Goodbye Summer, hello Winter season.
Jake Whittington bids a reluctant farewell to warmer nights, (somewhat) predictable trade patterns, and says hello to ‘what the hell is happening’ season.
We’re officially in spooky season, which means a reluctant farewell to warmer nights, (somewhat) predictable trade patterns, and hello to the “what the hell is happening?” season — where Halloween somehow becomes Christmas overnight, before we’re launched into a frosty void until spring eventually decides to turn up.
This summer has probably been the most “stable” we’ve seen across the business for a few years.
A slightly more promising economy, fair weather and a consistent programme of events across Blackpool have all helped give people more regular reasons to come into town. That being said, there’s things brewing beneath the headlines and we’re seeing some pretty significant changes in how people are using our venues.
Overall sales have been relatively flat against last year, but the mix within those sales is changing. We’re seeing spend move away from wet sales and more towards food. Guests aren’t necessarily spending less with us, they’re spending on a different type of occasion.
Blackpool is a funny old place sometimes.We don’t have masses of office workers pouring out of offices at 5pm for a few pints or meeting friends. A huge proportion of people working in the town are themselves employed in retail, hospitality and tourism, often working the exact hours we’d traditionally want them to be our customers.
Those commuting out of Blackpool for work will often stop closer to home in places like Poulton, Cleveleys or Lytham rather than heading back into the town centre.During summer, tourism fills a lot of those gaps. People are travelling, staying in town and moving between venues. Trade behaves broadly how you’d expect it to [until someone throws a hand grenade into the economy or someone starts a war]
Then the tourists go.
And that’s when you really notice the shift. There’s less “falling into somewhere” for the sake of a drink or something to eat. Visits become much more intentional and occasion-focused. Birthdays. Catch-ups. Date nights. Events. Seeing friends.People are visiting with intent.
For hospitality businesses, that means the question becomes increasingly simple… why us? And for those that don’t ask that stand there looking out the window like
Why should somebody make the decision to leave the house, travel into town and spend their money with us? What are we giving them that makes the trip worthwhile? How easy are we making that decision? And once they’re through the door, how do we turn an occasional visit into a regular one?
Those are questions we have to answer every winter.I often go to Manchester and find myself filled with a strange sense of Blackpool pride. You can sit in a rammed venue on a rainy Tuesday evening in the middle of winter and find yourself thinking “you’d last five minutes in Blackpool” There’s much more room for error when turnover can hide the underlying problems.
Operating hospitality businesses here teaches you very quickly that you can’t take your eye off the ball. One cancelled show, one storm, one cold snap or one quiet weekend can completely crush your week, no matter how strong the Saturday before it was.
Our focus going into winter is to build our venues, our offer and the way we engage with our audience around that reality.It means creating stronger reasons to visit, while investing more time into the guest experience once people arrive.
We’ve got some big plans across all three LBL venues over the coming months and years. Evolving them into spaces that work for Blackpool’s visitors through the summer , but become equally valuable as genuine community spaces for locals no matter the weather.
Because ultimately, surviving winter shouldn’t just be about hanging on until the tourists come back. We, like most, want to make Blackpool a place you want to visit all year round and that takes time. But for now, we just want to focus on nailing our spaces and the hospitality we provide.
K thanks bye.
