Regatta boost for business

BUSINESSES recorded their busiest Henley Royal Regatta week in memory.

Shaun Dickens, who runs Bistro at the Boathouse in Station Road, said the Friday of regatta week was the busiest day in his restaurant’s history, with 500 covers.

He said that business picked up throughout the week, reaching its peak on Friday, after a heatwave with temperatures of up to 31C had meant a slow start to the week.

He said: “I think we had about 40 cancellations on Tuesday night because of the heat, people were just too hot and not hungry anymore, so that was a bit of a slow start, but Friday was the busiest day we’ve ever had as a business.

“Thursday to Saturday really stands out as the biggest but it’s about 30 per cent busier on Friday than the days before and after, so it’s pretty huge.

“All day long from 8.30am to 10.30pm we were just completely full. I’ve never seen anything like it, I’m not sure how we survived that one.

“There were a lot of tired bodies at the end of it with the staff, but it was a brilliant day.”

He said that staff were rewarded following close on the Sunday with a party which lasted into the early hours of the morning.

He said: “We’ve got a phenomenal team that have been here for years and years so they kind of know what to expect.

“It’s sort of just ‘hold on tight’, I have lots of sugary treats lying around everywhere and everyone is well fed and just trying to keep the team morale up.

“We always have a little staff party on the Sunday night, so traditionally I will go and pick up half a dozen pizzas from Domino’s and then we put out jugs of Pimm’s and champagne and do nice toast and thank everyone.”

Laurence Morris, who owns Laurence Menswear in Duke Street, said that the warmer weather increased footfall in the town from last year and turnover had increased by about 20 percent. He said the weather had also caused a 300 per cent increase in sales of Panama hats.

Mr Morris said: “We sold a lot of ties as well. Regatta week is our busiest week of the year. Guys have this tendency to leave everything to the last minute. They also have a tendency to forget things like ties.

“Typically, the Wednesday of the regatta is one of our busiest days, and Saturday of the regatta is a very busy day. It varies.”

Lorraine Hillier, who runs Hot Gossip coffeehouse in Reading Road, said her café also experienced its busiest regatta week ever. She said: “We haven’t had anything like this in a couple of years. We had hordes of rowers in and their families, we had a lot of teams in so that’s good we’ve become known to them.

“We also had the Dutch rowing team, including some Olympians, who all came in and sat in the garden for a birthday. I think the town would have done really well out of it, it was a good regatta.”

For venues which had opened in the year since last regatta, it was their first opportunity to put their businesses up to the test.

Ted Docherty took over and re-opened The Little Angel pub in June. He said that having had no idea of what to expect in the lead-up to regatta, the business will now take the experience from the week to prepare for next year.

Mr Docherty said: “It just kept ratcheting up through the week, every day there was incrementally more, on turnover and on covers and numbers of people.”

He said that intake during the week was up 300 per cent on the previous four weeks since opening.

Mr Docherty said: “We closed off our car park and had an outside bar built outside so it isn’t comparable to any other week but regatta.

“Every night we stayed up after the event and went through areas we thought we could be better, what we could do to help ourselves and to make it better for the customers.

“The team, both front of house and kitchen, astounded me in their ability to pull off what we pulled off, keeping in mind we only opened four weeks ago.”

Jason Herrington, general manager at the Duke in Friday Street, which opened in January, said it was busier in the evenings.

He said: “We haven’t got a massive garden space and the weather was so nice this year so that makes a big difference.

“Town was busy though, it was a really good regatta. Our busiest points were obviously the weekend and the evening mark, we put on live music every night as well which was nice, we had DJs towards the end of the week and then live acoustic acts on the Wednesday and Thursday.

“We started first week of January, so this was our first regatta. I’ve done quite a few of them at other places in town before so I knew what to expect. It was a good first regatta for us which was nice.

“We just set up as normal and do what you normally do, just serve and make people happy, it’s good fun for the staff as well.”