Punch Taverns : Inn the Spotlight – The White Hart, Chalfont St. Peter by Katy Moses of KAM Media

Lesley Barker-Smith has only been in the White Hart since February this year, but has already made her mark on this beautiful village pub - with more than a bit of help from Punch. I met her one drizzly Wednesday afternoon to discuss the details.

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Lesley, your background is, like my own, more research-based; why the pub industry?

'I fell into it really; I was made redundant, having been at my previous company for 20 years, and a friend asked me to help out behind the bar of their pub. That was January, by March I had my own pub in Luton. I was there for about 2 years, but it was like Coronation Street, a pub in amongst terraced houses and I was very limited with what I could do, and the fact is that being a Publican is a tough job these days - you need to be able to put yourself out there and do something different, otherwise you won't survive.'

So, you gave your notice on that pub and moved to Chalfont St. Peter to take on the White Hart. You're on a Falcon Contract here - can you explain how that works for you?

'Yes, I was up for a challenge and this one needed some love and attention, which Punch gave it and I came in to add the personal touch and run it as a great local pub. The Falcon contract makes life as a Publican very easy - you don't have the financial worry that usually comes along with running your own business, but you are still in charge of your own destiny. The Falcon contract offers a percentage of sales, it's unique and it works for me.

'There are some restrictions - the pub must be decorated in a certain style, for example, but Punch have very high standards and a great design team, so that means that the outlets are really well done.

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'They are also still open to my input and ideas, they listen to what I have to say and react to it in a positive way.'

I notice you have a lot of signage offering 'deals' around the pub; how popular are they and are they in response to other outlets nearby?

'We offer-

• Burger and a drink £4.95 (Mon-Fri) (popular, especially on quiz nights and during the football)
• Panini and a drink £5.95 (day Mon-Fri) (going well so far!)
• Fizz Friday- £12.95 a bottle (very happy with this promotion)
• 3 bottles cider for £10 (selling fast!)
• 4 bottles craft ale for £10 (not that popular at the moment but it's picking up)
• Coffee and a cake- £3.95 (this is new so there's a slow take up at the moment)

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'Our main offering revolves around 'bar food'; paninis, sausages, pork pies. Our food works well for the pub quiz, for Saturday afternoon football and the like-a sit down menu wouldn't work here, there's too much competition nearby.

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'Regards other competition, there's a Costa Coffee opening on the High Street, which, from a coffee perspective is not good for us, but I prefer to see it as a positive; people travel for Costa, it'll bring new people to the area and they might look across the road, see there's a pub and continue their meeting with friends over a glass of wine!'

What's key when it comes to running a pub Lesley - especially one on this kind of contract?

'Having a great area manager and great staff is KEY. I'm lucky to have both. Of course, when I started, I hadn't a clue where to get my staff from, so I placed adverts on Gumtree and Facebook and used a local hotel to interview. I interviewed 8 people, took them all on, and apart from a father and son duo, who did one shift each and never came back, the rest are still here. I leave them to it, my job is to make sure everything runs like clockwork; organisation is paramount, there's a lot of paperwork, health and safety can be daunting, but with Punch's help, I got there!'

Lesley finished by telling me that she was 'still finding my feet', but it looked to me like she was fully up and running!