Taybank makes the most of its picturesque riverside location to offer a holiday experience including breakfast hampers, live music and foraging walks

The rooms are each uniquely decorated but all in a mid-century minimalist style, designed by Fraser with help from Anna Lamotte who runs nearby venue Guardswell Farm.

The Taybank’s rooms, which are dogfriendly, attract people into walking, cycling, canoeing, kayaking and wild swimming

Other investments include a 60-seat restaurant, with a menu using locally sourced fresh produce. For breakfast, guests can eat in the restaurant or by the river or have a breakfast hamper delivered to their room. A car park has been transformed into a 500-capacity area on three different levels down to the river, complemented by an outdoor kitchen with pizza oven, an outdoor bar, ice cream and coffee

from a converted horse box, and an open-air cinema on Monday nights with food tailored to each film. The Taybank is also a destination for regular live music, building on a reputation established by a previous owner, Scottish singer-songwriter Dougie MacLean.

Staffing goes up from 38 to 50 in the summer but Fraser says it is becoming a yearround business, especially after accolades such as being named best place to stay in Scotland by The Sunday Times. He says rates are around the same all year round, with prices from £190 to £300 a night. “Occupancy is exceptionally high so we’re lucky that we don’t need to discount.”

Beds beside the seaside

Located next to Llangennith Beach on Wales’s Gower Coast, the 17th-century King’s Head Inn enjoys peak business between Easter and October although it now has steady trade through winter too. It was taken over by Anna and Paul Stevens in the 1980s, and their children Lara Joslin, Emma Arnold and Christopher Stevens later came on board. They added accommodation nearly 20 years ago, converting a

neighbouring townhouse into seven rooms, including large family rooms, and then creating 20 more rooms in two stone buildings. “The accommodation has really helped us,” Lara adds.

The rooms have under-floor heating, with contemporary interiors featuring flagstone tiles, oak finishes and oversized baths. Being dog-friendly, the pub offers a “dog hamper” of toys and treats that are also sold on reception. Guests can also pre-order human treats for their room such as a bottle of prosecco and a box of chocolates for £40.

The pub links up with local companies offering activities such as walking tours and provides maps in the rooms for guided walks and trail runs. Its bar is a destination in itself, with regular live music and a food menu using fresh Welsh ingredients. Lara says there is no need to promote the pub’s offering in the rooms. “Because we are so far out, if you’re going to stay with us, you’re going to eat and drink with us anyway.” However, there are special offers for longer stays, such as a double room for £399 over five nights compared to £135 per night. With a beach on the doorstep, it has proven a compelling offer.

The King’s Head offers treats for guests of various species

NOW THERE'S AN IDEA

Elton Mouna thinks outside the box

GuestRevu’s award-winning reputation management solution collects online reviews from websites around the world and displays them in one dashboard for you to easily monitor, analyse and manage.

Soft-centred

Imagine this for a moment – your staff training programme is a box of chocolates. The hard-centred chocolates represent the task-driven training you deliver to your staff, like how to maintain the glass washer or how you use the till. The soft chocolates, well they represent the people-orientated softer skills, like how to feel confident, how to connect with your colleagues or how to truly delight a customer. It’s tempting to hand out the hard chocolates whilst leaving the soft chocolates in the box, but smart licensees offer a continuous, regular blend of “hard” and “soft” training. Something worth thinking about. (Oh yes, and really, really smart licensees sometimes pop round to their corner shop and buy a couple of boxes of chocs and share them with their teams whilst thanking them for doing a good job).

Pick and mix

I spotted this absolutely brilliant post on Instagram. If you’ve read the chocolate box article above you will know exactly what I mean when I say Dan, the licensee from McMullens pub The Warbler on the Wharf, clearly knows the difference between a Toffee Penny and a Strawberry Delight.

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Make your mark on the mixology scene with edible cocktail toppers

Edible Cocktail Toppers

If you want to really snazz your cocktails up, head to www.ediblecocktailtoppers.co.uk They supply little edible discs of loveliness that will turn a common-or-garden cocktail in to a genius marketing masterpiece of a cocktail. Not only that, they’re vegan-friendly, sustainable and gluten-free.

Instant logos

Need symbols for your marketing material or menus? Visit autodraw.com Sketch a rough image of what you’re after and it loads your screen with options galore to download. The site, from Google Creative Lab, is completely free to use.

