OMG! October 2013

OMG! October 2013

ORCHID MONTHLY GOSSIP

A SNEAKY TREAT!

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divas

new menu launch!

again!

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doing it

A TASTEr for

HALLOWEEN

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Pages 8 & 9

NOMINATION DEADLINE FRIDAY 18th OCTOBER 2013 Details on Page 3 OMG OMG

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NOMINATE NOW!

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HALO AWARDS 2014

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Top Tips

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Facebook

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SHOUT OUTS!

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Super impressed with a team member? Think they deserve some recognition?

Send your shout out to paul.holman@orchidgroup.co.uk

enn Mark W lyer High F @ the

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Whit @ t he C tak oulb in M er y iddle Farm s brou I wou ld lov gh

in Ely

t to shout ou e a large s. iv lli g -E to n a e I would lik hef Stacey Freem lly hard a C n d o a ti e p our H d exce od s and fo as worke Stacey h leanliness, stock en v e e W ec kitchen. e to get th th N in S t P the s righ standard r green visit from our ou om d fr e n w e llo re g fo le (first one h a doub audit wit arole Prince OSM hanged c C s a ly love since it w ll ery). We rv a c a to from y e c ta S done er! at the Fly everyone

e to g team .W ive Bank e have h a shout to m ad a Holid y n a grea t sum y weeke awesom e n mer d work a n with da ing raise their so everyon cks o e d mo ff! ne read y for y for cha We have myst all ke ery g rity, been pt faces huge sm uests an d ile . Well done s on our !

enton Ruth B n Point

noaks in Seve ut out

sho Crow t but my @ the n brillian Maria Allen. have bee

team anager, rned My whole inee Assistant M rd and tu a tr r g on boa nt support for in in a tr is for ou r e a e to a brilli s taken h Maria ha ellent waitress in e all have massiv c W x . e m n right a b te r e e h from a th e f v the rest o the customers lo me and nd d of her! for her a t very prou c e I'm y. resp lit a n d perso smile an

Message from the editor...

Two awards in three months… not too shabby!! le Following on from the Investors In Peop have team ing Train accolade, our brilliant won the Apprenticeship Newcomer may Employer of the Year title! The award istent cons the have come as a surprise but our of ent mitm quality, effort and com all Training team is something that we are team the to ns latio gratu Con of. re well awa on a fantastic achievement!

7 Let’s also not forget the important Mag ’ ents dpar Gran ely nam up, ing com dates ing offer Day and Halloween. We are also four loyalty card holders triple points for the 20th Sep een betw s rday Fridays and Satu

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and Oct 12th - don’t forget to let our customers know of this great offer at every opportunity!

Ps. Darren Traynor, I hope you’ve forgiven me for a mistake in September’s OMG! edition where you were mistakenly mentioned as an ‘Area Manager’ on page three. Perhaps I’ll d even the playing field and mention Davi or!! ervis Sup Ed’s y Fuzz a as l pbel Cam All the best,

Pa ul H.

pau l.hol man @or chid grou p.co

.uk

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October 2013 OMG!

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I’M BLUE DA-BA-DE, DA-BA-DI! OM CO PAG G! MP E ET 3 ITI ON !

SE ND U F DIG OR T S YO ITA HE UR GE L CA CHA NAUG N TS M H FE ERA CE T TY P O W IC IF MO ATU NT RED YOU IN A S H’S R I ISS N NE SNA UE XT P !

If the birds don’t come calling, there’s always an alternative!

Grant Tickell @ the Church Tavern, Birmingham.

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NOMINATE NOW! 14

NOMINATION DEADLINE FRIDAY 18th OCTOBER 2013 OMG OMG

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The online survey is up and running!

Go now to the site by using the QR code provided below or ask your Manager for the ‘Friday @ 4’ e-mail so you can click on the link.

DO IT NOW!

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OMG! WHAT ARE YOU

SHOUTING ABOUT! Our very own happy news stories from across Orchid A TRUE

ORCHID

HERO!

Linda Murch has be Essex for 30 year en working at the Rayleigh Lodge s! The team arrang in ed a secret surpris party for her back e in July which saw a huge attendance day was a great su . ccess and made Linda very happy. The are not many peop Th le same pub for over who can say they’ve worked in th ere e 30 years!

