News & Media

If you don’t appeal to young families then your restaurant is missing out on a huge market. Having an atmosphere and facilities that are suitable for children means that you can attract additional custom through school holidays, weekends and evenings.

Some restaurants pass themselves as being child-friendly simply because they give infants a colouring sheet upon entry. But for parents, there are far more considerations that make your restaurant a child-friendly space that they want to take their children to.

For some restaurants, having children running around doesn’t fit with their brand. But if it’s a demographic you’d like to reach, here are some ways of creating a truly child-friendly atmosphere:

Children’s menu

You’ll struggle to find many youngsters that are happy to eat of the standard menu. We all know how fussy children are!

But while children’s menus are usually full of chips, nuggets, fish finger and beans, why don’t you add some healthier options in there, too? This is guaranteed to score a few brownie points with parents.

Furniture

A full-size chair simply isn’t going to cut it if you want to be seen as a child-friendly restaurant. The children’s faces will barely make it above the table, let alone be able to eat from it!

You’ll either have to have some booster seats handy or have a set of high chairs for the youngsters to use. Make sure that you have plenty available, too. The last thing you want to be doing is turning families away because your only two high chairs are currently being used!

Facilities

In terms of facilities, a toilet with a good baby changing space is top of the list for most. Preferably, your restaurant will have a designated baby changing room available complete with all the amenities the parent needs.

At the dinner table, you’ll need to stock up on some child-sized cutlery and some plastic cups. Believe us, giving kids plastic cups will save plenty of glasses being smashed!

Activities

Relying on children using phones and devices is a big mistake. Families eat out to spend time together and socialise; so the last thing parents will want is for their youngsters to have their heads buried in their phones. Instead, have a stash of toys, crayons and activity placemats ready for the children.

When it comes to furnishing your establishment, choosing the right furniture that defines your space is essential. A stand-out and practical piece common to bars, hotels and pubs, the poseur table is ideal for saving space in often-busy areas. We’ve put together a short guide about the difference a poseur table can make to your establishment. As experts in furniture, we are always looking for ways to inspire you to make the most of the furniture you buy from us.

Typically used to rest your freshly poured drink on, a poseur table can help to create an intimate atmosphere in bustling bars or café areas. When coupled with bar stools, your space is transformed into a comfortable and relaxing area to socialise in, as their brevity makes them less formal in comparison to heavier, more robust furniture.

Regardless of the style of your space, we have the poseur table to match. From luxury wooden tables for rustic and homely pubs, to sleek chrome fittings for more contemporary bars and restaurants, poseur tables don’t only have to have drinks resting on them! For example, due to their height making them perfect for resting a laptop on, our collection of over 20 poseur tables can streamline networking at any event, creating mini social hubs, wherever you are.

Furthermore, for the summer season, an aluminium made, waterproof poseur table is ideal for outdoor use; its sturdy base ensures it survives the not-so-glorious summer weather. The lightweight nature of the table itself ensures it can be easily moved when required, whilst its versatility can help you to create spaces unique to your venue.

Since 1960, we’ve been helping our customers find the right product at the right price. At Trent, we stock and supply a wide range of poseur tables, available in melamine, solid wood and veneer finishes, most of which have a matching dining-height table available to purchase.  

To view our full range of poseur tables, follow the link to our website here. Online or over the phone, our friendly team of experts are on hand to ensure your queries are resolved quickly.

In response to the demands of the environmentally-conscious consumer, eco-friendly products have altered our attitudes, from how we eat to what we buy, and decorating and furnishing our spaces is no exception.  As the interest in sustainable furniture continues to grow, we’ve put together some expert advice to filling your café, bar or restaurant with environmentally-friendly furniture.

Where do I start?

Founded upon the recycling loop, where furniture can be continually reused, the search for eco-friendly furniture begins with research.  Nowadays, it’s easy to spot sustainable furniture as companies certify the source of their materials. To help you make more informed furniture choices, we recommend reading up on the various certifications and their meanings, as well researching into the background of the store or supplier you are buying from.

Buy local

Eco-friendly doesn’t have to mean brand new, and furnishing your café, restaurant or pub with second-hand furniture decreases the need for new resources. You can still up-cycle your pieces to match the theme of your establishment; there’s nothing a lick of paint or new fabric cover can’t fix.

Look out for recycled materials

The list of recyclable materials is growing! This means more and more furnishing products made from cork, rubber, straw and flax, for example, are appearing in the showrooms of furniture stores. These materials, once they have come to the end of their usable life span, can easily be recycled, therefore helping to avoid the ever-increasing amount of landfill waste.