Know your onions

Planning your summer menu? You could spice up your ploughperson’s Lunches by offering a choice of pickled onions from this slightly risqué-monikered range.

They include Fart Starters, which are delicious, crunchy pickled onions infused with chilli flakes and just a hint of spiciness.

Also in the range are Ass Blasters, medium-hot pickled onions preserved with chilli flakes, with a sweet yet fiery flavour. Or maybe your customers will be more partial to Ring Stingers, the hottest pickled onions of the range.

You can purchase individual jars online at www.chucklingcheese.co.uk or in cases of 12 with a wholesale account. To apply for a wholesale account go online or contact the Chuckling Wholesale Team at info@chucklingcheese.co.uk or call 01754 768 120

435 Nigels walk in to a bar

Question: Apart from being silly what do all these ideas have in common?

1. The Brick Brewery is located in grimy gritty urban Peckham. Nonetheless they thought it would be a jolly wheeze to run a Conker Championship.

2. A licensee from Bolton was chatting to the proprietor of a Black Pudding company when they hatched a plan to start an event called the World Gravy Wrestling Championships.

3: A licensee called Nigel bumped in to another chap called Nigel, they started chatting and came up with a plan to gather as many Nigels in one pub as possible.

Answer: Each of these apparently crazy ideas went full steam ahead and they have all grown to be exceptionally well-attended, exceptionally lucrative events. The other thing they have in common is all three events feature in the latest Inapub video podcast, In Your Shoes (it lasts for just under half-an-hour and I can assure it will be a half-hour well spent).

Have you seen an idea you would like to share? Let me know, and if it is published, you will receive the ultimate accolade, a shout out on this page!

Email elton@inapub.co.uk

RICHARD MOLLOY

There are sounds that signal winter is over and the warmer days are here: the distant cry of “’owzat?’’ from the cricket field as a man in white flannels pleads with another man in white flannels to send yet another man in white flannels packing to the pavilion, or the songs of horny male birds who wake up early and immediately begin their quest to get laid. But, for me, the summer has truly begun when I hear the first shriek of horror as someone misjudges the slats on a picnic bench and sends a pint of iced cider over their partner’s brand new Asos summer dress.

Now, more than ever, people love a beer garden and social media is awash with photos of merry drinkers soaking up the sunshine in those first warm days of the year.

Even before the debacle of our government’s hokey-cokey approach to trading through a pandemic, beer gardens and al-fresco quaffing were becoming increasingly popular. But it was the possibility of someone within two metres killing you by breathing (a phenomenon I hadn’t encountered since Death-Breath Hopkins taught me fifth-year history at secondary school) that really ushered punters onto the streets and into our gardens and yards.

So now, on those heady, hot, humid afternoons and long evenings, it’s not uncommon to walk through a near-empty pub to a beer garden packed with punters who only venture into the bar for a pinot, a pint or a piss.

As with all trends, licensees were quick to catch on and adapt. The last couple of years have seen almost universal upgrades in the outside areas of pubs, bars and restaurants, with a quintessentially British slant on outside trading. Pubs are, on the whole, content to leave continental café culture either on the continent or with the cafés. But when it comes to boozing there is a common approach that centres on transporting the inclusive and convivial guts of the pub into the sunshine. TVs, outside bars, live music stages and permanent barbecues deliver traditional pub solace with the sunburn.

Sadly, but inevitably, this burgeoning trend of us doing our laundry in public has led to much opposition from some neighbours who, during lockdown, were treated to extended periods of peace and exposed to what life would’ve been like if their mortgage or rent hadn’t been discounted because they live near a bloody pub. And, as with many things in life, it’s a small, selfish minority that mars the merriment of the masses.

Pub after pub has been hit with restrictions for operating in a fashion that was forced upon them by the vagaries of fate. Gardens across the land have been forced to close or empty early by muscle-flexing local councils in the wake of noise complaints against longestablished pubs and music venues by

For me, living near a pub and being upset about late-night noise is akin to having a railway line at the bottom of your garden and moaning about trains, or living next to an airport and shaking your fist at the planes. It’s about time that pubs were given this right of reasonable raucousness, as every victory for the domestic dullard emboldens the gatekeepers of hush and humdrum and arms them with yet more nails for the coffin-lids of local pubs.

