24/08/2024
Announcement from The Plough
Firstly, thank you to all of our supporters including the residents of Trottiscliffe and shareholders for your continued support. We really appreciate it and feel a valued member of the community.
The Directors of Bowleys and the Plough are giving advanced notice that the opening hours will change from the start of September 2024.
For the last 4 years we have opened for 6 days a week, which requires an overlapping staff pattern and for Alex and Grace to be offsite on one of the days. Having reviewed our income and costs, we have found that the average Tuesday takings have been considerably lower than the rest of the week. It would therefore make sense to close, in order to provide the level of service that we wish to give and to let the staff have a consistent break, rather than the disruptive pattern they currently have. The current leave pattern means they cannot plan easily and find themselves working irregular days of the week. In order to facilitate this, and to do some maintenance, we will close for the first week of September and relaunch with new menus and an updated selection of wine and beers on Wednesday 11 September.
To lessen this impact we will be opening longer on Sundays and providing bar food into the early evening.
In addition to the fine dining that we offer, we intend to continue and enhance village evenings, musical events , BBQ’s and wine tastings within the bar and terrace, to ensure that we can provide for both bar and restaurant customers. In addition, particularly in the summer months, we will also look to host some additional Village events on Sunday afternoons.
Does this mean we are in financial trouble
No, quite the reverse. Economically we can run the operation using a smaller team and therefore reduce our running costs, reduce food wastage as well as ensuring that our team enjoy a well-earned break every week.
What are the benefits?
The bar will remain open later on a Sunday serving food until 7pm and Alex and Grace will be on site for the full opening hours ensuring consistent service delivery. It will be easier to recruit and retain staff if they can organise their lives around consistent working hours.
Will this be for ever?
No , should demand build across the whole week we will review and amend accordingly.
Currently Bowleys is enjoying great reviews, and we are looking to build on these and work towards greater trust pilot reviews, Michelin coverage and AA 3 rosettes. With this in mind, we need to ensure that Grace and Alex are always on site to continue to gain more diners whilst retaining quality.
Up and Coming Events at Bowleys Sundays in September
Sunday 15th September From 1.00pm -6.00 pm
Music from Verity and Rachael : Live Music & BBQ tickets £20.00 / head
Sunday 29th September 1.00 pm - 4.30 pm
Music with Aiden Kent the singing Cabbie & BBQ £20.00 / head
Please see details for further events
Regards
David Yates
Director
Bowleys at The Plough
Trottiscliffe
Kent
ME19 5DR