SANTA CLAUS IS COMINGTOTOWN! Bank Holiday Sunday saw the launch of the Christmas Menus and bookings at the Frogshole Farm in Crawley. The team ran Christmas lunch on the carvery and got into the Christmas spirit! They ended up taking two deposited Christmas Day bookings and one reservation for Christmas Fayre!

U O Y O D HOW AM?

DO M’A

from Wiggins , is e v a D f ooville ce Che Apprenti pecker in Waterl t d the Woo ork placement a eans we m w is a h T ce! off to g la a P m a h preparin Bucking e an O-Lander mp. v ta could ha at bird on the s e horse! th rv r e s fo ’t d foo esn pe he do Let’s ho

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MEXICANA TAKE-OVER! It was all tequila and nachos at the Hare & Hounds in Minworth last month as they hosted a themed Mexican karaoke night. It was a quality evening full of fun, entertainment, bad singing, dodgy moustaches and plenty of sombreros!!

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CHARITY ALE METER!

WE FOLLOW ORCHID PUBS WHO REALLY KNOW HOW TO DO THEIR BIT FOR CHARITY!

White Lyon & Dragon , Worplesdon

The team at th on Bank Holid e Anchor held a charity fu day consisted ay Sunday for Cancer Resendraiser castle for the of a charity football match arch. The kiddies, a raffl , There was also e and a live a bouncy some sensitive a sponsored waxing of musician. areas! Sounds delightful…

It was all go at Worplesd This open air, communityon’s Annual ‘Worpfest’ 2013! driven festival with loc bands, local beers and al loc Lyon & Dragon) raised al food (provided by the White mo ney for thr ee cha rities; Vaughan House, Guildf Hospice. Congratulationord Street Angels and Woking s on raising such a hug e amount!

BEEHIVE, WELWYN GARDE N CITY

£1000

a a playground for raised to help build ent s ev wa ve nt ssi ou ma am A is e.

Th ol called Lakesid local Primary Schotly organised and well attended. an illi br s wa ich wh

An exciting fundraising event was held recently at the Blackbrook Tavern. The team did a great job in raising £100 for local charities. Well done!

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NGTON I P R O , T R WHITE HA

Special

Story

£900 Blackbrook Taver n, Taunton

Anchor, Bexley

£2000

£100

Staff Membe r Vicki Smith ha with Arnold d been diagnosed Type 1 and poChiari Malformation sclerosis. Vickssible Multiple fund raising i arranged a day of UK within thto raise money for MS heads and doe pub. She and her sister Little Prince nated a large portion of shaved their ss Trust who th cancer. The da make wigs fo eir hair to The auction with y also included a raffle r children with goalkeeper glprizes including a signedand a silent in mid-Augusove! Vicki had her decomGordon Banks currently backt at King's College Hospi pression surgery forward to th at home recuperating. tal – she is The team lo e day when as one of theithey can welcome Claire ok ba r valued team members. ck

Wood pecke r, Wat erloo ville Th e Woodpecker raised this combined am hosting two events.

The first was for ‘Fo ount by otball For Cancer’ which they org The second was a ‘Pi anised by hosting a pub quiz. rate in the Caribbea n Night’ for the local scouts. Ha ts off to the team at the pecker!

Has your pub done something amazing for charity? Tell us about it and be next to feature in OMG!’s Charity Meter!

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OLTON TAVERN

There’s nothing quite like a close knit unit. Case in point: The Weston Family at the Olton Tavern, Solihull. I went to visit them on a wet Tuesday afternoon in September for 5 QUESTIONS, 5 ANSWERS

A Family A ffair

OMG!: So Chris, I hear you’re the man who knows everything and anything about the history of the Olton Tavern. After all, you tell me you’re a former researcher for the BBC! Could you briefly run through the history of this place?

Chris (Mark’s dad): “Of course, how long have you got! This site used to be an old stately hall called Olton Hall from the early 1600s right up until 1934 when it was sold. The building sat empty until 1937 when Ansells made a planning application to build a hotel. The Birmingham Council turned it down and said they could have a pub instead so in 1938 this building was built (over the basement of the original Olton Hall) and the pub opened in June 1938.

