Aylesbury is one of the major market towns in Buckinghamshire, which boasts a quaint market square where a new venture, The Works, has been established – the brainchild of local businessman Roger Bolton, who, if he had a mantra, it would no doubt be: I did it my way.
Under his new concept Eat At The Works, he has brought together an upbeat restaurant trading as The Works, with the help of family and friends.
The Grade II listed building, which had been empty for more than two years, was formerly a travel agency and in need of a lot of TLC, and, thanks to the council wanting the square to be more hospitality-led, Bolton snapped it up.
“Being Grade II listed meant we were very conscious of what we did,” he comments. “For example, bare bricks inside the restaurant had to be scrubbed by hand rather than sand-blasted.”
It was a big decision to go it alone, he says, but it has been very much a family affair, without any outside investment. With around £250K poured into his dream and with the help of his wife Elaine, two sons and parents, work began early in 2014 culminating in the restaurant’s opening last November. “Everything we could physically do ourselves, we did,” he explains.
There is an industrial feel about the décor; different techniques and textures have been used on the walls and elsewhere, as well as bespoke furniture and authentic wall signs, to make it stand out. It can seat around 95 customers and they cover a wide demographic from young and old, to families. Staff numbers around 20 working across shifts.
Bolton has trademarked the name and has had fun coming up with ways he can use it. The Works can be used in different applications; for example, the toilets – water works, children – mini works, coffee – steam works, ice cream – ice works, he explains.
He knows what he wants and will use his wide experience in foodservice to achieve it. Last year he left BHS as foodservice director after 10 years in the business, while earlier in his career he was one of the original management team opening TGI Fridays in the UK.
He says more branded restaurants were coming into this area such as Nando’s and Wagamama, and cafés such as Caffe Nero, Costa, BB Muffins, but he believes they won’t affect what The Works does.
“I love it because we are different,” he explains. “Just driving our coffee wouldn’t work so I looked for my own thing. Competitors do everything everyone else does. We don’t.”
He aims to work on 70% gross profit with the restaurant offering a menu of savoury and sweet waffles and crêpes; ice cream sundaes, sorbets and frozen yogurt; and drinks ranging from smoothies with recognisable flavours such as Snickers and milkshakes, to high quality tea and coffee – even Prosecco on tap. It is open from 9am until 10pm Monday to Thursday, until 11pm on Friday and Saturday, and 10am-10pm on Sunday. “We sell alcohol but it is limited because we don’t want to become a bar,” adds Bolton.
“I felt the market needed something different and a couple of things stood out: ice cream was growing but I didn’t want to have just an ice cream parlour – too risky as it’s weather-led. I didn’t want to be coffee-led either, but you still have to have great coffee. For this, we brought in an independent trainer who thought our coffee was the best on the high street; we use Green Tree branded coffee in four blends.
“We decided to do crêpes and waffles, and thought sweet ones would do better than savoury, but savoury waffles are flying out the door, particularly pulled pork and chicken chipotle. These in the morning with a choice of toppings are different to a Danish and a muffin.”
Bolton’s son Tom has become expert at cooking crêpes, as has his wife become an expert ice cream maker using products from ice cream specialist Toschi. His friend, Philip Rundlett from distributor and importer Regency Coffee, introduced him to the Italian firm based in Modena.
Seasonal flavours such as lemon and basil for the spring, and ice cream sandwiches layering different flavours, are novel ways to boost sales. The Works already offers gluten-free ice cream, and the plan is to introduce gluten-free waffles and crêpes.
The presentation of food and drink had to be different too, with no plastic in sight – enamel mugs for coffee and tea; ceramic crumpled cups for espresso; jam jars with handles for 20oz drinks; ice cream in huge sundae glasses, and in branded takeaway 1litre buckets for £9.95. Meanwhile, smoothies in retro-style bottles come with red and white straws to appeal to youngsters, and evoke memories among older consumers of the days when Unigate used them for its milk slogan: ‘Watch out there’s a Humphrey about’.
Even the waffle irons are different. Bolton says he didn’t want the thick ones commonly in use, but a thinner waffle that can be filled. For this, he bought direct from the US and had components added to perfect them for producing freshly made food in three minutes.
He has ambitious plans for the brand: “It could go mobile, into retail and education; the power of the brand fits into the university market,” he says, adding that he has shown it to The University Caterers’ Organisation.
He believes you should be confident about what you are selling and is not a fan of discounting; with high quality, everything made fresh on site and good-sized portions, £3.95 for homemade ice cream was a fair price. “We price higher because of our training, ingredients and right containers,” he explains. “The quality appreciated by our customers demonstrates there are people willing to pay for the right product if delivered correctly.”
Social media, twitter and website aside, Bolton is a big fan of talking to people. “Anyone looking through the window, I want to talk to,” he explains, adding that he plans to have a community board to put local people’s pictures on it.
And the future … He plans to have three outlets in two years. “Plus I have numbers for five and 10 years – I’m doing that to challenge me,” he says. “I think there is a desirable business here. We are not going to touch London; we’re going to stay in the home countries for the time being. But I would not have done this if I was only going to do one.”
www.eatattheworks.co.uk