When Hereford FC was launched the bars were outsourced but recently they've been brought back in house.
It's the kind of question that might be asked at the commercial meeting on Thursday evening.
So why were they originally outsourced?
Back in 2017 Ken Kinnersley, who was chairman at the time, explained the thinking following a question at a Fans Forum
Currently the Bars in the Stadium are outsourced – are there plans to bring them back into the Club? (from the floor)
“They
are not out sourced as such – it is a partnership. In the beginning the
situation was appraised by professionals and we were advised that we
would be lucky to get anyone to run the bars due to the existing credit
rating the club had at that time. The most we were advised we could
expect in income was £10k.
Initially, there was some interest in
operating the bars from a group of fans, possibly with HUST involvement,
not sure on that point, so the Club requested a business plan be
presented from any interested group for discussion. Business plans were
never produced or delivered, to my knowledge - so in the end it wasn't
an option.
We also took advice from other Clubs in a similar
position. Eventually we had discussions with James Smith – who did
present a business plan - and the club entered into an Event partnership
with him. It was the right thing in terms of managing the risk as the
liability was then handed over to James rather than the Club. Basically
this means the Club has no worries over food stocks, food hygiene,
licensing, H&S, stock management in all its forms, staffing, ie
bar staff, kitchen staff, waitresses, chefs, cover for illness, or the
general management of either events or staff. It is very difficult to
operate a business when you only trade on average two days a month and
staff labour is only required on those days. Originally Sidney Phillips
estimated a £10,000 maximum income but with James Smith the Club has
actually secured £30,000 income from the partnership. James Smith is now
operating an “open book” policy with his accounts and one of the HFC
Directors conducts regular inspections so we better understand the
financial implications of the arrangement."
In January 2018, director George Webb was asked a similar question at the club's AGM.
The
decision not to do the catering in-house was explained by director
George Webb. He had spoken to directors at Merthyr who had brought their
catering in-house recently and had started to lose money on it.
Pilfering was mentioned. Webb felt that having a regular income for
catering was a better bet than the club trying to run it.
Part of the problem he said was that there are only home games once a
fortnight or so. Stock can go out of date and it's hard to recruit staff
whereas if an outside company is running the catering they can move
stock to another venue.
The policy changed in June 2021.
At the time Rob Crawford was the director in charge of operations at Hereford.
"Six seasons have now passed, and we feel that now is the correct time to bring control of the bars and hospitality rooms in-house. We believe that this will enable us to offer a more fan-centered approach and help to make Edgar Street a 7-day-a-week venue.
“The revenue from the bars will also play a vital role in helping us to provide Josh with as strong a playing budget as possible, and we hope that with the knowledge that every penny spent over the bars will go towards helping the football club continue to grow, even more fans will make use of the facilities, both on a matchday and during the week.
“We will shortly be advertising for a Bar Manager who will be
responsible for not only the managing of the matchday bars, but they
will also be tasked with helping to make Edgar Street a multi-use venue
for functions, meetings, parties or a catch-up with your mates whilst
watching the football!"