It continued as the Olton Hall until 1983 when it was sold to an American consortium who paid for a one million pound refurbishment and renamed it the Newport Diner. This lasted four years until it was renamed again as the Baltimore Diner. By 1989 the plug was pulled and the Spirit Pub Company took it on, converting it back into a pub/restaurant and changing the name again, this time to the Olton Tavern. Come 2006 the site was bought by Orchid and the rest, as they say, is history!”

OMG!: So Mark, how long have you been at the Olton Tavern?

Mark Weston (Manager): “Three months. I had been doing relief work in London for a few years and then had the opportunity to work here at the Olton with the investment on its way!”

OMG!: How was the re-opening for you and the team?

Mark: “Absolutely manic! When we opened on the 12th July it was between 30 and 35 degrees outside! 85% of the day’s trade was on drinks. Land Rover has a huge 24-hour factory next door and, due to the shift work, we had an influx of their employees from 12.00pm, 12.30pm, 5.00pm and 9.00pm! The problem was that none of the early arrivals were leaving! Come 11.00pm it was some challenge getting everyone to leave!”

OMG!: There’s some Weston family lovin’ happening at the Olton isn’t there?

Mark: “There’s certainly a few of us! Aside from myself, there’s my dad Chris who acts as host, waiter, gardener and Quizmaster.

We then have my wife Ewelina (who Mark met at the Moby Dick) who is our second Chef.

Her brother Dominic started on pot-wash but has now trained to become one of our Chefs since the re-opening.

Last but not least, there’s my mother Sarah who doesn’t work with the pub but without her none of this would be possible. She looks after our children Thomas (18 months) and Oliver (7 months) when Ewelina and I are working downstairs.”

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OMG!: I hear you’re writing a book on the pub?

Chris: “Yes I am! Due to the site being on the original grounds of the Medieval Olton Castle, built in the 12th Century, the publication will be titled ‘From Castle to Carvery’.

There’s plenty more history that I have found, including a Harry Potter connection, the old coach house and stables at the rear of the pub and underground passages in the basement. Look out for the book in the near future!“

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JUST AROUND THE CORNER… GRANDPARENTS’ DAY 6th October 2013 OrcAn

hid 1st

A fantastic opportunity for the entire family to get together to celebrate the important role of the grandparent.

Let’s promote this event as much as possible (you will find the day promoted on all of our till receipts!). We are also offering our loyalty card customers triple points on the big day so make sure they know about it!!

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HALLOWEEN 31st October 2013 Over the past few years Halloween has been creeping up on Christmas and Easter with its sales success so make sure you and your pub are part of the action!

Think of creating spooky cocktails with appropriately coloured products, pushing some seasonal winter beer or setting up a table for apple bobbing.

Get your staff in the spirit and ask them to dress up in scary costumes for the occasion. You could even combine Halloween with Bonfire Night (mulled wine, cider) and have a themed weekend from Thursday 31st Oct to Tuesday 5th Nov. Get planning now!!

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A HALLOWEEN TASTER… THREE NUNS, MIRFIELD

THE STORY...

Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1536 the Three Nuns gave refuge to Katherine Grice, Joan Leverthorpe and Cecilia Topcliffe, three nuns from Kirklees Priory, from whom the establishment’s name was later taken.

A local tradition claims Grice was seduced by one of Henry VIII’s commissioners and upon discovering she was pregnant, committed suicide by drowning herself in the adjacent stream known as Nunbrook.

The Three Nuns building was derelict until 1939 when it was entirely rebuilt. The foundations of the original Three Nuns now lie hidden beneath the pub’s car park. A haunting at the Three Nuns was first reported in 1983 during a period when the pub was closed for renovation work. Pub Manager, Ian Thompson,

RECENT HAPPENINGS! The fun doesn’t stop there, oh no! There is a rocking horse in the basement at the Three Nuns… apparently it was fixed by one of the members of the team a few years ago and put back in its rightful place. A few days later he found £15 laid down on the Rocking Horse with the Queen’s Head looking up at him. He asked everyone if they had lost some money and even re-counted the day’s takings in case money was missing from the safe. Nothing was missing. The legend is that the rocking horse paid him for fixing him. …and just to add a bit a spice to this already haunted story, the pub’s beer garden is a stone’s throw away from Robin Hood’s grave!!

