Minds of their own

Two former M&B executives left the pubco and became some of the first

operators to try its new franchise deal. Tony Halstead reports on their success

Don't walk into the Sparrowhawk Inn for a meal on a Friday or Saturday night on spec and expect to get a table.

They've all been booked up days in advance, and it's the same story at the three other pubs operated by Lancashire-based MO-YO.

Full-house signs indicate a company with a veritable Midas touch when it comes to turning round underperforming pubs.

MO-YO, an abbreviation of "Mind Of Your Own" was set up by former Mitchells & Butlers (M&B) executives John Kisbey and Steve Turner eight years ago.

The two business partners decided to go it alone and opt for the risky roles of self-

employed licensees instead of enjoying the safety of working for a blue-chip pub operator.

Today the company's four houses are turning out more than 3,000 meals every week, helping MO-YO hit a combined business turnover of more than £3.4m per year. All four houses continue to accelerate, adding 10% to 20% business growth every year.

Three of the pubs are M&B franchises, which were part of the first batch of houses transferred to leasehold from the company's managed estate in 2003.

The idea behind the transfer was to select houses that had "lost the plot" and place them in new entrepreneurial hands to revive their fortunes.

M&B franchise director Steve Thomas said at the time: "We want to find people who do wonderful things with pubs."

The company certainly chose well when they leased three of the properties to Kisbey and Turner, who worked quickly to turn around the flagging businesses.

The Sparrowhawk Inn in Fence, Lancashire, was the first M&B pub to feel the effects of the duo's retail skills.

The Sparrowhawk has now become the jewel in the company's pub crown and the pub most closely supervised by business partner Steve Turner.

The Windmill at Adlington, in Cheshire, and the Holly Bush at Stockton Brook, in Staffordshire, quickly followed.

The trio joined MO-YO's first pub, the Roebuck at Mobberley in Cheshire, leased from Criterion Asset Management in 1999.

All four are now virtually unrecognisable from the businesses inherited by MO-YO, and awards and guide-book listings have followed in the wake of trading success.

Recruiting the right people

Training and recruitment is key to the business ethic of Kisbey and Turner. MO-YO has a licensed-trade training and consultancy operation which has worked with a variety of pub operators such as the former Spirit Group, Greene King, M&B and Timothy Taylor.

"Recruiting the right people and ensuring they are properly trained has been paramount," says Turner, who worked as a market analyst with key M&B brands such as Harvester, Toby and All Bar One. "You can have the best pub, beer and food going, but if staff can't deliver your promises, you quickly lose the confidence of your customers.

"We set out to ensure that people walking into our pubs experience a level of service that makes them want to come back."

MO-YO's pubs follow the food-led cask beer ethic that has informed the strategy of an increasing number of small, successful pub companies. Food and beer are sourced from local suppliers and most of the dishes in all four pubs are made with fresh ingredients.

Its houses are free of jukeboxes, pool tables and other garish attractions. Two or three nights a year are reserved for live music, but that is very much a one-off activity.

"We are not just about food," stresses Turner. "At the Sparrowhawk, for example, we have a 40:60 wet:dry trade split and turn over more than £1m a year, while the trade split at the Holly Bush is 50:50. There are six cask-ale pumps at the Sparrow, attracting a lively set of drinkers, and with brands such as Timothy Taylor's Landlord, Moorhouses's, Thwaites, Black Sheep, Tetley's and Draught Bass, the lads are well catered-for," he says.

Hand-picked managers preside over each of the four pubs, which employ 15 in-house chefs, plus two executive roaming chefs who travel the estate, "to keep the kitchen staff on their toes". A training manager and an operations manager, plus two personnel on the finance team, complete the management structure. In total, the company employs close on 150 full and part-time staff.

Business partner John Kisbey hails from Birmingham and joined what was then Bass after gaining a law degree. His jobs with the company included brand manager for Draught Bass and retail marketing manager for the company's retail arm, Bass Taverns.

On leaving, he was marketing director of the Harvester restaurant division, mainly

involved in site appraisal.

"Like Steve, I decided it was time to do my own thing and use our experience to venture into training and consultancy," he says.

"Turning the Roebuck into a profitable unit took time. The pub was run-down and a cash shortage meant we had to take up spades and pickaxes ourselves. It was four years before we were in a position to take on our second pub, the Sparrowhawk, but turning that business round proved a much quicker job."

The duo were among the first to take on the new M&B franchise deal, a new venture for a company that had been involved exclusively in running managed pubs.

Turner is positive about M&B's backing, with good company support and systems to help build the business. It is a measure of the duo's success at the Sparrowhawk that two more M&B franchise pubs soon fell into their laps.

Future challenges and rewards

Kisbey and Turner are optimistic about the future, but consolidation is the watchword. "It's a fast-changing industry and no one knows what's round the corner," Turner says.

MO-YO was launched in 1997, initially as a training and consultancy company, although pub retailing was always the core game plan.

Kisbey and Turner began using their trade knowledge to advise major blue-chip pub companies on marketing and pub retailing. Staff training remains a significant element of the package MO-YO is able to offer its clients.

"Customer service is crucial to us and we believe our training has played a major role in the development of our four pubs," says Turner. "The highest-calibre operation can be let down by poorly-trained staff, and the importance of the service offered to the people who walk into our venues can't be overstated."

"We are also heavily involved in trade and marketing consultancy and we are discussing a variety of new ideas with our clients," he reveals. "Pub retailing trends are changing fast and the smoking ban next summer will see a major transformation for many operators. We will certainly be working hard to ensure that our four pubs are ready to meet the challenges presented by the ban."