David & Mel Cook, The Swan with Two Nicks, Sharnbrook
It's no accident of geography that The Swan with Two Nicks is at the heart of the village of Sharnbrook in Bedfordshire.
Since taking over last September, licensees David and Mel Cook have done everything to ensure it is THE place to go – and their growing sales figures prove they are achieving their goal.
The fact that sales in the first three months of this year were well up on the last three months of last year, is even more amazing because The Swan is their first pub!
David told Eagle Star: “Mel had worked a pub for a couple of years but I left industry to pursue my dream of having a pub.
“It is going extremely well. We have bucked the trend.”
How have they done that?
“It’s a cliché, but the pub is the hub of the village. We are in the high street, centrally positioned, but we look on ourselves as much in the entertainment business as we are in the business of selling beer.”
Running the pub is a family affair – when David or Mel aren’t behind the bar, son Alex is.
David was previously co-owner of a paper cutter manufacturing business, responsible for sales and marketing. Now his skills are used in a different direction, but no less effectively.
He is a passionate fan of cask beer. Wells Eagle IPA and Young’s Special account for more than half his wet sales – and wet sales represent 80 per cent of total sales.
David reckons that most of Sharnbrook turned out for his beer festival on the first May bank holiday. Apart from the 10 ales on sale in the village’s marquee, there was a live band and disco. Admission was free and that encouraged a full house.
The pub offers food at every session except Sunday night. “It’s traditional, unpretentious pub grub, like fish and chips and bangers and mash,” said David.
Cook Sue Yana runs a popular monthly Saturday night karaoke session, and there are speciality food nights, where David and Mel bring in local specialists in Italian or Asian food.
The Swan hosts meetings of local societies and groups and private parties. “The accent is always on fun,” said David. “It is such a delight for us to see that our efforts are being rewarded for simply doing what we think is right.”
David and Mel have a simple business ethic. “We were regular pub goers and we run the pub exactly like a pub we would want to go into,” he said.
“The Swan is the place to be to meet your mates, have some fun, enjoy a good pint and some good scoff.”
Some of the couple's innovations include:
• In most pubs you would be prevented from bringing in your own food – but on Sunday nights, it is positively encouraged at The Swan.
“We don’t serve food on a Sunday night so I encourage customers to bring in a takeaway! They come in with a Chinese takeaway or a curry. I would rather they came in and ate their own food but drank my beer than stay away.”
• The couple have introduced a full Sky sports schedule to the pub. They plan to improve the pub’s ‘sun trap’ courtyard, turning into a pleasant drinking area – and have just introduced a mid-week poker league.
