Better Business – Cat Inn, West Hoathly, West Sussex
Former Gravetye Manor general manager Andrew Russell tells Aaron Morby how he keeps nearby pub the Cat Inn (2011 winner of a Michelin Bib Gourmand) going strong, even after the hotel went into administration.
Need to know
Andrew Russell started out as an 18-year-old trainee at Gravetye Manor in Sussex under hotelier Peter Herbert. Over the course of 25 years at the Relais & Châteaux manor, he rose through the ranks to become general manager and helped lead the management buy-out of the hotel in 2004.
"We decided the pub was just what Gravetye needed. It could offer an alternative to fine dining for Gravetye's guests and we could share staff during quiet periods," he explains.
It looked like a perfect marriage and a deal was struck. But after just two months, Gravetye's banks decided they would no longer support the hotel. Russell admits it was a bitter blow. "It was like a bereavement; you don't think you will get over it but you have to brush yourself down and look forward," he says.
Target market
Fortunately, the Cat Inn escaped the clutches of the administrators and Russell turned his full attention to running the pub.
The Cat Inn is located in the picturesque village of West Hoathly, in an area of outstanding natural beauty. It's a haven for walkers next to the Ashdown Forest and a popular stop-off for daytrippers visiting the area's historic homes and castles.
"In the winter, the hunting and shooting fraternity keep the Cat Inn and its four guest rooms busy," explains Russell. The rooms range from £100 to £140 a night, and are decorated in a modern country-plush style, that is drawing in growing business, with bookings in January up fourfold over the previous January.
How it stands out
Like many good pubs, the Cat Inn prides itself on local sourcing and the ingredients it uses are 90% organic. In fact, the only non-local key supplier is London butcher Tres Soigne, which provides the pub with quality Angus beef.
"A local lady has been growing tomatoes for 25 years and they're absolutely delicious. That really pays off for us because our customers are seeing familiar food, which tastes different and special," says Russell.
The likes of steak, mushroom and ale pie, and lamb shanks are regulars on the menu. Fish and chips have also proved a big draw for hungry walkers in the area - fish is delivered daily and batter made with local Harvey's ale.
Word about the food has spread, with little or no marketing. The kitchen under chef Max Leonard caters for around 700 covers a week, almost double the trade at the time the Cat Inn changed hands.
Business advice
Because of his Gravetye background, Russell was aware that Cat Inn customers were worried prices would rocket when he took over, so he was careful to keep prices in line with previous ones.
Russell is an advocate of bringing manor house-style attention to detail to the pub trade, and his staff make sure there is always a warm welcome for all guests.
"It's a stage we're working on and we have to perform," he says. "If you can't provide a warm welcome and remember what regulars like to drink and eat, then there's something wrong."
Favourite supplier
Where it can, the Cat Inn works closely with local suppliers, from pig farmers Muddy Lovely in Bolney to the family-run High Weald Dairy in Horstead Keynes.
Fishmonger P H Fish earns the greatest plaudits for its standout quality and reliability of service, even battling through December snow from Battle, near Hastings to deliver to the pub's door. The fishmonger runs his own boat specialising in line-caught fish. Cod and other white fish are ordered as standard daily, with mussels and lobsters adding variety to the menu when in season.
Russell has run the Cat Inn for just over 14 months. In that time he has won a coveted Michelin Bib Gourmand, which he puts down to simple food, done well and attention to detail. It has been a tumultuous couple of years and for now he is content to limit his ambitions to pushing up room occupancy and building on his reputation for friendly, informal service and fairly priced quality food.
"We've got our work cut out now to raise the bar. As a friend said, I should have done this 20 years ago," he says.
ANDREW RUSSELL'S REVELATIONS
Favourite hotel Otahuna Lodge, New Zealand
Favourite restaurant Bibendum
Favourite bookRoast Chicken and Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson
Motto Look forward, never back - enjoy every day
If you were not a publican, what would you have been? Explorer
Who do you most admire? Peter Herbert, pioneering hotelier at Gravetye Manor
Describe your business in five words Warm, hospitable, wholesome, beautiful setting
SPOTLIGHT ON THE FIREPLACES
But the Cat Inn's inglenook fireplaces are what really prove popular with customers and guests. The pub has all sorts of nooks and crannies and two blazing fires are a big draw on cold wintry days.
Russell says: "We try to create a warm, cosy environment so that our customers want to return, and the fires really do the trick.
"All staff are tasked with keeping an eye on the fires to ensure they are kept at their best - they are very much at the heart of the whole business."
