Goddards Brewery has submitted a planning application seeking to extend the time it can serve food and drink until, from 16:00 to 23:00, 7 days a week.
As previously reported by Island Echo, Goddards opened the doors of their new premises in Branstone earlier this year following significant investment from the Isle of Wight Council, the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and the founder of the brewery, Anthony Goddard.
Now, according to documents submitted to the Isle of Wight Council, the extension of the hours is necessary to ‘optimise its turnover in order to sustain the present current staffing levels or to achieve the objective of creating more employment opportunities’.
This was a requirement for the investment that was secured for the development of the former Branstone Farm from the LEP, which included a stipulation for a specified level of staff to be employed at the site.
Goddards Brewery delivered on this requirement by creating 20 new jobs across the office, shop and restaurant but they say that staffing levels are not sustainable with the current opening hours.
The Brewery is a popular visitor attraction, as are the bar and restaurant – which are a vital revenue stream for the overall business – but the current opening hours only enable the serving of food and drink until 16:00.
The documents say:
“This timeframe only allows the business to maximise its turnover for breakfast and lunch with an average of 40-50 covers a day. To maintain a profitable and sustainable business an average of 100-140 covers per day are needed.”
Article continues below this advertisement “30% of bar/restaurant sales would normally be allocated to the cost of wages but under the current level of income the wage bill is taking up 60%. This means it is simply not possible to run a profitable business from the current business model.”
“The premises are currently licensed to be open until 23:00 so the proposed solution to the current shortfall in revenue stream would be to extend the opening hours in line with the current licence hours.”
“The management team have estimated that this would more than double their daily customer presence and spend during weekdays and triple it at the weekends.”
“Clearly, increased hours of opening would necessitate taking on more staff but the projected additional income would bring down the wage bill proportion to a more realistic and manageable 30%.”
Goddards have assessed the potential impact of noise and light pollution on a neighbouring property – Jubilee Bungalow – but do not believe that the proposed extension to the hours of operation will generate any significant adverse impact.
This is due to the distance of separation and in the expectation that most customers would mainly use the indoor seating or the covered balcony during these times and not the outside beer garden.
They also confirmed that no amplified music would be played within the external seating areas (unless otherwise agreed) and that appropriate signage would be provided by exit doors requesting customers give consideration to neighbours when leaving the premises.
I bet the bungalow next door will be well happy, lots of noise from the outside beer garden, cars leaving at 11.20……..
Have you even been there obviously not
Extend drinking hours – you get to and from by car !… Have you seen prices?,yet 60% is staffing costs – staff must be very well paid . Not needed and enough accidents along that stretch of road. As for residents in bungalow it shows how big money can get anything you want from our IWC and stuff ordinary residents. Wonder how many return customers and how many walk out when having to pay for entry before even ordering food.
What is this strange deal with paying to become a member before even having a drink or meal? Are they running as a private members club?
So they got the business model wrong, or was the business model presented given to gain the funding. Obviously no one did the sums, or knew what was happening.
Wont be long before a bailout is needed.
Yeah, weird, a brewery that doesn’t have an all day booze license. What’s that about I wonder?
A pub through the back door then.
Should never have been allowed to be put on that site in the first place . Who in there right mind let’s prime green fields be used to built a brewery which could have used some of the brown or grey field sites that are everywhere around our towns and midnight drinkers could walk home instead of having to drive .
You are a moaning NIMBY Can’t even use the right their (not there).
Something new and well funded is built on nothing more than an old muddy cow field but not good enough for the small minded.
I have been going to Goddards with my husband from the day they opened. People go there to enjoy a drink with a delicious meal served in a relaxed environment with friendly happy staff. We look forward to spending the evening there in the future.
Do they still have the £12 charge to be allowed in to spend money in the restaurant? Perhaps if they dropped this and acted like other bar/restaurants they would attract more day time customers.
What a strange business model.
Nothing about this business says it will make sustainable income or jobs.
Very strange. Probably Masonic intervention methinks.