Fox & Hounds, Hunsdon - PR, content development, digital marketing, SEO,
We had been running our pub/ restaurant for 15 years and had got to the point where we needed a bit of a shake up/ wake up. Its easy to just keep plodding on doing the same thing and you are so busy running & working in your business that you don’t always take a good look at what you are really doing & why.
Polly really helped us to re focus our business and streamline and ‘tidy up’ our marketing & brand.
From helping with updating all our online presence, website, literature and introducing new ideas.
She is always quick, efficient & friendly and we have since continued to work with Polly to continue to keep moving forward.
Bianca & James Rix, owners of the Fox & Hounds Hunsdon.
The Fox & Hounds, Hunsdon is the only Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in Hertfordshire. I have worked with the team for three years as they launched a new chapter of the business in 2019. In 2020, like the whole hospitality industry, they were heavily hit by the Covid 19 lock down and pivotted overnight to offer a community shop and meals to enjoy at home. They were so successful that they have carried on doing this and transformed part of the shop into a shop.
When I began working with them, the husband and wife team had never focussed on marketing and PR or analysed their brand, their values and key messages. Through a series of workshops we developed their story and built a brand and communications strategy. We reviewed and improved their website, helped them to build a social media strategy and hugely grow engagement and to develop and launch a regular email newsletter. We also reviewed and improved online listings from Google Business page to other restaurant and pub guides and entered the restaurant into local and national awards.
We have worked with them to build their media presence through effective PR securing reviews in key local and national publications including The Telegraph, i weekend, and Observer Food Monthly. We supported them to launch their community shop and secured interviews and profile pieces in national papers and trade press like Morning Advertiser and The Caterer about hospitality businesses pivoting in response to the pandemic.
Holt Farm - Business launch & social media
Holt Farm is a new online farmers market and fruit & veg box scheme serving Essex and Suffolk. It was launched by farmer, Pete Thompson, when he lost all his wholesale business as restaurants were forced to close in response to the Corona virus pandemic. The initial idea was to supply local people with fresh produce, to find a new use for some of the crops in the ground and to keep some of his staff employed.
Having worked as an external marketing team for Pete’s brands Cotchel, Reliquum and Thompson’s Baijiu since 2017, Pete called in my support to build the new business from scratch and reach a local audience. We began with a simple online shop on an existing website, but swiftly recognised we needed a dedicated site as orders were so high. We developed the brand story brought in a graphic designer to create a brand identity, a web development agency to build an easy to manage online shop in Shopify. We created social media accounts for the new business primarily focussing on Facebook for a local audience and Instagram for dedicated foodies.
Since the business launched in late March, Holt Farm has grown a loyal local audience and is delivering 150 fruit and veg boxes twice weekly. continue to manage their social media, create content for a regular newsletter and build the brand through local and national pr. A recent success was a feature on Channel 5’s A Week on the Farm.
“Polly Robinson has worked with us for a number of years, launching and supporting a number of products and supporting our senior & commercial teams. Polly has ensured we have reached above and beyond our aspired customer base and delivered great value for money. We look forward to continuing to work with Polly in the future. She brings with invaluable PR & Marketing savvy beyond the brief and is a pleasure to work with.”
Pete Thompson, Founder Holt Farm, Reliquum, Cotchel and British Baijiu
V&A, Borough Market and Turnips Food Waste Collaboration
Turnips Borough, one of the oldest traders in Borough Market, has a pioneering approach to reducing food from their stall. So when they were approached by Borough Market and the curators of the V&A’s groundbreaking exhibition FOOD: Bigger than the Plate to collaborate on a sustainability pop-up, it seemed like a fantastic opportunity to showcase their ambitions to tackle food waste.
We worked hand-in-hand with the managers of Borough Market, their PR agency and the PR team from the V&A to create this unique event and engage the press, resulting in coverage on ITV London’s prime evening News at 6pm and 9pm as well as wide coverage in the London print and online media. Not only did the coverage give exposure to the partners involved but it raised the important issue of reducing food waste.
Turnips serve hundreds of portions of wild mushroom and spelt risotto every day using mushrooms which they have not sold and thus meaning that not one single mushroom is wasted. For one day only Turnips used oyster mushrooms grown in the V&A from used coffee grounds as part of the exhibition FOOD: Bigger than the Plate. Social enterprise GroCycle are growing oyster mushrooms in the gallery from bags filled with used coffee grounds, including grounds from the V&A café, usually these mushrooms are then used in catering at the V&A but on August 14th they were all sent to Turnips where they were served to huge crowds of people on an incredibly wet and un-summers day!
15 years ago, before food waste became the hot topic it is today, Turnips began finding new uses for fruit and vegetables which, while perfectly good, could not be sold by making of juices and smoothies with this produce. Today, Turnips Kitchen's team of chefs use a range of seasonal produce to create incredible street food every day, including their rich mushroom risotto made with organic British spelt from Sharpham Park and topped with generous amounts of parmesan – the dish that inspired this collaboration.
Charles Foster Turnips being interviewed for ITV News
10% of the sales were donated to Plan Zheroes, a zero food waste charity that Borough Market has worked with since 2014 to redistribute top quality surplus produce from traders to charities across London.
Andrew Sheridan, Sosban - Great British Menu PR
Chef Andrew Sheridan of Sosban in Llanelli in South Wales, was one of three Welsh chefs competing on Great British Menu on BBC Two this autumn. Great British Menu branded Andrew as the ‘maverick chef’ for his bold style turning traditional dishes like chicken soup and rice pudding upside down with his own unique spin.
