Fifteen and counting

Tony Callaghan is leading the way in attracting younger adults to his North West city pubs, finds Tom Sandham.

Adorning walls with Victorian porn might seem a bit outlandish for a pub operator, but Tony Callaghan seems quite comfortable with the choice of decor.

Not that the managing director of Yesteryear Pubs is out of touch with his customers - after all, he's built up a 25-pub estate in only five years and his growing brands Number Fifteen and Little Fifteen are a storming success in the North West.

The pubs cater for the 25 to 30-plus market and Tony has carved out a real niche in the high street. While people of this age group are notable only by their absence in many town centres, Tony is welcoming them with open arms in the likes of Wigan, Chorley and Southport.

By designing a pub brand that is, by his own admission, the kind he would like to visit, he has wooed a moneyed and salubrious crowd who would otherwise feel neglected.

Controlled growth​

It's a simple policy that is working well, and this year the company announced a turnover of £12m. Considering the figure was £7.7m only last year, it's fair to say Yesteryear is growing at a healthy rate. Even more impressive is the fact that Tony started out only five years ago with just two bars.

"Sometimes I have to pinch myself," he says. "It's almost unreal what we've achieved and the growth has been controlled with no casualties, which I'm particularly proud of."

Tony has been involved in the leisure industry since he was 17 when he ran his own portable DJ service. He made a more significant leap when he started at Café Inns 14 years ago.

"I'm happy to say I served an apprenticeship with Café Inns," says Tony, who was operations director when the company was floated five years ago. "When we floated we made £37m and I got enough from that deal to set up on my own.

"I learned a lot from that. We moved from two bars to 144 in my time with Café Inns so I was used to a company growing quickly, but I wanted the next approach to be more measured."

That said, Yesteryear has grown rapidly. Tony is confident that by keeping a firm hand on the tiller, he is managing the rate of growth sensibly.

Earlier this year, the pubco bought up the four-pub chain Maloney's, and with two new Number Fifteens to add to his portfolio later this year, Tony is looking forward to hitting his overall target of 40 venues in the near future.

Focus on North West​

The Number Fifteen name arose from the address of the first bar Tony bought and the strength of the brand in the North West has been helped by the recognisable moniker. While that was down to a piece of luck, all other aspects of the brand's development have been carefully planned.

"I like to think I've got a safe pair of hands," Tony explains. "The key is that we don't acquire places for the sake of it. A hell of a lot of research goes into making sure the site is right for us.

"I've recently spent thousands on market research for a place in Cheshire and did the same for a venue in Bolton which opens in October."

This desire to get everything right has meant Yesteryear confines itself to the North West, but this isn't something that concerns Tony unduly.

"I've no plans to move further south. I'm confident that I know my surroundings well enough here to make this estate work. Even at 40 pubs it will be a manageable company. I enjoy going into pubs and knowing faces, and to lose that would damage what we have at Yesteryear," he says.

"Since I've got involved in this business I've always held the belief that you need to be close to your product. At the end of the day it seems to me that if you're planning to run a solid estate you should at least know exactly who your customers are."