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said he had been disturbed by poltergeist phenomena such as cold spots in the cellar, slamming doors and beer taps turning on unaided. On one occasion when he’d been waiting alone for his colleagues, he’d heard mysterious footsteps coming from a room above. A thorough search of the building revealed it to be completely deserted.

Meanwhile, other workmen onsite described the touch of icy hands and even witnessed the apparition of a veiled figure!

Thompson believed the trouble had started with the discovery of a finely-carved ram’s head hidden on the reverse side of an oak panel over a fireplace, which they’d subsequently removed. The panel was later returned to its original position and the phenomena allegedly calmed slightly, bolstered by an exorcism in 1991.

However, many years later, the landlord received a complaint from a guest who claimed he was being watched by a tall grey figure with a beard, who subsequently disappeared. Perhaps the spirits have not been laid fully to rest!!

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PARANORMAL NIGHT

SALES IDEAS, TIPS AND ADVICE!

IDEA

“The Three Nuns have had psychic events before and when we started at the pub they approached us.”

“All the company want is your space and a buffet for their guests. They come in about half-past eight, set up quietly in a corner and then, once the customers arrive, the company takes over.”

PLAN

METHOD - “We provide a buffet and they do all the rest, we don’t lose trade as the pub would be closed anyway and they pay us £400 to use it.”

COSTS - “£40 for the buffet.”

PROMOTION - “They promote the event and gave us posters and banners to put up.”

TEAM INVOLVEMENT - “All staff are welcome to join the evening for free, although some were a bit scared as they had to come back into work the next day!’’

EVENT

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Pub Contact Details: Caroline Pearce and Rob Lindsley (Three Nuns)

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“They are coming back in September and they are also going to use the George and Dragon - we have some spooky pubs out there!’’

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EVALUATION

EVALUATION – RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI) TOTAL SPEND - £0 TOTAL SALES - £400 for hire and £50 for sales of drinks and snacks to the crew ROI - £450

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New Menu Launch!

At the start of September, our Managers and Head Chefs all went to the Development Kitchen for a two-day training session on the new Great British Carvery Autumn Menu launch. The teams were all taught how to prepare the new dishes (which included a hands-on teaching of how to prepare ‘the perfect carve’ – a serving of 5 ounces!), to up-sell and how best to promote the Menu.

Take a look at some of our delectable new dishes …

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s n i w d i h c OrApprenticeship Newcomer

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employer of theYear!

inst? a g a p u e w e er w o h W The Award was open to all sectors so we were not just up against pub companies but also businesses from a variety of industries, including some very big names.

Congratulations to our fantastic Training and Development team:

How did we achieve th is?

Luc

yC Devel opme raig nt Ma nager

ead ons Tracy R & Communicati

ment Develop Head of

Receiving our award!

lent excel volved t e g in s lway everyone chemes, a e “W from us ip s ck icesh staff tell e a t b n e d r e th fe r App again ciate in ou ime and ey appre ies they t and t much th pportuni .” o how pment Orchid o devel get with

Josie Sam and

FANCY BEING A PART

OF OUR TRAINING?

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We have been acknowledged for our vast array of tremendous Apprenticeship schemes and hands-on approach to training and developing our own people.

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We offer our people a fantastic range of Apprenticeship schemes. These include cookery at the Thai Dragon Restaurants, customer service skills for the Supervisors at our Fuzzy Ed’s Funhouses and various opportunities for Chefs and Front of House teams across the UK.

We work with Apprentice 1st whose NVQs and Apprenticeships all link up to our fabulous Orchid courses.