This year Great British Menu is paying tribute to 70 years of the NHS and tasking 24 chefs from around the UK to create exceptional dishes for a banquet as a thank you to NHS heroes from around the country. Andrew went head-to-head against Chris Harrod from The Whitebrook in Monmouthshire and Jason Hughes from Chateau Rhianfa, Anglesey. The chefs were tasked with preparing a starter, fish course, main course and desert judged by a veteran chef Paul Ainsworth. Andrew was in the lead on points when he and Chris Harrod went through to the regional final on Friday to be judged by Andi Oliver, Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton OBE. The judges loved Andrew’s dishes and two of them scored his Apple Rice Pudding 10 out of 10, but at the final reckoning they picked Chris Harrod to go through to the banquet.
We developed and implemented a media campaign for the national, regional Welsh and trade media with the aim of not only creating a buzz around his appearance, but also building awareness of him as a chef to watch and Sosban as a destination restaurant. We continue to work on securing national coverage for Andrew including other broadcast opportunities.
The brief for Great British Menu was to thank our NHS heroes and Andrew tackled the brief by not only celebrating the Welsh founder of the NHS, Nye Bevan, but also his great grandmother who worked as nurse in Liverpool until the grand old age of 82! Andrew said “Rebecca worked for 62 years in the NHS - a lifetime’s commitment and a true inspiration to me when I was designing my dishes!”
He said of the experience of the competition “it was intense but also incredibly rewarding! I met some amazing people and it has also made me release how far I have come in my career.”
Café du Marché - Full Service Communications
Tucked away down a cobbled mews in historic Smithfield in London, Le Café du Marché is an authentic and atmospheric French restaurant, run by the same family for over thirty years.
Le Café du Marché serves delicious classic French cuisine in the ground floor restaurant that has many loyal customers and has received praise from critics including Marina O'Laughlin. The restaurant has a unique and characterful private dining room on the first floor which is popular for corporate events as well as parties and wedding celebrations.
The owners of Le Café du Marché came to me looking for support with a full range of marketing and PR activity. Work commenced in December 2017 and continues with the aim of increasing bookings for the private dining room, securing restaurant reviews in the London and national media online and in print and improving communications with customers.
I am working closely with the owner and management team:
- PR - restaurant reviews, chefs profiles, recipe placement and trade expertise and opinions.
- Private event sales - improvements to marketing of the venue including writing and creating a new brochure; updating and adding to online listings including specialist wedding and events sites.
- Planning and creating a communications calendar including blogs, social media and newsletters.
- Writing blog content and creating an email newsletter.
- Event management for an exclusive open day event for event organisers and wedding planners.
British Dal Festival - Curation and PR
I am part of a small team to launch the first British Dal Festival in 2018. The festival will celebrate the magic of dal and similar pulse dishes from around the world through a week of events across the city of Bristol next month. The aim is to will highlight the cultural richness, flavour, and affordability of dal and in particular pulses grown in the UK, as well as their contribution to health, nutrition and environmental sustainability.
I have been involved in the development, planning and PR for the Festival including:
- Developing the Festival's objectives, story and brand.
- Creating a website and social media profiles for British Dal Festival.
- Inviting high profile chefs and food writers to share dal recipes and memories for the website.
- Curating a programme of dal cookery demonstrations for the Festival's Grand Finale.
- Developing and implementing a creative PR campaign to launch the festival to the national press, and working alongside a colleague who focussed in the Bristol media.
- Securing coverage in national titles and local radio including a feature written by Diana Henry in Waitrose Weekend, a feature on pulses in The Observer and listings in Olive and Delicious magazines.
Branding - Lawson's Delicatessen - Slate
Lawson's Delicatessen was an award-winning deli on the Suffolk Coast which is now known as Slate. In January 2017 it was taken over by new owners father and daughter, Clare Jackson and John Ormerod who planned to rebrand the business to Slate, to open a new shop in Southwold and to start an ecommerce business.
I worked closely with the new owners before the the change of ownership and throughout the rebranding process. I advised them on communications about the change of ownership to their loyal customers, the local community, their suppliers and the small team of staff. This involved developing a new website, setting up an email newsletter, creating press releases for the consumer and trade press, re-establishing their presence on social media and facilitating a staff away day and workshop.
I brought in specialist creative agency, WHAT Associates, to create a new brand identity and managed the development and implementation of the new brand.
I provided a full marketing service to the team including
- Strategic and practical marketing advice.
- PR to local and national media as well as the trade press.
- Writing blogs, including a monthly Cheese of the Month feature
- Developing and writing a monthly newsletter (including growing the database).
- Social media implementation and analysis
- Managing the website, creating an online shop and reporting on engagement.
Content Curation - Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival
Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival is one of the UK's most renowned food and drink festivals. Over 70 food and drink producers gather at Snape Maltings near Aldeburgh in September every year. They are joined by a panoply of well-known chefs and food writers to entertain an audience of nearly 10,000 over the weekend.
Polly worked with Aldeburgh Food & Drink Festival from 2009-2014 and was ultimately a member of the small board. During her time with the Festival Polly brought in her network of chefs and food writers to bring new faces like Diana Henry, Sabrina Ghayour and Sam Clark of Moro to the Festival. She also generated many new ideas to evolve and generate additional revenue for the Festival including workshops, a Saturday night ticketed party and brought new sponsors on board.
Polly was particularly passionate about the Festival Fringe which we think is unique amongst food festivals as a fortnight of tours, walks, talks, workshops and special events run by local farms, producers, retailers and pubs and restaurants.
The Fringe events give the public the chance to engage with local food production and support the local economy. When Polly took on managing the Fringe in 2009 the number of events went from about 25 to 60 with a much wider geographical spread across Suffolk and funding from local organisations.