Linlithgow Rose 18/19

[Black Dug]

Why do we continue to play about with the ball at the back? Especially when the parks are like today - one slip or bobble and we are bang in trouble. We need to wise up 'cause we invited pressure needlessly today and made the second half a far more nervy affair than it should have been.

[GordonS]

They're only queued out Alexander's because the shop will only allow 2 of then inside at a time, it's not actually a massive number of customers - it certainly wasn't when I was at school a few years ago.

Even then I'm not convinced trying to build a business model around half an hour's worth of trade 5 days a week is going to come out as all that viable, before you even get into the ethics of more or less explicitly setting out to profit from selling junk food to children.

I wasn't thinking this would be some big thing. The equipment is already there and I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to staff it at lunchtimes in term time. I do think the profit margin would be healthy, even if the food isn't. Fifty quid a day for 180 days a year is good money for a non-league football club.

Tbh I don't care about the ethics. I probably used to. About 5 years ago along with a handful of other parents I worked to improve the school meals. They're much crappier than I could ever have imagined. Everyone was against us - parents, the Parent Councils, West Lothian Council. It was a waste of time. These are people who think chocolate milk is fine with lunch because it's what bodybuilders drink and hey, it's milk so it must be good. I was told by the guys in charge of catering for the council that there's no such thing as bad food. I raised the issue of the portion sizes being the same for 4 and 12 year olds; they said they put out bread and encourage the older ones to "bulk up".

So feck it, my kids get packed lunches and the occasional school lunch, and there's nothing I can do to stop everyone else from feeding shite to their weans. If they change the rules then great, but until then I don't blame anyone for cashing in.

[lithgierose]

150 kids a day at the. dolphin.£2.50 a burger

[sponsorsladdie]

I wasn't thinking this would be some big thing. The equipment is already there and I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to staff it at lunchtimes in term time. I do think the profit margin would be healthy, even if the food isn't. Fifty quid a day for 180 days a year is good money for a non-league football club.

The equipment in the lie hit is only to keep food warm.

The kitchen in the club is a long way from the garage. It’s up by the hall. The garage backs onto the women’s and disabled toilet, then onto the gents and office before you geT to the kitchen.

To get the utilities into the garage you would have a fair amount of work to do and I’m assuming the cost would be significant also. Not impossible but you would need to be making a decent profit quickly to cover the work involved and staff costs etc.

[Jabaroot]

8 hours ago, Auld Heid said:

The kids are queued out the paper shop on Preston Road at lunchtime as they sell hot rolls etc.

The 1st solution would being able to get something to eat pre match or halftime.

St Andrews you can get a bar lunch pre match.

The real problem is the refusal to change from the past. If you don't innovate you won't survive/thrive long-term.

The BC continues to innovate and are thriving whilst others around fail.

Mind your tray....!!!

Still a bitter man towards the club you supposedly adore. Never really recovered from being overlooked for the secretary position a number of yrs back.

[Black Dug]

Still a bitter man towards the club you supposedly adore. Never really recovered from being overlooked for the secretary position a number of yrs back.

First post and it is to have a go at someone...

[Auld Heid]

Still a bitter man towards the club you supposedly adore. Never really recovered from being overlooked for the secretary position a number of yrs back.

Badly informed - have never went for or craved the Secretary position.

 

But don't let that cloud your view. The facts in my post speak for themselves.

 

Good name by the way - we all remember the horse.

[GordonS]

On 01/12/2018 at 18:52, sponsorsladdie said:

The equipment in the pie hut is only to keep food warm.
 

 

 

I know. Lunchtimes are even shorter than matches so that would be fine.

[sponsorsladdie]

I know. Lunchtimes are even shorter than matches so that would be fine.

Where do you get the hot food from though to keep warm?

[Auld Heid]

1 hour ago, sponsorsladdie said:

Where do you get the hot food from though to keep warm?

Sometimes you need to innovate to make money.  New income streams are vital for the success of any club 

There are a lot of easy wins that don't need much investment either in time or financially.  It's all about using the resources at hand to your best advantage.  

[GordonS]

2 hours ago, sponsorsladdie said:

Where do you get the hot food from though to keep warm?

Same place it comes from every matchday!

[sponsorsladdie]

Same place it comes from every matchday!

Oliohants then or volunteers if there is soup etc.

If we were to use oliphants we would have to add a margin onto the price of something the kids can get a few mins walk away. Volunteers all work so I doubt they would be able to provide soup etc daily.

