Renting a disused pub kitchen. Experiences/advice/opinions please.

[Stevie.E]

Hi all.

I'm considering approaching a few pubs in my area to ask them about renting their kitchens that they are not using. It will be to cater for events for mainly friends/family etc to start with as I will only be doing this part-time at first. I've heard about some people doing this in their own domestic kitchens, but to be honest, mine is just way too small and i'm guessing it will be hard to get the OK from the trading standards people/health and safety people.

The pubs i'm planning to approach don't really have much call for food at the moment and are more 'wet-led' (I think that's the right way of putting it), and i'm not too sure about how much to offer/how much is the going rate for renting their kitchen?.

Anyone with experience in this or any opinions would be great!

Cheers.

Stevie.

 

[tony84]

Be expected to pay a large amount of rent - having industrial equipment running isnt cheap.
We had a few people come to us about it when we lived in a pub and they baulked when we said how much we would want - it wasnt out of greed but we wernt their to subsidise their income.

 

[Stevie.E]

Be expected to pay a large amount of rent - having industrial equipment running isnt cheap.
We had a few people come to us about it when we lived in a pub and they baulked when we said how much we would want - it wasnt out of greed but we wernt their to subsidise their income.

Thanks for your reply tony84. I'm thinking about starting off with cold catering/buffets (sarnies, wraps, salads etc) at first, so won't need to much apart from fridges and prep area's.

Could you tell me some more about rates etc for this? I'm not too sure of whereabouts you were based, but the places i'm thinking of approaching are mostly in the city centre, and the outskirts of the city (not sure why they aren't offering food already as this would surely boost their turnover in these economic times, and as I understand pubs aren't doing too well in general at the mo).

If you'd rather not say over the forum please feel free to PM me.

Thanks again.

Stevie.

 

[tony84]

Our rates were set wrong - we inherrited rates that were from when the pub was busier. We had an argument going through with the council for 2 years before we gave in and left.

Its not always cost effective to have food...paying a chef, paying for equipment to run and although you say cold food especisally in winter people want proper food not a salad or sandwich. If your doing outside catering thats fine but its not always good for the pub.

 

[Stevie.E]

Our rates were set wrong - we inherrited rates that were from when the pub was busier. We had an argument going through with the council for 2 years before we gave in and left.

Its not always cost effective to have food...paying a chef, paying for equipment to run and although you say cold food especisally in winter people want proper food not a salad or sandwich. If your doing outside catering thats fine but its not always good for the pub.

Sorry, I should of made it clearer. I'm looking at renting a kitchen to use for outside catering (weddings/b'days/business meetings/networking events etc). I've looked into renting commercial kitchen units but they seem to be very expensive for what I need at the moment. Basically I need somewhere that will meet health and safety standards that I can use for a few hours a week.

I'm not too familiar with the pub trade but if the premises are on a leasehold basis and, or, brewery owned, would I be better off contacting whoever actually owns the premises rather than the leaseholders?

I'll probably make a few calls tomorrow and ask around about rates so I can at least get an idea of the figures involved as at the moment I don't have any idea!

Cheers.

Stevie.

 

[tony84]

ah sorry i mis understood.

Contact the brewery, they will tell you if its managed or has tenents. They are gready so if its managed and they see a buck in it they will probably find a way of doing it.

 

[TotallySport]

you would be better finding a current catering business that doesn't open in the morning (assuming you only need it in the morning) and renting from them, eg find a chip shop and use their facilities for 6 month, you might have to buy equipment, but it will be a lot cheaper than a pub.

 

[fantasytrading]

if you need some kithenware/cookware/thermos,you can visit my website ,i can give you discount.hehe.

 

[Kay]

Why restrict yourself to pubs? There may be other suitable venues, such as social clubs. The local firemen's social club where I used to live had a pretty good kitchen but it was only used for special functions. It was unused for a lot of the time.

You might even be able to find commercial-standard kitchens in other places too which lie idle for some of the time - residential homes, staff canteens, etc. I dunno, but maybe you should explore other avenues as well.

 

[14A]

Why restrict yourself to pubs? There may be other suitable venues, such as social clubs. The local firemen's social club where I used to live had a pretty good kitchen but it was only used for special functions. It was unused for a lot of the time.

You might even be able to find commercial-standard kitchens in other places too which lie idle for some of the time - residential homes, staff canteens, etc. I dunno, but maybe you should explore other avenues as well.

Yup I agree with this, social clubs and the like are ideal and you may be able to strike a deal with them in return for some grub on a saturday - You may even generate money from it, the social club around here sometimes has parties on and the party-goers ask if they recommend any caterers.