Fix it!

Often overlooked is the durability of quality-made products. If a piece of furniture, a solid oak table for example, can be easily repaired, it decreases the chances of it ending up in landfill. As well as decreasing your carbon footprint, continuing to repair rather than replace your furniture will also save you some extra cash, too!

What to do when you’ve finished with your furniture

Trends and tastes do change over time and what’ve we come to love can often no longer spark the same sense of joy in us that it once did. It may seem obvious, but continuing to recycle is key to keeping the cycle moving, and more importantly, keeping the environment more sustainable.

At Trent, we recognise the responsibility we have to help safeguard the environment for the future. That’s why all of our wood comes from sustainable and properly-managed sources. To find out more information about our recycling policies or to get in touch with one of our industry experts, contact us via phone or email.

T: 0116 2989 906 or 0116 2983 688
E: sales@pubfurnitureuk.co.uk 

If you cast your minds back to 2017, you’ll remember that Trent Furniture at the time was pleased to be asked to furnish a cocktail bar in a newly refurbished warehouse in London.

Despite the short notice, we were able to provide seating to Hawker House, a refurbished space filled with dozens of separate street food and bar options for customers to choose from; including Caffe Torino, a cocktails and aperitifs bar for which the furniture was assigned to.

Read all about the furniture project.

Event and Venue Furniture from Trent

Now, at Trent Furniture, we always like to see our furniture being put to good use, and at Hawker House, the tall bentwood stools and loopback side chairs certainly have been. There are regular events at the venue and every weekend the array of bars and street food options are open to punters.

New UK Furniture Makers Market

Over the coming months, though, they’ll be getting some additional usage as the venue welcomes a Makers Market alongside the usual food and drink options that are open every Friday and Saturday.

Makers Market will see a host of for independent traders who design, make and sell their own work descend upon the venue. The market has a carefully selected line-up of over 40 of London’s top independent designers and makers!

As if that’s not enough for you to go, the amazing food traders and bars will be opening from midday (five hours earlier than usual) so you can pop into Caffe Torino for a few drinks whilst browsing the market stalls.

The market is coming to the venue on April 6th and May 4th. If you are attending one of the dates, we’d love for you to send some pictures of our furniture over. You can tag us in your pictures on Facebook and Twitter. 

Veganism isn’t going anywhere. The lifestyle is well and truly here to stay and new figures show that restaurants and eateries are hopping on the trend, with a host of vegan-only restaurants sprouting up across the country.

Vegan restaurant increase

According to Local Data Company, the number of vegan restaurants in the UK increased by 55% in the 12 months to January 2019. The bulk of which were, of course, found in London with 18 different vegan-only options available in the English capital. The next region with the most vegan restaurants is Yorkshire and the Humber with 12 (Sheffield boasts the most here).

While these numbers might appear small in the grand scheme of things, they only refer to vegan-only restaurants, not taking into account restaurants that have added vegan items to their menus.

If figures showed restaurants with at least one vegan option on the menu, the numbers would be in the thousands.

Veganism by numbers

According to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, there are around 600,000 vegans in the UK. This only equates to just 1% but numbers are increasing year on year, and show no signs of slowing down.

Furthermore, a third of UK consumers have deliberately reduced the amount of meat they eat or removed it from their diet entirely. And 1 in 5 Brits would consider going vegan according to The Vegan Society.

Adding vegan options to restaurant

Having something for everyone is important for restaurants.

Picture a group of eight diners with one vegan. By not accommodating all eaters, you are sacrificing losing eight seats simply because you don’t have food options for the vegan. Whilst your clientele might not be ready for you to make the full switch to a vegan menu, it’s vital for operators to have at least a selection of options for vegans and vegetarians alike. Restaurants who don’t follow their customers’ habit will pay the price.

Looking back a year or two, it was difficult for vegans to dine out but in the modern day it’s now expected that there is at least one options for vegans on the menu. Nationwide restaurants such as Zizzis, Wagamama and Nandos have added vegan dishes to their menus – so what’s your excuse?

Ethically-sourced commercial furniture

If you are pitching yourself as an ethical restaurant. Your ethical choices need to run through the heart of your business, including your choice of furniture.

All of the wood used to make our furniture as a business comes from sustainable and properly managed sources. Not only that, but, where possible, we also merge orders so that numerous deliveries are fulfilled on each journey, meaning the carbon footprint of each delivery is lowered. And because most of our deliveries are made using our own vans, we need much less plastic packaging material.