00:00Last week that you won the Best Pub in Hampshire, the Best Pub and Bar Awards, so yeah, how did you feel about that?
00:05Yeah, I'm really excited. It's all about that kind of reward and recognition piece, so we put our names into it, we went to the competition, put all the details in, they review it, they come down and have a look at the pub.
00:17And then we got an email through saying we'd made it through to the finalists, which was amazing, so it's the Regent, and it all pops up with Hampshire and Dorset, and there was our name, so it was really exciting actually, I wasn't expecting it.
00:29Yeah, perfect, it was a ceremony in London, wasn't it?
00:31Yeah, so it was at a place called the Big Penny Social, there's about 600 people there, all from, you know, all across the industry, all across the country in the UK, so really big event, a lot of supplies there, lots of drinks, instant meeting, really hosted well, like light, spank, a little bit, and then, yeah, as we go through the evening, there we were.
00:52So, yeah, great, did they give you kind of detail about it in terms of breakdown, in terms of why you're chosen as winner at all?
00:59So, what they do is, afterwards, you kind of have a quick chat about kind of what they were looking for, they were looking for a community support, they were looking for development in team, they were looking for a drive and everything within our entry pack, and as they came down having a chat with the team, the engagement piece, just said they came across really well with everything that we're doing here, sort of really impressed, and that's why we ended up winning.
01:24So, yeah, and this was entered into the awards, is that right?
01:27Yes, yes, so when these awards come out, so you basically get the option to enter, so you pay an entry fee, to kind of get into the first stage, you then break details down of your business, why you think you should go to the next stage, second stage is then kind of really driving down everything you do, what your team development's like, why you drive your business, what you're doing in a local community, your events, now after that, you get to the next stage is when they kind of come down,
01:54unannounced, they have a look around, they see the engagement in the team, make sure you're saying everything that you're doing, and it's all about the look and feel on the day, and like I say, sometimes it's great, sometimes you can go on an off day, but they came in and they had a great visit, and that, yeah, that puts you into the finalist pub.
02:11Obviously these national awards, obviously other county awards are good to have, but what do you think makes this pub so popular?
02:17So, we're in a great location, which is, you know, it's half the battle, but the rest of it is, we are continuously driving our quiet times, we look at why we're quiet, and we put things on, we do huge amounts, massive fireworks, raft race events, you know, still doing weekly quiz and poker, but then we concentrate on making sure that our food business is on point for where it needs to be, and again, with all that, the team are just so engaged, you know, we have a really, really strong team that drives our reputation,
02:47reputation, and that's the biggest thing of all, you know, you can have a great location, but without reputation, you know, you're losing, and, you know, I've been here eight years now, and it's been a big drive, and a lot of the team have been here, you know, four or five years along with me, so, yeah, we're in a great place with that.
03:02Yeah, as you say, it's a great location, and obviously, Hayley Island's rigging quite a few people coming through the summer, but I imagine, kind of, what you've got here, you've got quite a good core group of locals as well?
03:10We do, we have a strong core group of locals, but the ship itself brings so many people, especially what we do, so we'll have business people in, staying at the hotels, people coming down from the seaside, just visiting for the day, there are groups who come in for our quiz night, then we have the groups that come in just for a drink on a Friday night, so, if you name it, we have a demographic that comes in, and we've really found the balance to keep everybody happy, and then within, like I say, we do some huge things, huge events that really just bring everybody together on the most key days.
03:41Obviously, you mentioned the food there, so, yeah, so, what kind of top of food do you serve here?
03:44So, we try and do a balance, we try and do some quite classic food, you know, we've got the scampi, we've got the fish and chips, I love the fish and chips and the pies, but then we try and elevate that for our dining base, our guests basically serve as a restaurant, and we'll have, you know, seabree schnitzels on, a lot of fresh fish, I think a couple weeks ago, we had the big tomahawk steaks on, you know, we'll get it all in, and then, you know, we keep it quite casual, you've got naturals,
04:10the sun camera there, and the mesi platas where you're sat by the sea, so, we do a bit of everything to keep everyone happy.
04:17And you mentioned events as well, so, have you got anything coming up?
04:19We've got some huge things coming up. We've got Shakespeare by the Sea, that's on Wednesday, the week after, we have Opera by the Sea, they're fantastic.
04:26We've got our gin night this Saturday, Rath Race is on the 26th, then we go into our Tiki Thursdays over summer, then we do our big pride party at the end of the summer,
04:35then we're into our Octoberfest, then we're into our massive fireworks, free fireworks event, we've got a huge Christmas light switch on,
04:42and then everything that we do over Christmas, New Year's Eve party, and then we start giving bad burns night, and off we go for the new year.
