What has been the rest of the country¹s loss has been Newcastle¹s gain with Tony Brookes¹ Head of Steam group. His three flourishing sites in the North East city stand among the few surviving strongholds of what was intended to be a nationwide empire by now.
The larger-than-life pubco boss had planned on being a force from Cardiff to London to Liverpool with his concept of real ale-led entertainment centres in former train station retail areas. Having set out to achieve this during the early tumult of rail privatisation, he now admits that his plans have hit the buffers. His southern outpost in London¹s Euston station was sold to Fuller¹s in August 2005, and the Liverpool Head of Steam has just been put out to tenancy leaving just four managed sites: the Head of Steam in Huddersfield and the Head of Steam, the Cluny and Tilleys in Newcastle.
While lesser entrepreneurs may be downbeat about this, Tony seems happy enough that the Geordies have taken him to heart. ³Sure, it¹s a failure,² he says. ³We wanted 50 outlets by now, but so what?
"We live to fight another day and in Newcastle we have taken three desperately performing pubs and they are now doing really well." The Head of Steam in Newcastle, for instance, was opened in 1996 and turnover has since increased 1,500 per cent. Tony assures us he is in the North East to stay.
So how have these pubs been turned around? With all three free-of-tie, Tony has pursued the beer agenda that he is so passionate about. A typical offering will include five or six draught pumps, around 10 speciality lagers on keg and in bottles and a number of draught ciders. It¹s not just about the beer the three pubs also pull in crowds through high-quality food, live music, art displays and genuinely characterful buildings.
They are known for holding events such as beer festivals, St Patrick¹s Day and St George¹s Day celebrations and a monthly craft market in the Cluny, as well as for charity work. Tony is planning a loyalty scheme across the three sites this Christmas calculated to 'undermine' the supermarkets. The pubs also offer off-sales of certain products.
So Head of Steam¹s three Newcastle sites are not just Meccas for draught beer. They are also proof that pubs can win success in communities by daring to be different and coming up with innovative concepts to draw in custom.
"I am one of the people who have given up their careers and taken real risks to do what the Campaign for Real Ale is all about," Tony says.
In doing so, he has bucked the trend of a struggling beer market. "If you are good at what you do," he says, "there is no reason why any pub outfit need be in decline."