No one could fault Ralph Findlay, chief executive of Marston’s, for his F-Plan.
That is the females, family, food and forty-to-fiftysomething scheme to turn boozers into places people go to eat, drink and be merry.
For a national pub chain with more than 2000 outlets, finding a way to encourage customers to keep coming out even when austerity was pinching at its hardest was no mean feat.
A glance round the Pitcher & Piano, in Cornhill in the heart of the City, confirms that. Plenty of females — on both sides of the bar.
Good food being chomped at most tables. Age range pretty well bang on. And I wasn’t really expecting much in the way of families on a Thursday lunchtime in the Square Mile.
But the F-Plan is coming up to five years old. There is no reason to scrap something that has served Marston’s well for half a decade. But isn’t it time there was a new idea?
Findlay smirks. (I’m sorry, but there is no other word for it.)
“Well, we are working on something,” he admits. “We are calling it Plan B. That’s B for blokes.” Eh? Something specifically for blokes in this day and age? This does sound a bit radical.
Findlay hastens to reassure me: “Don’t forget that one of the keys to the success of the F-Plan was making sure that blokes carried on coming to the pubs alongside the females and families. That was relatively simple — make sure the beer was great.”
So what will Plan B involve? He turns the question round and asks it of me.
Skipping the obvious alliteration of busty barmaids and bar billiards, I think what I want from a pub.
Good beer is a given, and Marston’s with its five regional breweries can supply plenty of that.
Top sports, which Marston’s already has with deals with both Sky and BT Sports. More straightforward food — more ploughman’s and fewer fajitas. A lack of, or very low, piped music. Fair prices.
Not much to ask and not enough to crack what Findlay is planning. His is still a work in progress. “Why not ask your readers what they want?” he suggests.
So, there you go. What should Marston’s Plan B be?
