The Professional Touch



Entrepreneur Ellis Johnson has made a recent return to the pub business after a three year break, and brings 17 years of pub management experience to his Edinburgh venues. The Marmion on Captains Road, and The Rainbow in Drumbrae, are large scale, full facility community pubs in the heart of the city.

The Marmion is a vibrant superpub, with an extensive offering of high quality food. With its impressive scale, famous entertainment schedule, and welcoming atmosphere, The Marmion is right at the hub of its local community.

Both pubs have gathered a large local football following, and maintain a massive Sunday scene. Ellis shows Scottish League matches on the many plasmas in his venues, and once the match is over, he is able to offer his customers something extra, and keep them in for longer, with a bit of karaoke, some celebrity bingo, or a live action horse race!

It is crucial to respond to the particular requirements of the local community, and to look for unique business opportunities. Ellis has formed the Monday Club at The Marmion, when all the local taxi drivers pitch up for their days off. Ellis is able to offer them any entertainment they want, be it karaoke, Roulette, or Hi/Lo Cards, and says “it’s like a fairground in here, with so much going on!” It is also important to keep refreshing your entertainment schedule, and The Entertainer™ has allowed Ellis to develop some exciting new offerings, such as the already popular “Quiz and Bingo” nights.

Friday is signature night at both venues, with a tremendous cabaret, live acts and a whole cacophony of fun and thrills. The Entertainer™ is used instead of a DJ at the beginning and end of the night, cutting the need for any secondary events.
Like many other Mediatheme™ customers, Ellis has found that the Entertainer™ can save huge amounts on entertainment costs, and give a great deal of flexibility to the landlord. He says, “having bought the system, we don’t have to buy much else.” He added, “We use it every day as it’s so convenient – we no longer have to pre-plan our quizzes, karaoke, or race nights, we can be spontaneous, depending on the mood of our customers.”

Ellis is proud of the true community feel he has developed in each of his pubs. They provide a warm atmosphere for visiters, while maintaining a true community feel for the regulars. The staff and local customers know each other well, and they have great interaction. Ellis tells us that “different pockets of people will come in, and the staff know exactly what they want to do - they might put on a horse race or rude bingo, and they spur each other on.”

The Entertainer Pro™ has also helped Ellis overcome one of the main problems faced by landlords of multiple businesses, the issue of control. He says, “I have three pubs, and I can’t be in three places at once. The Entertainer Pro™ is really an extension strategy as it allows me to maintain key control of the atmosphere in two of them, as I know exactly what music is being played”. He added, “It allows me to manage more, with less input. We have an ongoing efficiency drive, and we are able to compete with Manchester United, with the budget of Watford. The Entertainer™ allows us to apply city standards to community based businesses.”

Ord House Country Park - Berwick

Nestled in the beautiful grounds of a striking 17th Century Berwick manor house, Ord House Country Park is an award winning holiday centre, with over 400 caravans on site.  Owner Steve Dixon is kept busy providing entertainment for the many thousands of tourists he accommodates each year, as well as managing a steady calendar of events for local customers. 

 

Steve uses touch screen entertainment solution, Entertainer Pro™, to provide most of the entertainment in his venue.

Ord Park is ideally located near to Northumberland’s striking coastline, and the stunning local scenery is contrasted with Steve’s state of the art entertainment systems, to provide holiday makers and regulars with an unforgettable experience. Steve’s venue is split into three separate rooms, each containing a feed from the Entertainer Pro™ and high tech audio visual equipment - and each able to create a distinctive atmosphere.  Indeed, Steve says “it’s ideal, because I am able to give my customers what they need – I can set the Entertainer™ to play 50s music for a party of pensioners in one room, while a group of lads is watching sport in another”. 

Steve has held some excellent charity Race Nights, Games Nights and children’s Mini-Discos over the last year, and has a popular Karaoke Disco every Saturday night, but he uses the Entertainer’s comprehensive music programs and advertising suite every single day.  “It’s a great piece of kit”, he says, “and so handy.  We’ve purpose built a DJ booth for the Entertainer™, with disco lights and all the gear, but you can just set it up for the night and let it run itself.”  The staff have their own favourite play lists, and there are ‘Essential Sunday’ and ‘Disco Night’ compilations ready to go at the touch of a button. 

Steve is able to promote his own forthcoming events, menus and specials on the plasma screens with the Advert Manager, and, after offering free trials to local businesses, is set to start charging for displaying their advertisements.  

The venture has also proved a financially sound decision for Steve, who tells us that “the system more than pays for itself.  I used to spend around £200 a week on DJs, and £350 just for New Year’s Eve.  We had a superb New Year with the Entertainer™ this time though, with a full night of games and then a disco – it was a cracking party!”

 

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