ROBINSONS and the ROBINSONS ARCH device ... - Country Range

FEATURES
From I.T. to
g and T
Peter and Angela Gatling
are the first to admit they
knew nothing about the
pub industry.
but it didn’t stop them from giving up their jobs
and re-locating with their three young daughters
to run their dream pub in the west country.
it has been a steep learning curve but, five years
on, it seems the savvy duo now know a great deal
- and have been named The good pub guide devon
dining pub of The year 2011 for their efforts.
“We were absolutely new to the trade,”
says peter. “I worked in IT for 20 years
beforehand so I knew nothing about
this industry.
We wanted our own business and to make a
change of lifestyle, and we have always liked
food and drink so it seemed an obvious choice.
“However, you can’t be emotional.
This is a business and we didn’t look at it
through rose-tinted spectacles. We had a
good look and fell in love with this place.”
The merry harriers dates back to 1492 and
was originally a devon longhouse. it stands in
the beautiful blackdown hills, clayhidon, and
was enough to lure the gatlings away from the
berkshire home.
“When we took it over it had a good reputation
for food but was regarded as a ‘specials
occasions’ pub because it was quite expensive,”
continues peter. “We have moved from being
an exclusive gastropub to an ‘Everyone
Welcome’ country pub. The previous owners
didn’t welcome children or dogs and they
closed the skittle alley, which were all very
negative messages.
“We have let it evolve over time. The important
thing is to make sure that what you are doing
is what the customers that you want, want you
to do. It’s all about attention to detail. The food
is the flagship but the wines, beers, atmosphere
and cleanliness are also extremely important.
“We serve local fish, meat and game and turn it
into something that our diners wouldn’t be able
to make at home. We order little and often of
things that sell so there is very little wastage.”
all their hard work and efforts have culminated in
scooping The good pub guide devon dining pub
of the year title.
peter adds: “The awards are the Oscars of
the pub trade and the reviews are written
by customers for customers. It’s the most
independently read guide in the pub trade.
“Devon has about 1,500 pubs and 57 of them
are featured in the guide so to pick us was very
overwhelming. It is a wonderful reward for all
of the hard work of the team.”
The merry harriers’ team of chefs use a wide
selection of country range products and peter is
a particularly big fan of country range butter. he
says: “There are different types of butter with
different fat contents and if the constituency is
wrong, it splits. The CR butter is really good.
If you are cooking from scratch, it’s a quality
product. I’m also a big fan of the cleaning
products. In fact, during our last EHO visit, the
inspector commented on how good the products
are. He was really impressed.”
January/february 2011 stiritup 19
customer ProfiLe