Food for thought
I used to work for an editor in London who would announce proudly to the office, every week, that he was about to embark on the most important job of the week: arranging his lunches.
This was the late 1980s and it was in the television industry, so you can comfortably and accurately imagine him amongst the black clad hordes of creatives, dealers and luvvies in such Soho watering holes as the Ivy and the L'Escargot, quaffing the finest wines known to humanity before retiring to the Groucho Club to snort champagne from the stilettos of virgins. At least that's what he told us.
I've also worked with hardened hacks whose idea of a nourishing lunch would be several pints of nutty brown in the Dog And Duck, pausing only to file some news to the copy desk from the pay phone in the corner of the tap room, after some tip-offs from a snout in the local police force.
It's different now and although there are plenty of invitations to meet, greet and discuss matters of great import over fine food, in some of the best restaurants and cafx8es the region has to offer, the truth is we are no different from most of you out there - we journos simply have too much work and too little time to do it.
So while there is a lively lunchtime culture in the cities of the region, there are few places that you could say are actually bursting at the seams. Over the last four years I can count on one finger the number of times I've attempted to get a table at a city centre eaterie and been turned away, because the restaurant is full. Most times, if I'm meeting someone for lunch, we'll make our minds up where we're going that morning and take our chances.
Lunch culture is as much a product of its time as anything else. Most of us grab a butty, which at this time of year we're happy to eat at our desks. And as the feature by Glynn Davis on the wars for your lunch money in the region shows, it's a fascinating test case in the importance of real marketing and market intelligence. Not how to advertise, but how to position your business, where to locate, how to price your product and how to offer a range of services and when to account for local tastes.
I well remember the effect of Pret A Manger on the sandwich-munching classes of London when I worked there. It was nothing short of a revolution. And while I think Pret has done OK in the regions, there are confident rivals who we have interviewed who think it's not sufficiently aware of local tastes.
Much of that comes down to a simple matter of opinion, but as with most things in business, the market will ultimately decide who is right.
Michael Taylor, editor
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Unrivalled information. The quality of the editorial, original research and statistical data has helped position the Insider magazines as an unrivalled source of regional business information.
Unrivalled information. The quality of the editorial, original research and statistical data has helped position the Insider magazines as an unrivalled source of regional business information.
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