Spirits Pub 21/10/09 16:00 Page 36
36 Monday 26/10/09 thePublican Book your tickets today at www.thepublicanfda.com
The finalists
SPIRITS PUB OF THE YEAR
THE GREAT EASTERN
Brighton, East Sussex
Will Cheeseman
The Great Eastern is a leasehold pub that has little outdoor space but has
countered this by developing the unique selling point of offering an unrivalled
selection of American whiskey. This has proved popular and rewarded
management with a loyal base of regular customers.
Describe your spirits offering and how you provide range and choice to
your customer base
The pub prides itself on not only offering a selection of cask ales but also a
wide selection of spirits that focuses on the premium end of the market. Will
says: “We offer a range across all the key spirit categories ,with premium prod-
ucts in each category. We’ve 15 rums, 20 scotch whiskeys, a few gins and some
cognacs.” But it is the US whiskeys that are the main focus, with 60 available.
The mix evolves as the pub tries to secure bottles of small batches with many THE FACTS
rare varieties. It now accounts for 40 per cent of the pub’s total spirits sales.
• Type of pub: Leasehold
What innovations have you used in order to make your offer a • Wet/dry split: 100/0
success? (it is run as a
The pub secured a single barrel of Jack Daniel’s and the bottles quickly sold concession)
out. Another innovation is the Bourbon Club that each month involves a • Best selling spirit:
representative from the key brands providing a tasting and describing their Eldorado 15-year-old
production process. This is promoted via the club’s website and Facebook • Price of double gin &
page. The Cajun food and live music also complements the whiskey selection,
SAINT JAMES
tonic: £5
with blues and rockabilly a regular feature. • Employees: 6
What training do you provide for your staff in order to maintain high
Brighton, East Sussex
standards?
John Young
The Bourbon Club provides insight for staff members, and Will says the team
are also encouraged to take up the invites to tastings that the pub receives
from the major producers. In addition, Will passes on his own knowledge: “I Three years ago the management of Saint James decided to focus on rum
gauge who is interested and try to give them the knowledge that will help and now it has one of the best selections in the country, which has enabled
them to improve the levels of customer service.” the leasehold town-centre pub to differentiate itself from the strong local
competition.
Why should you win this award?
While many small landlocked pubs have struggled after the smoking ban, Will Describe your spirits offering and how you provide range and choice to
says the Great Eastern continues to do well: “We’ve hit all our targets and are your customer base
thriving.” The unique spirits range and keen Out of a total range of 130 spirits the pub has an impressive selection of more
THE FACTS
pricing, within a traditional pub environment, than 80 rums, with John stating that all the Caribbean islands and various
continue to prove popular. styles are represented: “We try to cover all types –from drier vegetal varieties
that are not regularly seen to the sweeter rums and white versions.” With the
• Type of pub: Leasehold other spirits, he says the pub attempts to “cover the best in each category” at
• Wet/dry split: 100/0 value prices. “We’ve premium spirits but not at premium prices,” he says.
(it is run as a
concession) What innovations have you used in order to make your offer a
• Best selling spirit: success?
Maker’s Mark The Rum Club involves monthly visits from ‘ambassadors’ of the major suppli-
• Price of double gin & ers and distillers that regularly attract up to 40 people. “We are trying to get
tonic: £4.60 people off rum and cola, so these events help by involving free tastings,” he
• Employees: 8 says, adding that the introduction of good-value rums has also helped intro-
duce more people to the spirit.
What training do you provide for your staff in order to maintain high
standards?
All employees attend the West Indian Rum and Spirits Association course as
well as receiving ongoing training on products from John. The regular visits
from suppliers also help educate the pub’s bar team to then help customers.
“Bartending became too serious, with people preaching to customers. We like
to give our staff knowledge that the customers can then use if they wish,” he
explains.
Why should you win this award?
By focusing on spirits and especially its rum offering, Saint James has contin-
ued to see sales of lager fall and spirits rise to the point that they both now
represent 30 per cent of wet sales. This compares with spirits accounting for
only 19 per cent a year ago, and John says the pub is seeing monthly
increases, which is helping it achieve healthy margins.
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72