SPECIAL REPORT: Behind the scenes at The Sun Inn, Coate Water

But what is the secret to turning a good local into a successful businesses? With so much competition out there, how do landlords keep their regulars coming back and how do they attract new patrons? 

The Adver sat down with Mark and Zaloma Kemp – bosses of the Sun Inn by Coate Water – to talk about how they’ve managed turned the Arkell’s pub into a thriving hub over the past few months. 

“We’ve managed this pub since December last year.” Mark said. “It’s a beast of a pub, we’ve got the garden, inside and our conservatory, that’s a key thing that Zaloma has done regarding functions.
“Birthdays and obviously Christmas time is fantastic, so this area is actually pretty good. 
“Now, Arkell’s have invested a good lot of money into the garden so that’s now our focus for the summer ahead.”

When asked about how many regulars the pub had, Mark answered: “We get quite a few, to be honest. We inherited a few when we took over in December, which was good, and they’ve kept coming, which is a good sign.”

“And we’ve made our own regulars as well.” Zaloma added. 

Mark continued: “Especially from the estate behind here, Badbury Park.

“I think that was our main focus when we started, in terms of the housing estate, we come from Southampton so we didn’t know Swindon very well and it was quite interesting to get a feel from the locals who know what’s where and where everyone is going."

What keeps them coming back, we asked. “Good beer,” laughed Mark. 

“I also think it’s a lot to do with consistency, because they don’t like a lot of change, so regulars tend to be set in their ways but we’ve initiated some small changes gradually, which has come more from the kitchen. What we do see is a lot more of the regulars are now eating where as before they weren’t.”

Zaloma interjected: “And now recently we’ve started opening the kitchen all day, until 8.45pm. 

“A lot of our regulars have now realised we have some ready-made baguettes so they can take them home at about 11pm instead of going to the shop across the road.”

Mark continued: “It’s just those small add-ons and those little bits. I think it’s really important to listen to them. 

“Arkell’s had a burger competition, we created a burger and we got our locals to give it a name (the Sun Burn Burger), getting them to be part of that, they’re putting it out onto social media and that’s a big tool to help us market the place. 

“Before it was everything all day, whereas now we’ve created a lunch, an afternoon and then an evening menu. 

“It’s worked, food is now coming out quicker because it’s simplified and a lot of people prefer that than having 30 different choices.

Zaloma added: “It’s also fresh food. On a daily basis there’s fresh vegetables and fresh dishes made, and I think customers have started realising that.”

Mark said: “We focus very much on our Sunday roasts. That was a big part, the menu was available to simplify for a Sunday. And we punted the roast and I think we could see a lot of new people coming.

“Now you can see those people returning, and even booking bigger tables.”

Looking to get a more personal feel for what it was like to run such a busy pub, we asked Mark and Zaloma what they enjoyed the most about the daily life of a pub landlord. 

“It’s the interaction, running the pub is one thing, but it’s also a way of life,” Mark replied. 

“This is our life, you live in the pub, you roll out of bed and you’re immediately at work. 

“For us it’s always been about the interaction with the customers, especially with the local sort of crowd we have. 

“The rooms were completely new to us, so that was something we had to learn. 

“Now it’s sort of second nature in terms of running the pub. 

“Interacting with the people here in the morning, for breakfast, that’s a big thing. 

“We’re both doing the breakfast, it’s both of us who are in their faces when they check in in the afternoon or evening, when they have their breakfast in the morning and when they check out. 

“Even on our days off we’re still around.”

But what about the worst things? 

“The hours,” Mark laughed. 

“It is a way of life and it is long hours, and I think with everything you put in you’re not going to please everybody.”

Zaloma added: “People should also remember that we are only human, we do make mistakes. 

“We could go through a day, sometimes seeing 1,000 people and you can’t keep everyone happy. 

“Sometimes a meal could be made wrong or whatever, but it happens, as much as we try and do everything correctly, we don’t want mistakes, but it does happen. 

“We don’t like them, but we have to deal with them. 

“From my point of view that’s the worst, I don’t like the mistakes to be made”. 
Mark agreed with his partner and said: “Being critiqued on social media. 

“But we work on those things, that’s the thing, if we don’t get the kind of feedback then you don’t know where you’re going wrong. 

“It is also good to get that feedback and then we push on and carry on. 

“There’s nothing that stands out that we don’t like but you’ve just got to crack on with your chin up.

“Saying that, we’ve had a lot of the guys say that there is now atmosphere in the pub, there’s a big buzz when they come in. 

“Sometimes you can walk into a pub, and you know it’s a local pub and you feel a little bit uncomfortable because the locals are sitting round the bar and they’re looking at you and you feel quite uncomfortable. 

“There might have been a lot of people who did before, but now we’ve had a lot of events that we’ve invited people to.”

To finish off, I asked Mark if he could give an insight into what was coming up for the pub.

He said: “Right now we want to focus on the outside and the summer ahead. 

“So, planning a few more events, maybe a beer or cider festival with the nice weather. 

“We’ve introduced our Mr Whippy ice cream machine that we want to get going over the summer, we’ve also got a summer fizz sort of thing with Prosecco cocktails and all sorts.”