Becketts Bank - Wetherspoon
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Introduction
Beckett’s Bank is situated on Park Row which is just off one of the main streets in Leeds town centre. It is owned by a company called JD Wetherspoon, Wetherspoon is a well known company ‘there are now 677 Wetherspoon outlets throughout the UK’ (Wetherspoon, 2007) with 4 of them located within Leeds. Wetherspoon are still expanding by opening another 28 pubs across England and Scotland by the end of 2008 (Morning Advertiser, 2007a).
Outside Beckett's Bank
Strives On Being The 'Best'
Wetherspoon strives on being the best, and this is why they were ranked top in the survey of leading food and drink outlets “Best Brand Performers 2007”. Wetherspoon was placed ahead of
Pizza Express, Prêt a Manger and Wagamama and was the only pub company listed in the eating and drinking sector. The survey was based on a seven-point profile: buzz, corporate reputation, general impression, quality, recommend, satisfaction and value. (Morning Advertiser, 2007b). It is for these reasons that despite the large quantity of competition in the surrounding area, Beckett’s Bank is still one of the most popular venues within the Leeds city centre area.
Staffing
Beckett’s Bank has many deals going on throughout the week, but the main deals that bring the customers in, are on Monday and Wednesday. On Mondays they have cheap drinks and on Wednesdays they have wine and ale promotions. On these nights and weekends they have up to 20 staff working, this number includes the members of staff in the kitchen. (Gills, 2007).
Location
One of the main strengths of Beckett’s Bank is its location, but this has also created one of its major weaknesses, Beckett’s Bank has over 160 covers (Gill, 2007) making it one of the largest eating areas within the city centre, but by being in the city centre and being surrounded by office blocks so they have little chance of expanding this number. But however if it was possible for Beckett’s Bank to expand the premises, it is very likely that they would see a further increase in sales as there is a high demand for space during peak periods such as weekends, lunchtimes or during big sporting events like the Rugby World Cup. (Gill, 2007) One of Beckett’s Bank main strengths is it value for money. With over 52,000 students at Leeds Metropolitan University (Leeds Met, 2007) and 32,241 students studying at Leeds University (Leeds Uni, 2007). Students are one of its main customers, but also by being surrounded by a lot of office blocks it makes for a great destination for the workers when finishing work at 5 o’clock. This makes the business workers another one of Beckett’s Bank’s other main customers. (Gills, 2007)
TV's
Becketts Bank have 6 televisions and one main projector, the TV’s are always on throughout the day with subtitled news and the main projector is used when sport is being played. Cheap drink and the size of the projector attract people to Becketts to watch the sport. Last year when the Football World cup was being played Becketts took over 3 times the amount they would in a normal week. (Gill, 2007)
Inside Beckett's Bank
Smoking Ban
Cash flow has been hindered by the smoking ban, the liquor sales have taken a decrease but the food sales have risen. One of the ways Becketts Bank has tried to reestablish its alcohol sales is by applying for planning permission from the council to build a designated smoking area for customers, however this has been rejected. (Gills, 2007)
Core Product
The diagram below is showing the levels of entertainment that Beckett’s Bank has to offer. The centre circle is the core product; the core product is the main reason why you visit the venue, so in this case it would be the food and the drink. The ring outside the centre is the secondary product level; these are the products that add to the customer’s experience. The third ring is the tertiary level these are what makes up the venue but might influence your decision on coming to visit, i.e. Beckett’s Bank has a very good location, it is easily accessible and it is near the shops.
References
JD Wetherspoon. (2007) Wetherspoon. [Internet] Watford, JD Wetherspoon. URL available from: <https://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/investors/latest.php> [Accesed 21st Oct 2007].
Morning Advertiser. (2007) JD Wetherspoon [Internet] London, Mintel. URL available from <http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show&/display/id=296539#hit1> [Accessed 21st October 2007]
Leeds University. (2007) About the University [Internet] Leeds, Leeds University. URL available from < http://www.leeds.ac.uk/about/index.htm> [Accessed 21st October]
Leeds Metropolitan. (2007) About Leeds Met [Internet] Leeds, Leeds Met. URL available from <http://www.lmu.ac.uk/about/index.htm> [Accessed 21st October]
Gills, M. (2007) Interview with Mindy Gills, Beckett’s Bank Assistant Manager, 20th October 2007.
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