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.
Hydes’ catering development manager, David Oldham
Last year, more than 1,000 6-7kg turkey crowns were served to visitors in Hydes premium dining pubs between 22nd November and 31st December. That equates to over 12,500 Christmas dinners, 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.
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.
“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,” said David.
“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.”
Christmas is the busiest trading period of the year for Hydes, and the festive menu normally runs from 22nd November until the end of the year. Every October, the business hosts a festive workshop with all managers, where they get to sample the Christmas meals and learn about new festive drinks.
Adam Mayers, managing director of Hydes, said: “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!”
