CHARLES WELLS LICENSEES SPRING INTO SUMMER
Fifty licensees running a Charles Wells pub have picked up a sales building gauntlet thrown down by the company and are springing into summer.
The company is encouraging licensees to drive trade during March and April through a programme of planned activity around key events or local favourites in their spring into summer promotion. Each week, the licensee who increases their trade by the highest percentage over the same period last year will receive a ‘spot’ prize designed to have a practical and positive impact on their business with prizes including a chalkboard artist for the day, a pub website with one years hosting fees and garden centre vouchers. One of the more unusual options is to ‘win a Wells for a day’ with Peter Wells, Sales and Marketing Director offering to work a shift in the pub!
The best performers in March and April will receive a trade account credit of £1000 and the licensees registering the top five highest percentage increases overall will be entered into a draw to win a two day trip to the company’s Bombardier pub in Paris.
Peter Wells commented “We know that community pubs can increase footfall and sales by hosting a planned programme of events and want to reward our licensees who put in the time and effort to become the best in their area. The spring into summer promotion gives practical help, advice and materials for licensees to improve on their own performance this time last year and claim some reward from us at the same time.”
To coincide with the campaign, Charles Wells has launched a promotional folder ‘The Power of Pub Events’ which acts as both a stimulant of ideas and a reference source. It outlines why community engagement is so important and breaks down events into an easy to follow green, amber and red system.
“In the face of increased off-trade competition, the traditional British pub needs to have a clear understanding of how to stand out” explained Peter Wells. “For many pubs this means becoming the heart of their community through a planned programme of events – from karaoke and quizzes, themed nights and parties through to attracting local group meetings or organising their own beer festival. “Some licensees have told us that they want to hold events but aren’t always sure what’s involved or where to start with the organisation and we remain committed to helping our licensees develop their business. By launching this pub event brochure to coincide with the Spring into Summer challenge, they have comprehensive building tools that will be useful well beyond the initial two month promotional period.”
Pubs expressing an interest in taking part received a personal visit from the operations and marketing teams to talk them through Spring into Summer and explain how ‘The Power of Pub Events’ can help them deliver increased profits in the short and long-term. The folder provides a step by step guide to events from the easy to organise at low cost through to the more complicated and higher to resource promotional opportunities, thus driving a greater return. A pack of posters, promotional planners and events calendars was also provided to give licensees materials to work with immediately.
During the Spring into Summer campaign, all participating pubs will receive weekly updates on their own performance and their percentage performance against other entrants.
The individual winners who topped the tables in the first two weekly competitions were The Cross Keys in Milton Keynes and The Foresters Arms in Bedford who recorded fantastic increases of 57% and 67% respectively. Their programmes of activity included everything from live acoustic music sets and Saturday night disco through to a meat raffle. Initial figures show that average sales of the participating pubs are up 5% year on year with licensees working hard on their promotional plans to help increase turnover and their chance to walk away with a prize.
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For immediate release: Monday 4th April 2011
For further information, contact: Kate Hempsall, Charles Wells Pub Company
Tel: +44 (0)1234 272625
