Ssb - mount responds to spa criticism

[cazmac1]

The SWSA is everything that's been said on here and more. Frankly, it's snooker heaven, and I've even thought of relocating to that part of the country to benefit from the facilities.

Paul Mount is a bona-fide saint and the pro's should be thanking their lucky stars that a multi-millionaire exists who loves snooker so much he's prepared to run at a loss while keeping an A class venue up and running.

No one no matter how much of a saint they are will run a business that does not make money indefinitely?

[Deepscrew]

His other business's make plenty for SWSA to run for a while yet. But as he said, he wants to try and get it to break even asap.


Re the food, there is a kitchen but a 'chef' costs alot more per year than would be clawed back in food sales. I remember you saying you'd eaten a rileys burger before, the food currently on offer at SWSA is 100 times better than than ****.

Its a snooker club, not a cafe. If you want something other than a toastie or whatever, go to the pub 5 minutes walk away, or the KFC/McDonalds/Tesco 5 minutes drive away. Food should not be an issue.

[cazmac1]

His other business's make plenty for SWSA to run for a while yet. But as he said, he wants to try and get it to break even asap.


Re the food, there is a kitchen but a 'chef' costs alot more per year than would be clawed back in food sales. I remember you saying you'd eaten a rileys burger before, the food currently on offer at SWSA is 100 times better than than ****.

Its a snooker club, not a cafe. If you want something other than a toastie or whatever, go to the pub 5 minutes walk away, or the KFC/McDonalds/Tesco 5 minutes drive away. Food should not be an issue.

You are missing the point here it is not about me it is about him losing business. I don't know why you are trying to make it personal . If I did eat a burger at riley's the only reason I would have posted about on the forum would have to say just how bad it was? and it would have been the only time. I have eaten a pizza a few chips and I also drank their **** bear.

[cazmac1]

I'm going to pm Paul and ask him to respond.

[Sarah Mount]

I'm going to pm Paul and ask him to respond.

Paul doesn't come on here so I hope you don't mind me replying on his behalf. The point you make about trying to make money off a better selection of food is very valid and is in fact something we have already tried. At a previous event (I forget which one) we offered meals such as chilli con carne, chicken curry, rice, salad etc and some other things that I can't remember. You would not believe the amount of waste we were left with. We were cautious with the number of portions we catered for and made informed decisions on costs/pricing/portion sizes/portion numbers etc but alas we sold very few meals and it was fair to say that sales were disappointing, despite those who bought meals being very happy with the quality.

The reality is that the majority (not all) of players at that time preferred to visit the local takeaways or restaurants to get food that they recognised and ate regularly as opposed to eat at SWSA. This is of course no problem and having made a loss on the catering at that event, we decided to offer a limited range of snack based items. We are however more than happy to listen to feedback and will possibly try a few more items on our menu for future events to access their popularity and feasibility for the long term. What we won't do however is create meals at a loss for the minority-it just isn't feasible both in terms of costs and staff.

I hope that goes a little way to answering the question.

I would like to also add that the support on this thread is very much appreciated. If anyone ever doubted that our involvement in snooker was out of genuine interest in the sport, I think having seen the figures mentioned over the past couple of days may reassure them that we are not in this for the money!

Many thanks,

Sarah

[JanieWatkins]

particle:

Just so you don't get the wrong idea. The pros have one room upstairs with 4 tables especially reserved for them while the other players use the other two rooms.

So you can't say play on a table next to a couple of pros practicing. I'm not sure, but I don't think you can hang around all day and watch the pros even though there is some seating in their room as I would figure the SWSA would like you to get a table.

Terry

That's not correct Terry sorry. The pros, members, junior club and amateurs mix freely across all the tables. There are occasions when 2 or 3 tables are reclothed especially for professional preparation but there's no segregation that you suggest. Anyone is welcome to watch the lads practising. The only private areas would be reserved for one of our six top qualified coaches to work with their pupils.

[Particle Physics]

Paul doesn't come on here so I hope you don't mind me replying on his behalf. The point you make about trying to make money off a better selection of food is very valid and is in fact something we have already tried. At a previous event (I forget which one) we offered meals such as chilli con carne, chicken curry, rice, salad etc and some other things that I can't remember. You would not believe the amount of waste we were left with. We were cautious with the number of portions we catered for and made informed decisions on costs/pricing/portion sizes/portion numbers etc but alas we sold very few meals and it was fair to say that sales were disappointing, despite those who bought meals being very happy with the quality.

The reality is that the majority (not all) of players at that time preferred to visit the local takeaways or restaurants to get food that they recognised and ate regularly as opposed to eat at SWSA. This is of course no problem and having made a loss on the catering at that event, we decided to offer a limited range of snack based items. We are however more than happy to listen to feedback and will possibly try a few more items on our menu for future events to access their popularity and feasibility for the long term. What we won't do however is create meals at a loss for the minority-it just isn't feasible both in terms of costs and staff.