I’m not trying to kill off the idea, it’s just a bit more complex than first looks. Health and safety would be a nightmare for using the lie but I’d think so garage conversion would make most sense (could double up as a shop on match days etc) to do that you’d need full cooking facilities onsite so would need to rework the club I’d think unless you can tap into the utilities in the car park somewhere.

Then you’d need staff to run it. The footfall would obviously the school kids but can you entice enough away from subway, bakers, chippy, dominos etc and how long would it take to make a profit.

It would look an option but is it cost effective or could the dead space be put to better use?

[Auld Heid]

9 hours ago, sponsorsladdie said:

Oliohants then or volunteers if there is soup etc.

If we were to use oliphants we would have to add a margin onto the price of something the kids can get a few mins walk away. Volunteers all work so I doubt they would be able to provide soup etc daily.

I’m not trying to kill off the idea, it’s just a bit more complex than first looks. Health and safety would be a nightmare for using the lie but I’d think so garage conversion would make most sense (could double up as a shop on match days etc) to do that you’d need full cooking facilities onsite so would need to rework the club I’d think unless you can tap into the utilities in the car park somewhere.

Then you’d need staff to run it. The footfall would obviously the school kids but can you entice enough away from subway, bakers, chippy, dominos etc and how long would it take to make a profit.

It would look an option but is it cost effective or could the dead space be put to better use?

The garage is an empty (redundant) space - why not lease it out to someone for storage space or whatever.  The floor space will be comparable to the industrial units across the road - it has ample parking.

leasing it out to a third party takes away the concerns you highlight - in return you turn a redundant space in to a money generator.

[AlanCamelonfan]

2 hours ago, Auld Heid said:

The garage is an empty (redundant) space - why not lease it out to someone for storage space or whatever.  The floor space will be comparable to the industrial units across the road - it has ample parking.

leasing it out to a third party takes away the concerns you highlight - in return you turn a redundant space in to a money generator.

Camelon did that this season with space behind goal and it is a good idea

[GordonS]

Oliohants then or volunteers if there is soup etc.

If we were to use oliphants we would have to add a margin onto the price of something the kids can get a few mins walk away. Volunteers all work so I doubt they would be able to provide soup etc daily.

I’m not trying to kill off the idea, it’s just a bit more complex than first looks. Health and safety would be a nightmare for using the lie but I’d think so garage conversion would make most sense (could double up as a shop on match days etc) to do that you’d need full cooking facilities onsite so would need to rework the club I’d think unless you can tap into the utilities in the car park somewhere.

Then you’d need staff to run it. The footfall would obviously the school kids but can you entice enough away from subway, bakers, chippy, dominos etc and how long would it take to make a profit.

It would look an option but is it cost effective or could the dead space be put to better use?

Oliphant's is another 10 minutes away, as are Subway and the other High St outlets - that's 20 minutes out an already too-short lunchtime. Proximity would guarantee a good footfall.

It would cost thousands to create a cafe in the garage, plus running costs. It would cost low hundreds at most to try out opening the pie stall at lunchtimes. If those who run it at present have time to look into it I think it would be worth giving it a go. I think the biggest stumbling block would be a license, though.

[Auld Heid]

16 minutes ago, GordonS said:

Oliphant's is another 10 minutes away, as are Subway and the other High St outlets - that's 20 minutes out an already too-short lunchtime. Proximity would guarantee a good footfall.

It would cost thousands to create a cafe in the garage, plus running costs. It would cost low hundreds at most to try out opening the pie stall at lunchtimes. If those who run it at present have time to look into it I think it would be worth giving it a go. I think the biggest stumbling block would be a license, though.

Whilst welcoming suggestions towards raising income. 

My concern would be the added mess created from discarded food cartons etc.  In addition there is the supervision aspect - do we want kids within the ground and potentially on the park. (People can't serve and supervise at the same time)  

[8MileBU]

The garage is an empty (redundant) space - why not lease it out to someone for storage space or whatever.  The floor space will be comparable to the industrial units across the road - it has ample parking.
leasing it out to a third party takes away the concerns you highlight - in return you turn a redundant space in to a money generator.

^^^ Has a mate who wants to grow cannabis IMO

[GlamourBaws]

whats for certain is that no garage was ever converted, or operation pie hut lunches launched,  as a result of chatter on P&B...

[GordonS]

Whilst welcoming suggestions towards raising income. 
My concern would be the added mess created from discarded food cartons etc.  In addition there is the supervision aspect - do we want kids within the ground and potentially on the park. (People can't serve and supervise at the same time)  

Agreed, those would be problems.

[Auld Heid]

Huffed and puffed including giving them a goal start.

Massive shout out to Gordon and his efforts to get the park playable after the Hearts game. Unfortunately back to square one as park battered again.