North West-based brewer and pub retailer Hydes is gearing up for a bumper festive period with bookings for 2024 already at maximum capacity for Christmas day dinners.
The family-owned independent business reports that Christmas Day bookings for pubs across its estate were already at 75% capacity by July.
Last year, over 1,000 6-7kg turkey crowns were served to visitors to Hydes premium dining pubs between 22 November – 31 December, equating to over 12,500 Christmas dinners and resulting in Hydes’ most successful Christmas on record. In addition to turkey, 3,600 braised feather blades of beef portions were also sold to guests.
Over the festive period last year, Hydes chefs served up 10.6 tonnes of potatoes, 3.5 tonnes of carrots, 3.2 tonnes of swede and 1.6 tonnes of sprouts.
Hydes’ catering development manager David Oldham predicts that advance sales of turkey Christmas dinners are already significantly up on last year, resulting in a 10% uplift in sales for 2024.
In accounts for the year to 31 March 2024, Hydes reported turnover of £39.3m, up £5m from the previous year.
David commented:
“We start planning our festive menus in January so they can be printed and, in the pubs for the start of July, and it’s around this time I begin conversations with all my suppliers. We needed to be even quicker off the mark this year as one of the biggest suppliers of turkey in the UK unexpectedly decided not to produce any turkeys this year, choosing instead to concentrate on supplying chickens. This is bound to have an impact on turkey supplies for the hospitality trade but thankfully visitors to our dining pubs will not miss out on their turkey dinners.
“By July of this year festive menu bookings were already up 15% on the same time last year so 2024 looks like being a record year for us. Some customers even re-book for the following year on Christmas Day itself but typically most of our pubs are full by September. This year is no exception.”
Adam Mayers, managing director of Hydes, added:
“Christmas dinner is one of the most important meals of the year. Training and communication across the business is key to guarantee that customers are well looked after. We always go above and beyond to guarantee guests get the best Christmas meal we can deliver.”
“This Christmas looks like being our busiest ever and we are looking forward to welcoming lots of families who enjoy getting together to eat in one of our pubs, with the real fires burning and drinks flowing. And nobody has to wash up!”