Richard Molloy is director of fourstrong pubco White Rose Taverns and the microbrewery Platform Five

“ Living near a pub and being upset about latenight noise is akin to living next to an airport and shaking your fist at the planes

PLATE OR SLATE?

Where the nation’s pub people stand on the really big questions

Susie Dent TV Lexicographer

This issue’s Plate or Slate contributor certainly has a way with words. Not just The Diva of Dictionary Corner on Countdown and object of Jimmy Carr’s smut on its sister-spoof show by the 8 Out Of 10 Cats crew; she’s also a successful author, pub-lover and Twitter hero. Susie gives us her take on some complicated and hard-hitting questions. Spoiler Alert – she says “flange”.

Plate or slate?

Either as long as there are no suspicious “foams” or fancy froths on them.

Pub or inn?

I’d actually prefer to ditch both in favour some of the old names for pubs: how about the fuddling shop, the rub-a-dub, or the Lushington crib?

Webster’s or Oxford English?

I love all dictionaries (though I’m not that familiar with the Urban one apparently). But the Oxford English Dictionary will always have my heart.

Pub grub or Michelin stars?

Definitely the first, mostly because I am addicted to chips.

Tankard or flute?

I think I’d have to choose the uncool one and say flute. I’m not much of a tosspot (originally someone who tossed back their tankard of beer and then immediately moved onto the next).

Petrichor or apricity?

Apricity, because I’m on a mission to rescue it from the obscure corners of our language. Who hasn’t savoured the warmth on their back on a winter’s day? It has only one record in the OED, but how have we ever lived without it? That said, petrichor is a gorgeous word that also fills a big gap. There is nothing quite like the smell of rain hitting dry earth.

Pork scratchings or monkey nuts?

I’m veggie so I’ll have the nuts please. Just don’t tell Jimmy Carr I said that.

Cockney or Devonian?

Much as I love rhyming slang, I’d have to say

Devonian, simply because “dimpsy”, meaning twilit, is one of my favourite words.

Crossword or Scrabble?

Crossword for sure. People always expect me to be a Scrabble ace, but I avoid it for fear of mixing it up with Countdown. The latter is all about the longest word, after all, plus we use a very different dictionary.

Pub quiz or karaoke?

Always the quiz, unsurprisingly. Karaoke is for solo singalongs in the car, and that’s it.

Bar billiards or fruit machine?

Becoming a good billiards player is on my bucket list. Fruit machines are lovely for five minutes, then the appeal (and cash) has gone.

Moist or gusset?

That’s cheating. They were always my top two most-hated terms (and never, ever put them together), but I think I’m over the M-word now. I’ve moved on to “flange”.

PUB GARDEN BINGO

Tick off these classic sights as you spot them this summer!

Ketchup-soaked serviettes, half a chicken burger and three crisp packets jammed into a pint glass by helpful customer lending staff a hand with clearing-up

Gang of small children re-enacting Lord of the Flies while their oblivious parents enjoy a few drinks

Middle-class mum sitting her kids down next to a table full of smokers then ostentatiously coughing and wafting away the smoke

Die-hard al fresco diners in coats, woolly hats and scarves

Two wasps breathing their last under an upturned pint glass

Metal dog bowl with blades of grass floating in it

Remote worker kidding themselves that they’re going to have a productive afternoon at the laptop in between sips of wine and Scampi Fries

Rain-soaked newspaper after the weather gods flipped the script on a sunny Sunday

Dog owner smiling indulgently and saying ‘he’s very friendly’ to fellow customer whose leg his dog is humping

Unsuited couple making uncomfortable small talk on their first date

“DAAAAVIIIIIIID? DAAAVIIIIIIIIIIIIID?

TWO FISH & CHIIIIIIIIIIPS?”

Staff member on heroic quest to hunt down the Wandering

Lunch Orderer

Nimby neighbour at the gate, surveying the scene of sun-kissed good cheer with a face like thunder

More successfully matched couple snogging passionately in front of a group of people eating their dinner

Chuckling parent photographing a baby reading a menu

Lovingly assembled but ultimately overlooked salad garnish languishing forlornly on a plate swept clear of chips

CaskMarque

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n Featured on the CaskFinder app - used 60,000 timesamonthtofindCaskMarquepubs

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