Linda Vanner

The Royal Oak,
Stafford

Contents

The Business.

~Competitors, market place and market trends.
~The Customer (guest) profile & local Community
~S.W.O.T. Analysis.

Business Opportunities.

~Sales building, Cost & profitability.
~Timeslot analysis.
~Financial Planning and monitoring.
~Team Building, Service and Standards.
~Opportunities

Short, Medium and Long Term Planning

Achievement and measures of success within –
~One Week
~One Months
~Six Months
~Twelve Months
Competitors, market place and market trends

The Royal Oak is situated between two large housing estates at the South locale of Stafford. It is close and easily accessible to Junction 15 of the M6, and within 5 driving minutes to the Junction 15 business park. It is also on the main route to Stafford town with frequent bus links. There is little competition within walking distance of The Oak, The Westway on Highfields having closed down and closest competitor, The Rickerscote Arms is a poorly run tenancy with inconsistent trading patterns

The Guest profile & Local Community

The business looks to and should appeal to a broad base market of the local community, blue collar and white collar, family groups, diners and male drinkers. The well set out areas clearly define drinking zones and seating for dining and families. The gardens outside are well maintained and attractive and should offer huge appeal to all in the summer.
S.W.O.T. Analysis

Strengths Brand is perfect for the area. Beer garden a huge asset Location should attract footfall visitors and passing trade Great Value menu and strong food offer.
Large well laid out pub with clearly defined areas for food and drinking
Well established core locals trade that can be built on
Great green Card offer to build sports loyalty.
Well decorated function room that could be utilized for many different purposes
Few competitors within walking distance

Weaknesses Poor standards at time of visit as the pub looked unkempt with glasses and plates littering the pub, and external areas very scruffy and untidy.
Poor NSF scores, shoddy hygiene and cleanliness and management standards throughout the business.
Fractured, demotivated team due to poor leadership.
Reputation of the Oak isn't great due to inconsistent standards and performance, was quite widely slated on a local Facebook site, “New Spotted Stafford” last year.
Poor Empathica scores and response rate.
Opportunities.
Wet sales growth through maximisation of Green Card, Charity nights, darts, dominoes and pool teams, quizzes and fun days/BBQs outside.
Push for food growth through consistently delivering quality.
Well kept cask ale and greater interaction and better relationship with Staffordshire CAMRA.
Increased utilisation of the function room for parties, functions and business use.
Improved reputation by delivering flawless execution from all the team, all the time.
Build links with a broad base of the local community by using digital marketing of the pub more effectively.
Market the function room for hire to corporate users due to convenient accessibility to the M6.
Liaise with local funeral directors to ensure the pub function facilities are endorsed by them as a recommended location.

Threats. Plenty of other pubs to drink in Stafford. Poor reputation discouraging new users. Needs to be tackled quickly before it slips further.

The current Standards and Team

On my last visit the carpark and approach to The Royal Oak was poor, littered with chip papers etc and ashtrays overflowing. Xmas POS still not changed and emanating a general air of neglect which did not tempt me to venture any further.
The pub itself was just OK, not blowing my mind, quite dusty and lacking attention to detail and the team made no attempt to welcome or draw me into the pub, interact or converse with me. Nothing was recommended or sold and huge opportunities to create a vibrant and welcoming buzz were missed. The pub was extremely quiet for a weekend evening but in terms of service excellence, it just wasn't delivering. No personality, no soul, I wouldn't choose to stay. These are quick win opportunities to bring the Oak back to life!

