Love in a cold economic climate presents both challenges... and public relations opportunities

Morgan PR has been generating publicity for a terrific French restaurant in Newbury, West Berkshire this week and in the way we have helped Le Petit Square there may be lessons for other businesses who are finding winning the affection of customers during the recession.

The key is that the media - this story has already been taken up by newspapers and radio - are constantly looking for new ways to interpret the recession at the moment and if you can find a way to promote your business within this context then it is possible you can create powerful public relations.

So while it may not be the most scientific assessment of the recession, but Le Petit Square is reporting that while loved up diners visiting on St. Valentine’s Day were still gazing dreamily at one another... they were simply spending less money.

Suzanne Hemchaoui, who founded the popular restaurant four years ago, explained: “Valentines is always a huge night for us – for any restaurant – and we could have booked out 10 times over, but there is no doubt the recession is biting. People were spending less on their menu choice, and choosing to drink Champagne by the glass rather than the bottle.

“The French food, the wine – people see it as romantic anyway and St. Valentine’s Day can often bring out a grand gesture or two, with engagement rings being flourished or we are asked to drop a sparkling ring into the Champagne glass – but this year? Non!

“Chatting to some of our regulars, there are couples who are delaying their wedding because of the credit crunch and on St. Valentine’s people left much earlier than they normally do and some were talking about ‘getting back to the babysitter’, which also suggests cost cutting.

“Across the board we are seeing fewer people and they are spending less. The corporate trade that would see businesses coming in for lunch has certainly reduced. That said, we are lucky and we do have a loyal clientele.

“Our hearts were lifted recently after Gordon Ramsay appeared on his TV programme stood in front of a branch of Strada somewhere, and urged people not to visit anonymous chain restaurants, but to opt for the local independent restaurateurs – like us! That actually brought in lots of business and we saw a surge of people coming in and they were talking about it.

“An independent restaurant like ours, with all the benefits of original menus and the flexibility to respond to our customers, does find it difficult to cope with a chain restaurant in much the way a corner shop struggles to compete with Tesco. We have to offer more and we are certainly not being glum about it – we are currently planning an ‘Allo Allo Night’ for May 1st, which will be a blast and we’re hoping to stage some French film nights too.”

What do you think?

The hard news angle is there - people spent less money on St. Valentine's Day at a romantic French restaurant. In reporting this, the restaurant is named, its plans are revealed and a competitor is knocked - by Gordon Ramsay!

A recipe for revenue generating PR - in a recession from Morgan PR!

Enjoy 20% off the a la carte menu at the Michelin Recommended Le Petit Square

Readers of the Morgan PR newsletter 'creating reputations' have been busy downloading our exclusive offer for 20% off the a la carte menu at the Michelin Recommended Le Petit Square restaurant in Newbury.

The lucrative offer makes a trip to this terrific venue better value than ever - but hurry, you only have until the end of November to use your vouchers and enjoy the finest French food at a fraction of the normal price!

Because we are generous here at Morgan PR, if you missed the newsletter (don't forget to subscribe on the front page of this blog to receive future offers first!) we can provide the link to the voucher for Le Petit Square right here, right now.

Speaking Russian at Newbury's French Bistro

Newbury’s popular French bistro, Le Petit Square was buzzing with children chattering in Russian when it threw its Market Place doors open to a visiting contingent from the blighted Chernobyl region of Belarus.

Ten youngsters aged nine and 10 are spending four weeks in the UK on holiday and it is the fourth year that such a trip has been organised by the Newbury branch of the national charity Chernobyl Children’s Lifeline.

All the children are staying with local host families and have been taking part in different activities and trips – including visits to the optician and dentist – so the chance to cook up some fun and food at Le Petit Square was a popular diversion when they spent this morning there.

Owner of the Michelin Recommend restaurant, Suzanne Hemchaoui said: “It was great fun! Our chef, John Cowan, and his team prepared some pizza dough for them and then they joined in adding the toppings of their choice. I guess pizza might not be French, but it was a fun food for them to make – we did have jambon et fromage pizza! Of course we cooked them then and everyone ate in the restaurant. It was great to hear them chattering in Russian when we are used to hearing French.

“This is actually the fourth year we have been involved with the charity and have entertained the children both here and also at our sister restaurant The Square in previous years.

“When I first heard about what they were doing it sounded such a lovely thing to do and they always seem to have so much fun here. It is something easy for us to do and gives everyone that warm gooey feeling in their tummy to have helped these children.”

As the leading public relations in West Berkshire Morgan PR was there to record the event and no doubt you will see it publicised soon.

Pictured below are the children from the Chernobyl region of Belarus, with their hosts and staff from Le Petit Square in Newbury outside the French bistro.

Recruitment advice from the heart of the Square Mile at Le Petit Square in Newbury

Talk about the Law of Attraction, no sooner do I blog about Le Petit Square and its new chef, then I find myself in the centre of Newbury needing somewhere suitable for a lunch meeting with recruitment guru and fellow Newbury Business Group member Mia Drennan.

Morgan PR has written about the company she founded, Square Mile Connections, numerous times in the past and secured publication of press releases about the company too, however, I was keen to follow up a generous invitation that Mia had made at a recent NBG meeting to freely offer the benefit of her considerable wisdom.

With Morgan PR on the brink of appointing two new members to the team it made sense to hear from Mia if we were on the right track... and thankfully it would seem we are, in no small part thanks to the business coaching we have been receiving and of course we must have paid attention during Mia's talks at NBG.

Beyond the simple calculation over whether you can afford a new member of staff it is important to consider how the creation of that post contributes to your vision, and the short, medium and long term goals for the business. The next step is ensuring that the recruitment process is suited to finding the right person - and just as importantly ensuring you don't pick the wrong person.

The terrific bonus of talking about Mia is that while Square Mile is used to finding the right candidates for often senior roles within the banking and legal sector, the wealth of expertise that this has brought can be applied to remarkable effect to most recruitment processes.

When business is good and schedules are busy there can be short-sighted savings in simply focusing on the job in hand and not investing in learning. Now obviously we do invest that time, but how much richer was I for lunch today (and naturally we paid!) ? More importantly, how much poorer would I have been?

New chef at Le Petit Square in Newbury

Morgan PR was recently retained to represent Le Petit Square, one of only two restaurants in Newbury to earn the coveted 'Highly Recommended' accolade from Michelin - and the other is sister restaurant The Square!

First order of business was to promote the arrival of a new chef at the Market Place restaurant and today that has been published online at Newbury Business Today.

When most of us are exposed to an unhealthy diet of Gordon Ramsay swearing his way through what might otherwise be good television (the exception is the US version of Hell's Kitchen where those wanna be executive chefs deserve to be more than sworn at most of the time!) it was refreshing to meet the blissfully calm John Cowan.

Or as owner Suzanne Hemchaoui put it:"John impressed us with his vision and flair in the kitchen, he is a good leader and is the calmest chef I have ever known and seems totally unflappable, but most of all he produces outstanding and delicious food.

"His new menu has proved a real hit with our regulars and has prompted some enthusiastic comments from first time visitors our French Bistro, ‘Une petite partie de Paris au coeur de Newbury'."

As a nice touch we entitled the press release that went out as ‘Communiqué de Presse’ which seemed fitting for a French bistro, especially one where 75% of the customers will order in French too!