Case Study: Platinum Jubilee Celebration Bus Tour 2022

In February 2022, Her Majesty The Queen became the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee's historic milestone. To mark her 70 years of service, various events and initiatives took place throughout the year, both in London and across the UK. These culminated in a much-acclaimed four-day bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th June 2022.

Brigit's Bakery couldn't miss the opportunity to mark this unprecedented event. So we (literally) cooked up something special for the occasion and gladly jumped on the Platinum Jubilee Celebration bandwagon (or should we say... bus tour?) with an exclusive Afternoon Tea menu and a uniquely decorated Routemaster bus.

Platinum Jubilee Celebration on board of our Afternoon Tea Bus Tours

For a short period (between 1st May to 31st July 2022), all our Classic Afternoon Tea Bus Tours turned festive. We embellished one of our Routemaster buses with flags, crowns, and all sorts of tasteful platinum jubilee decorations. If you've been on one of our afternoon tea bus tours before, you'll know we love a party. And our Platinum Jubilee Celebration Tours were no exception - they were the perfect mix of class and fun!

During the three months of our Platinum Jubilee bonanza, we're proud to say we ran a total of 800 Platinum Jubilee Afternoon Tea Bus Tours, covering a staggering 10,400 miles across the busy streets of London! We served a total of 17,401 afternoon teas to 16,194 lucky adults and 1,207 children.

In true Brigit's Bakery style, we had a uniquely themed menu accompanied by our delicious signature afternoon tea. This means freshly baked plain scones, clotted cream and jam, and a choice of hot drink. And for those with specific preferences or dietary requirements, we offered our usual selection of alternative menus - Vegan, Vegetarian, Gluten-free, and Halal.

The Platinum Jubilee Celebration Afternoon Tea menu

The fun didn't stop with our bus tours though. We also offered a celebratory Platinum Jubilee Afternoon Tea Menu at our Brigit's Bakery in Covent Garden. For a limited period, our customers were able to indulge in the delicious menu we put together in honour of the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

Here's what our menu included.

Freshly Prepared Savouries:

• Scrumptious Smoked Salmon Pretzel with Cream Cheese, Chives & Cucumber Slices.
• Lush Cucumber Finger Sandwich with Spinach Bread & Mint Cream Cheese.
• Grand Egg-Mayo Finger Sandwich with Delicious Granary Bread & Watercress.
• Magnificent Mini Pie with Homemade Puff Pastry & Flavoursome Meat Filling.
• Succulent Wholemeal Bun with Homemade Coronation Chicken.

Assortment of mini Homemade Cakes & Tarts:

• The Jubilee Award Pudding – Lemon & Orange Amaretti Queen of Puddings Trifle with bitter Orange Jelly, Mandarin Coulis, Lemon Diplomat, whipped Chantilly Cream topped with Amaretti Biscuit & Candied Orange Chocolate Shard.
• A Royal Treat Bakewell Tart – our Sweet & Buttery Almond Tart filled with a Sweet & Crisp Cherry Compote and a Delicately Fragrant Frangipani, finished with Chantilly Cream & Fresh Raspberry.
• The Royal Victoria Sponge – our Light & Fluffy Vanilla Sponge filled with a Delicately Fragranced Cream & Strawberry Compote, finished with Sugar Paste Topping & Edible Silver Flakes.
• Diamond Jubilee Truffle – our melt-in-your-mouth Blackberry Truffle & Earl Grey Truffle.
• The Queen’s Chocolate Cupcake – a Light & Fluffy Chocolate Cupcake Frosted with Rich & Decadent Chocolate Buttercream.
• Freshly baked, Plain Scone with Clotted Cream & Jam.

Trust us when we say it was mouthwatering! As always when we launch a special menu, we made it available for Afternoon Tea Deliveries too so that customers could enjoy it in the comfort of their own homes or at private gatherings or parties.

Our partnership with Debrett's

The Platinum Jubilee was the special occasion of all special occasions. So it made sense to partner with the royal experts at Debrett's, as we'll often do when it comes to marking royal events. Debrett's are the authority on modern British etiquette, and we're lucky to say they work with us to entertain the royal enthusiasts and fans of all things British amongst our customers.

Debrett's designed an elegant leaflet that we provided to all our customers on the Jubilee Afternoon Tea Bus Tours. This included some interesting tea trivia and useful information about etiquette, finger sandwiches, and scones. For example, did you know you should avoid pointing your little finger in the air when sipping from your cup?

If you've been around our world long enough, you'll know we are not new to partnering with royal experts. We did this before when we celebrated the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle back in May 2018 with a very special Royal Wedding Afternoon Tea Bus Tour, for example. Back then, Debrett's provided a guide who talked our loyal customers through the history of royal weddings. Plus, they also talked us through all the traditions and rituals of formal afternoon tea! We've also partnered with Debrett's since the Jubilee for the King's Coronation Afternoon Tea Bus Tour in April-May 2023.

Tour Guides onboard our Jubilee Afternoon Tea Bus Tours

To enable our guests to make the most of their tours, we had Tour Guides on all Platinum Jubilee Afternoon Tea Bus Tours every day of the week. Their job was to share with our customers everything there is to know about our beloved late Queen. Nothing was spared - her achievements, interesting facts about her life, her upbringing, and more. They also talked about royalty and the royal locations on our tours, and even told us how the royals drink their tea!

What our customers said about the Jubilee Afternoon Tea Bus Tour

As always, we don't expect you to take our word for how wonderful our themed Afternoon Tea menus and Bus Tours are. So let's hear it from our customers!

In June 2022, Angela B said:

"Thank you so much for such a unique experience. The food was delicious, the staff were delightful and the trip was just spectacular. Thank you so much for a wonderful experience."

Also, in June 2022, a customer from Vancouver (Canada) shared the following:

"My family and I (total of 8, multi-generational) took the Jubilee-themed afternoon tea bus tour. The bus was well-decorated with little flags, teddy bears and more. The tables were set with plates of savoury and sweet items. We enjoyed the food while the bus drove past many of London's iconic sights. Someone was providing live commentary and providing many facts about the Queen, the royal family and the iconic sights. Great service was provided by Cameron, our server. We disembarked with the souvenir mugs (very beautiful!) and little boxes of pastries and sandwiches which we were unable to finish. This is an experience which is different from the typical afternoon tea at a hotel or restaurant and our family thoroughly enjoyed it."