I have been lucky to recruit amazing managers and that’s what has made it such a success, I let my managers run them as their own and I work with them to make sure it’s successful. If anyone out there is thinking of growing their business and running multiple pubs my top tip would be to make sure you have a trustworthy manager that you have a great relationship with. The recruitment part was the hardest part, but I got lucky first time with my selection. The Crown and The Plume are completely different pubs and so I have managers with different skill sets to run them to the best they can be.
I believe that everything can be done remotely and Covid has really proven this. I pop to the pubs frequently, but I don’t need to be their daily. We hold video calls, chat on the phone and I can see everything via CCTV on my phone if I need to. I’m lucky that I have this way of working in place already as Covid has caused massive disruption to businesses who are not used to working digitally or virtually with their teams – we have proven that it does and can work if you keep the communication alive and regular."