Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) is rolling out out a “hybrid” version of O’Neill’s alongside selected conversions to its more premium, food-focused O’Neill’s Irish Pub & Kitchen format, M&C Report has learnt.
Mark Hall, retail director for O’Neill’s, told M&C Report that the company has so far converted seven outlets - in London’s Blackheath, Richmond, Solihull, Kingston, Cheltenham, High Wycombe, and most recently Bournemouth - into “hybrid” sites, as part of a wider evolution of the brand.
The hybrids sit between the standard O’Neill’s and the Irish Pub & Kitchen offshoot, keeping the core O’Neill’s offer but evolving the design following learnings from Irish Pub & Kitchen. There’s updated furniture and “softer” colourings, an enhanced drinks offer and new uniforms.
Meanwhile, M&B is to open its third Irish Pub & Kitchen site at London’s Great Marlborough Street in December. The concept, which currently operates in Oxford and Sutton, has a more premium price point for food than standard O’Neill’s, offering, for example, rotating specials that are created centrally.
Hall said Great Marlborough Street was chosen for Irish Pub & Kitchen because it’s predominately surrounded by restaurant brands.
He said: “The future is built around rolling out the hybrid, but at the same time the evolution of Irish Pub & Kitchen so we have an offer that sits on the high street in different areas.”
Hall said he expects work to begin on at least another three conversions in early 2013.
It follows a period of change for the 49-strong brand over the past year or so. Hall explains that there has been a conscious effort to change the perception of O’Neill’s
“We’ve got a very varied estate. The brand had suffered from lack of clarity and vision about what it’s going to do.
“We stripped everything back and looked at what makes O’Neills great. The first thing that came back to is the people and hospitality. They are our USP in terms of the high street and our competitors. It was about making sure we capture that.”
O’Neill’s introduced staff training every two months to build service standards. “That, combined with the investments, has allowed us to open peoples’ eyes to what we are in the high street. The level of amenity and focus on service and standards allowed us to move away from a reputation as a purely late-night operator and drink-led to something with more sustainability.”
There’s been a different approach to the menu. “One of the things we wanted to do was to put more credibility back in the food offer,” Hall explained.
“Over the years of pushing prices down to drive volumes we’ve ended up in a situation where we lost credibility with the food.”
He gave the example of Irish stew. “We’ve driven Irish stew down so much it wasn’t the greatest product and we were selling it for £2.99, £3.99. We wanted to create a ‘hero’ product around Irish stew.”
A new version of the product, Traditional Irish Stew topped with Thyme Cobblers, created by a customer as part of a competition, was introduced about a month ago and sales have been positive so far.
Another key change has been around live music. Hall said that in the past the pubs would be quiet in late afternoon and early evening while the larger bands sound checked. Now the company favours smaller bands, typically a three-piece, which are less intrusive in early evening while people eat.
“It’s that idea of, ‘come for a drink, or come for a meal, and stay for the night’.
“I think a lot of people associate O’Neill’s either with traditional drinkers or a young, wet-led male dominated market. The perception is very different from the reality.
“People have been put off coming to O’Neill's because they haven’t been since they were 18. They’re starting to realise it’s for more compelling than other high street offers.”
Another key change has been the reintroduction of Irish sports, Hall said.
