“Today’s political menu”

Expert Eye with

John Shepherd

Owner and Managing Director of Partridges

• Is our café a hero or a villain?
• “The battle for optimism and morale in retail”
• “Sustainable confusion”
• “What to do about January?”
• “Is the Christmas boom sustainable?”

As far as the 10 General Elections we have experienced go, like everyone who runs his own business, I have often been asked how the fortunes of Partridges have been affected by different political masters

In fact we have been governed by five Labour administrations, four Conservative and one coalition, and in reality it seems that the political hue of the Government has had a negligible effect on our profitability – a despite the instinctive reactions one might have. Similarly, whenever there is a recession we are often politely asked about the shop’s current state of health and, although I believe during our lifetime we have endured four recessions (and I cannot say that we have always emerged unscathed), the reality is that macroeconomic factors and national politics have impacted only slightly on our bottom line. Other factors such as local business conditions and competition have had a far greater effect.

Of course, we are a small company that resides in a prosperous part of the country, but when we opened in 1972 it was just prior to the recession of 1974. The idea of launching a high quality delicatessen was met by a degree of scepticism at a time when the prevailing trend was for self service and lower prices. Then there was the recession of the early 80s and it was, in fact, during this time that we expanded in size to three units from our previous one unit, thereby tripling the floor space of the shop. I cannot recall what we did during the recession of 1990, but it was then that we started supplying Buckingham Palace and eventually were granted the Royal Warrant in 1994.

Finally, the recession of recent times has seen us open up a new front of activity by running a number of food markets and setting up the Startisans project which now has two branches. We have not done a lot of research on the matter, but in difficult times it seems that good food, good wine and innovative startups can hold their own. Possibly because dining at home or at food markets becomes a more attractive option, but perhaps also because quality and expertise in food production is particularly prized when the going gets tough.

This can be seen in the list of our best-sellers. During the 1974 General Election, game pie, jugged hare, bannocks and gulls’ eggs were must-stock lines and avocados and kiwi fruit were new kids on the block. Chablis and champagne topped the wine department’s best sellers, and smoked salmon was in all its various incarnations the king. Olive oil was then the preserve of chemists and hummus unheard of. Our free-range eggs were supplied by our family dentist, and later on our family vet supplied the olive oil in small batches.

Fast forward 41 years and during the 2015 election a large number of café products appear on the list, which is a real indication of how our business has evolved over the years. Prosecco has now replaced champagne at the top of the sparkling wine department, and Grenache Cinsault has overtaken Chablis as our best-selling wine. Smoked salmon still features but is accompanied by a much wider variety of fish. I am delighted to see Partridges’ very own Chelsea Flower Tea as the best-selling tea and that Partridges own-label tops the Champagne list. Bendicks, Bollinger, Evian, Baxter’s, Walkers,  Wilkins,Twinings, Charbonnel, Tabasco and Motts Clamato Juice are all brands that seem to have endured from Ted Heath to David Cameron, and I am sure will do so for many Prime Ministers to come.