For more information, contact either Andy or Caroline:

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Quality & Delivery Co-ordinator andyt@apprentice1st.co.uk 07720497178

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Recruitment Placement Officer admin@apprentice1st.co.uk 07871715491

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Andy Tait

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ployer omer Em ip Newc ard h es c ti Appren f the Year Aw o

Caroline Farrow

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‘H in ts &

Facebook Here are some top tips from our team to keep your Facebook page up to date! #ThomasPage King’s Head Hotel, Hoveton “I regularly update our page and have found that getting Thomas everyone involved (chefs, waitresses, locals) helps spread the word of the pub. I’m constantly getting messages from people who previously lived in the area who comment about their memories of the place. My handy hint would be to keep it simple - nobody wants to read a longwinded status update. As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words!”

Ti ps ’

attract someone’s attention. We’ve started a quiz night with a parmo and a pint on Mondays and, having advertised heavily on our page, we’re seeing fantastic attendance with regular teams re-attending. If you ask me, anyone not using Hootsuite is crazy… it’s free and a brilliant interactive way to get customers involved!”

#AmandaBuchanan Anson, Wallsend “One of the things we did via our Facebook page, which got us a few new likes, was to buy a lucky dip lottery ticket then nda Ama upload a photo of the ticket to our page. We then wrote a message to go with the photo that said if we won the jackpot, anyone who had liked our page or liked/shared the photo would get a share of the winnings!”

#JennyWhittaker Coulby Farm, Coulby Newham “We are seeing huge success from promoting on Facebook. I use the Hootsuite app on my mobile, so whenever I get a spare moment I pop on a post or schedule a few to update throughout the day.

Jenny Pictures are a great way to

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Facebook Posts of the month!

See who’s been saying what on their Facebook page this month…

Orchid Training & Development Facebook Page has re-launched before the end of 2013!!!

If you haven’t already, make sure you ‘like’ our Training and Development page to keep abreast of all our exciting stories! We’ve got over 200 likes already. Let’s get to 500 before Christmas!!!!

P.S. Make sure you ‘like’ our Orchid pubs and Dining main page too for all our thrilling news and competitions! Our target is 7,500 ‘likes’ before the end of 2013!

‘Like’ us NOW and spread the word!!

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www.orchidgroup.co.uk

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OrchidLoyalty Cards There’s nothing better than providing our customers with the very best offers. Our Loyalty Cards,

Diamond, Slice & Our Family are all fantastic examples of this.

To ensure that our customers know about all our fantastic latest offers, let’s make sure we...

• Let them know the cards exist!!

At every opportunity, mention the cards to our customers – a great time to mention is during a transaction.

• Set up a ‘loyalty card area’ somewhere in the pub

– whether it’s a table by the entrance or an area of the bar, make sure to reserve space solely for promoting the cards and offers!

• Processing applications – try to send off your applications weekly. It’s important to catch the information as soon as we can!

We are currently offering triple points to our loyalty card holders for each Friday and Saturday from 20th September to 12th October.

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WWW.3DPUBSPORT.CO.UK

OCTOBER FIXTURES

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October 2013 OMG!

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Sport

GIVING OUR CUSTOMERS EVEN MORE

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WWW.3DPUBSPORT.CO.UK

TAPPING INTO

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Sport

HAPPINESS FOR A BUSY PUBLICAN, SOCIAL MEDIA MIGHT SEEM LIKE A BRIDGE TOO FAR. BUT WITH MORE AND MORE CUSTOMERS USING APPS ON THEIR PHONES, IT’S TIME FOR YOU GUYS TO GET INVOLVED.

GIVING OUR CUSTOMERS EVEN MORE

All pubs should be aware of various apps that their customers could be looking at and it’s worth taking the time to understand these.

Below are three examples of popular pub-related apps (make enquiries with the providers if your pub is not mentioned on their app and you believe it should be):

MATCHPINT Aimed at pubs who show live football matches; customers can search for local pubs and bars in the area that are televising any matches.

INAPUB

Lists details of pubs across the UK for users to search for pubs via location or via the facilities they offer such as pubs with fires or pubs with gardens.

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PUB EXPLORER Provides customers with a list of pubs for a selected location.

This can be done by typing in the town, village or postcode of the area you wish to search for. They can also search using options like ‘sky sports’ or ‘live music’.

REMEMBER Check yourself on Google – type your pub name in (and your area if you have a popular pub name!) to monitor your online presence. Check for trip advisor comments, pub guide, etc.!