Business Opportunities

Sales Building, cost and Profitability

The Royal Oak should be the biggest threat to any other pub within the local community, a giant of a pub with facilities to offer that no one else has, location, size, gardens, and brilliant footfall it should be absolutely buzzing with vibrancy and life and it currently just isn't even in the game! Planning needs to be put into place now to ensure the sales decline is stopped and the pub shows growth quickly. The following should be implemented: Digital marketing via Facebook post outreach promotion would help the pub reach in excess of 3000 local people per targeted post should be used to maximise green card offers and increase buy in to that offer, as well as boosting engagement in the current quiz nights. Summer planning needs to be started to ensure maximisation of outside trading space this summer, again via digital marketing, local awareness, and a charity event with local ties needs to be organised to put the pub back on the map with the local area. Frequent BBQs, fun days, bouncy castle, petting zoos, craft stalls etc could easily be arranged to bring people in this summer. The beer garden at the pub has no rival in terms of size and facility and is a huge draw to the pub. This summer the garden will look amazing, fairy lights, umbrellas, lanterns on the tables at night, menus out to entice food all day and a team trained and geared up to smash it this year. I would look to do a mail shot to local businesses, schools, residential homes etc. to remind Stafford what the Royal Oak has to offer. I will also be targeting local funeral directors to build a relationship with them so that they recommend the Oak and display our menu options in their businesses to clients. I did this at The Three Blackbirds and it generated a lot of money for me in daytime slots for funeral trade when the pub would usually be under utilized and quiet. The Oak needs to re establish it's locals feel with reinstating darts, dominoes and pool leagues, all of which have a strong following in Stafford. The quiz nights should be reviewed and revitalised with the view to establishing two quiz nights a week, timed to ensure that people arrive first to eat before it begins. The fun element of a quiz is paramount so the right presenter is crucial. Green Card should be huge at this pub and the value offer should result in match times being packed out. Again, it needs refreshed and relaunched with the team buying into it and selling the offer. This currently isn't happening and team training needs to happen to ensure that they are selling and buying into everything the Brand is all about. I am an active CAMRA member and a 2014 award winner and strongly advocate working with CAMRA to raise the profile of the pub. Ideally I would like to investigate offering the CAMRA member discount scheme and open the real ale range up at the Oak to make use of my skills and knowledge with Ale and build the Real Ale trade opportunity at The Oak. Mid Staffordshire CAMRA is a very active branch with a large amount of members, and their patronage not just increases sales but raises the pub profile through free advertising and features in their magazine. I have strong links already with a local brewer, Slaters and they would be a great business to continue to liase with. I would also like to market the function room facilities as business facilities as the locale of The Royal Oak and it's accessibility to the M6 means that it is an attractive and convenient meeting room that hasn't been utilized to it's maximum potential outside M&B corporate clientèle. It will be easy to advertise and promote this asset to a wider business audience. I would look to start planning Xmas no later than June, there is a huge opportunity for additional party nights and functions at this pub, if planned, organized and thought through in good time before other venues.
I would like to turn The Royal Oak back into the hub of the community. Plenty going on, fun and relaxed a place for friends and family to get together and socialise in a comfortable relaxed environment with good quality products on offer at competitive prices. A place you can go to any day of the week with great social involvement through the management, staff and the wider community as a whole.

Financial Planning and Monitoring

Wages need controlled. Stocks and cash always need focus. Entertainment spends needs a lid on it and structure is needed to the overall planning and tightening of the business.

Team Building, Service and standards

I believe this is is an area to focus on , as continuous short training sessions, personal development plans and team involvement really boost confidence, increase loyalty and retention and benefit the customers hugely. I think that the unit would need a strong assistant manager and two team leaders. I believe in leading by example and think improvements should almost be instant although it would take a while to bring it to where it should be due to current lax standards and poor morale .However, with a bit of TLC, letting everyone know their value and training all the team quickly to deliver flawlessly every time we would see instant improvement and buy in from the team at The Oak.

Opportunities

There are huge opportunities for the ingoing manager within this business to drive it forward and produce and deliver a really great pub that sets the bar way above all that competitors have to offer. I think that with my strong links to Stafford and local knowledge of the area combined with my experience within the industry I will really give you a pub that you can be proud of.

Short, medium and long term planning

In the first week of management at The Royal Oak I would have expected to have had a much needed team meeting introduce myself and put forward my plans, expectations, and Standards. This week would be vital to get the team used to me and how I operate and to feel relaxed around me..
Within a month I would have a real ‘feel’ for The Royal Oak and would have set my standards within the unit. Training sessions would have been completed and I would expect to start seeing a positive change within the team, stock and customer’s perceptions of The Royal Oak.. The clientele base should be slowly changing and cleaned up at this point with a no nonsense attitude bring a more relaxed atmosphere for both team and customer. All merchandising, promotions and advertising should be up to date bringing a clear understanding to the guest of what is on offer.
Within six months of being at the business Training sessions should have been completed on every aspect of the business including Customer Service Training. Results showing in the customer feedback, stronger sales, improved profitability and good stocks. I would have Assistant manager and team leader work books long underway now bring more confidence, understanding, pride and stability. Sales building exercises should all be in place by now – acoustic nights, Quiz nights, darts and pool teams, Great quality food, service and standards.
Within a year of operating the business all aspects of training, team building and sales building will see profits rise with a well managed more controlled P&L and the unit making budget.