I hope that goes a little way to answering the question.

I would like to also add that the support on this thread is very much appreciated. If anyone ever doubted that our involvement in snooker was out of genuine interest in the sport, I think having seen the figures mentioned over the past couple of days may reassure them that we are not in this for the money!

Many thanks,

Sarah

Good luck to you all up there; snooker really needs you. I hope to get some lads up there soon, to see you all in the flesh, for a day on great tables.

[cazmac1]

Paul doesn't come on here so I hope you don't mind me replying on his behalf. The point you make about trying to make money off a better selection of food is very valid and is in fact something we have already tried. At a previous event (I forget which one) we offered meals such as chilli con carne, chicken curry, rice, salad etc and some other things that I can't remember. You would not believe the amount of waste we were left with. We were cautious with the number of portions we catered for and made informed decisions on costs/pricing/portion sizes/portion numbers etc but alas we sold very few meals and it was fair to say that sales were disappointing, despite those who bought meals being very happy with the quality.

The reality is that the majority (not all) of players at that time preferred to visit the local takeaways or restaurants to get food that they recognised and ate regularly as opposed to eat at SWSA. This is of course no problem and having made a loss on the catering at that event, we decided to offer a limited range of snack based items. We are however more than happy to listen to feedback and will possibly try a few more items on our menu for future events to access their popularity and feasibility for the long term. What we won't do however is create meals at a loss for the minority-it just isn't feasible both in terms of costs and staff.

I hope that goes a little way to answering the question.

I would like to also add that the support on this thread is very much appreciated. If anyone ever doubted that our involvement in snooker was out of genuine interest in the sport, I think having seen the figures mentioned over the past couple of days may reassure them that we are not in this for the money!

Many thanks,

Sarah

Hi thank you for your response, first off let me say that I have nothing but respect for what your doing and I hope you can turn the corner and get the club operating at a no loss very soon. With regards to the food I was merely expanding on the points raised in the OP. You have more than satisfied me with your answer, if you have given it a go and it didn't work out then you have done all you can and I would not expect you to repeat the experiment. It seems that there are a few players that just like to moan, I bet the ones moaning were the ones getting the take away's.
Good luck and hopefully I will pay you a visit soon.

[Sarah Mount]

Good luck to you all up there; snooker really needs you. I hope to get some lads up there soon, to see you all in the flesh, for a day on great tables.

Thank you We have the Summer Team Festival in a couple of weeks so perhaps that is a great excuse to come up and have a good weekend. It's very much 50% competitive, 50% social. We held the first festival in March and it was a great weekend! If you can't make it though hope to see you at some point soon. Thanks again

[Sarah Mount]

Hi thank you for your response, first off let me say that I have nothing but respect for what your doing and I hope you can turn the corner and get the club operating at a no loss very soon. With regards to the food I was merely expanding on the points raised in the OP. You have more than satisfied me with your answer, if you have given it a go and it didn't work out then you have done all you can and I would not expect you to repeat the experiment. It seems that there are a few players that just like to moan, I bet the ones moaning were the ones getting the take away's.
Good luck and hopefully I will pay you a visit soon.

You're welcome! I'm more than happy to answer any genuine questions especially as I could see that you were trying to suggest things that may help. Things are going OK and the our income is improving all the time, it is the costs that cause the problems. As you can imagine, it is a very expensive building to run. The building is also used for corporate events and non-snooker events and those are the areas that will, in the long run, bring in the money to fund the building. Snooker alone will never keep the building operating sadly. Thanks again

[DeanH]

The interesting thing for me in Paul Mounts letter was him stating that the academy is losing 120 thousand pound per year...

sorry but that is incorrect; extract from post #1 "...cost in excess of £120,000 per year to keep operating..."
£120,000 opex is not the same as losing £120k per year.
There is no mention of how much profit or loss the academy actually makes except that it says MR Mount would like to see it make a profit or at least break even
So from that we can assume it is not breaking even at the moment, but it is not running a loss of £120K/annum - or I sincerely hope not

[Gerry Armstrong]

They wont go to the pub caz , its too far to walk and Paul does,nt put on free transport .

I think I just wee'd a little

[DandyA]

Sarah, many thanks for taking the time to reply on this thread ... I'm sure we'd all like to thank you and your dad for providing such a great facility and wish both of you and all of the other staff at the SWSA the very best for it's continuing success

[Particle Physics]

Sarah, many thanks for taking the time to reply on this thread ... I'm sure we'd all like to thank you and your dad for providing such a great facility and wish both of you and all of the other staff at the SWSA the very best for it's continuing success

I just wish they were down here in Devon. Folk just don't know how lucky they are to have a venue like that. Someone should organise a TSF weekend up there? Bit of playing, bit of coaching, and a few competitive games. Ideal.

[Qwer]

$4 is fair enough..

What's next? loser table punch!