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| Plough Inn near Kidderminster: PLOUGH INN ON CALL |
Kidderminster pub in line for 'Customer Service Pub Of The Year' - with help of CST.
The WaiterCall and CustomerCall paging systems from Call-Systems Technology are making a huge difference to an award-winning Worcestershire pub's service, turnover and profits.
The Plough Inn, at Far Forest, Kidderminster, is a family pub in the truest sense of the word. The Giles family, now in its third generation in the trade, took over the free house two-and-a-half years ago, mum and dad Louise and Mark, with sons Adam and Ben, the licensee. Last year The Plough was a finalist in Publican magazine's 'Pub of the Year' Awards, and in 2005 it's up for Customer Service Pub of the Year.
The Plough Inn is phenomenally popular. Perhaps its biggest attraction is the 160-seat restaurant, which on Sundays, Bank Holidays and other special days typically serves over 600 lunches. Indeed, the record is 667 lunches in one day.
"Our speciality is the carvery," says Adam, the front of house manager. "We even brand ourselves 'England's number one carvery'. Every Sunday lunchtime we offer six meats --Aberdeen Angus beef, lamb, pork, turkey, venison and ham, with a choice of 14 vegetables. But not everybody wants to eat from the carvery, so we also have a range of á la carte meals like shoulder of lamb in minted gravy or Aylesbury duckling."
To stay on top of such a busy operation requires careful organisation, and CST's WaiterCall and CustomerCall paging systems have been a great help. "We aim to serve our customers at the bar within three minutes and at the carvery inside five minutes," Adam adds.
The restaurant is divided into five zones, each with its own waiting staff. On the pub's busy days a hostess greets customers immediately as they arrive instead of making them queue, and if a table is not available she hands them a CustomerCall pager. This alerts them when the table is ready, allowing them to go to the bar while they wait without losing their place in the line.
If they opt for a starter or dessert, or go for the á la carte menu, they will be served at the table rather than going to the carvery for their food. For these occasions, the waiting staff are also equipped with pagers, this time the WaiterCall system. This lets the staff member know when the order is ready and eliminates the need to keep checking at the hot plate.
"The pagers have played a major role in improving customer service," says Adam, "and I believe they are part of the reason we have been nominated for the Customer Service Award. They have made the waiting staff more conscious of looking after their customers and tips have increased phenomenally as a result.
"Our dessert sales have also more than doubled, from around 80-90 per meal time to 180-200. Hot beverages have also shown significant increase."
The pub has worked out its own call system for the staff. One buzz indicates an order is ready to collect; three buzzes means the chef needs to see the waitress about an order; and two buzzes, which are sounded every half hour, calls the staff member to the kitchen for a hygiene check, which means they have to stop what they are doing and go and sterilise their hands with an alcohol rub. "We take hygiene seriously," Adam adds.
CST produces a wide range of award-winning paging and communications products for the hospitality industry. Clients include Whitbread, Spirit Group, Jarvis Hotels, Center Parcs, JD Wetherspoon and many others.
WaiterCall and CustomerCall are wireless systems, so there are no intrusive cables to get in the way. Economic to purchase and with zero running costs, they demonstrated their capacity for producing extra revenue at the Plough immediately, and so were able to repay their investment within weeks.
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Call-Systems Technology Ltd, Middlesex House, 29-45 High Street, Edgware, Middlesex HA8 7UU |
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