The Sun Inn - increasing room occupancy

Apr 28

When Piers Baker, owner of The Sun Inn, Dedham and Church Street Tavern in Colchester, approached us about PR support in December 2017, his primary objective was to reach new customers and increase room occupancy for the bedrooms at The Sun. The ambition was for The Sun Inn to be known as one of the best places to stay and eat in the East of England.

The Sun Inn opened under Piers’ ownership in 2003 and was soon recognised locally as a proper pub serving excellent food that welcomed locals and visitors to Constable Country. As we began work on PR, the pub and hotel was shut for a major refurbishment in time for its 15th anniversary. Piers was looking for coverage of the refurbishment and 15th anniversary milestone shared with both local and national audiences.

Over the last 5 years, we have worked to get The Sun Inn and Church Street Tavern known to a national audience and build Piers’ reputation as an expert in the trade and business press.

We have secured feature length reviews in a host of top tier publications from The Telegraph, The Mail on Sunday, delicious, Food & Travel, Sainsbury’s Magazine, Time Out as well as shorter pieces in The Times, The Independent, Olive magazine and Waitrose magazine amongst many others.

Polly has worked with me on The Sun Inn and Church Street Tavern since 2017. Her remit was to undertake PR on the back of The Sun Inn's January 2018 refurbishment and increase occupancy in its guest rooms. At Church Street Tavern it was to seek opportunities to extend its reach to a wider audience. She has done all extremely successfully with a measurable increase in our room occupancy particularly. Polly is fast, diligent, keeps me informed of what she is focusing on and never fails to follow up. Her advice is valued on where/when/how to pitch ideas/events/offers. As an added bonus, she is meticulous on copy, a pedant on detail and captures the right tone for us. I thoroughly enjoy working with her, find her easy going and highly recommend her. Piers Baker

By June 2019 room occupancy had increased by 4% on previous year which is about 15 rooms a month more. with the busy spring/summer season seeing 10% increases. The number of guests eating increased by 8% to 88% of guests eating. Further increases were seen over the autumn and winter of 2019 until the Covid-19 Pandemic forced the business to close its doors in March 2020.

During the devastating lock-down period when all pubs and restaurants were forced to close, shattering their businesses overnight, we continued to work with Piers, establishing him as a representative of independently run pubs and restaurants with strong opinions about issues around rent reductions, social distancing, and adapting your business to cope. Piers has been quoted numerous times in trade publications including the Morning Advertiser and in national newspapers such as The Telegraph and The Times. As a result of this coverage he received invitations to appear on BBC Breakfast News in May 2020 and on BBC Newsnight in June 2020.

Coverage Highlights 2021

National Geographic Food print & online - Winter Flavours
The Telegraph- print and online - Best Pub Gardens
Evening Standard - walks near London

Spectator Life - best pubs for post lock down

Coverage Highlights 2020

Conde Nast Travel online - Essex Staycation
The Caterer - Tier 2 Lockdown news
The Telegraph - Reopening Guide
The Times -Pubs with Gardens
Broadcast interviews regarding pub closures - BBC Newsnight, BBC Brakfast News, BBC Radio Essex

Coverage Highlights 2017-19