Planes, trains and Geronimo Inns

Locating the Black Swan pub in the Surrey enclave of Ockham is easy - if you know where you're going. Horror film aficionados know it well, since in a previous incarnation it stood in for the "Slaughtered Lamb" in John Landis's classic 1981 fright-fest American Werewolf In London.

That said, riding around the Surrey countryside on my motorbike I can't find it, despite memorising the route from Publican Towers. Luckily the sun is shining and the country roads are dry and car-free, so getting lost isn't all bad news.

Eventually, and more by luck than judgement, I happen upon the pub and meet Rupert Clevely, managing director of its owner, Geronimo Inns - winners of managed pub company (10 to 99 outlets) at this year's Publican Awards.

A sign by the Black Swan's main entrance warns "No Leathers", which is worrying given my bike-riding attire. "This used to be a bikers' pub," Clevely says. "And we don't want them back." I consider pointing out that not all motorcyclists are cider-drinking Visigoths, but decide to keep schtum.

Wandering around the pub, however, one can see why clomping biker types might not fit in. The Black Swan is an informal but stylish venue, and transforming the place - creating new bar and dining areas in the process - didn't come cheap.

After buying the freehold last year for more than £1m, Geronimo ploughed another £900,000 into the four-month rebuild and refurbishment programme before reopening it last September. As if to highlight the effort involved, photos of the building work adorn the walls of the corridor leading to the gents.

Creating a spanking new venue from the old one hasn't pleased everyone in the vicinity, however, and Clevely acknowledges that some of the previous pub's regulars may well disapprove. But he notes that, in the nine months since it's been open, the pub has gone from strength to strength. "It was doing around £1,500 a week as it was and now it's doing between £25,000 and £26,000 net," he says, adding that the Black Swan is a pub for locals and destination diners alike.

Despite the Black Swan's near-rural setting, and that of Geronimo's newly opened Bullfinch pub in Sevenoaks, Kent, Clevely says the group is still very much a London operator.

"This wouldn't work in London, yet it does here," he says. "But the roots of our business are in London and will remain there."

An easy-going approach

Most of Geronimo's 17 pubs are concentrated in the capital's affluent south west boroughs and north London, providing what Clevely describes as a "relaxed eating and drinking experience in an informal urban setting". In these days of posh pub food, prices aren't extortionate and range from £4 to £12 - although Clevely reckons people would be prepared to pay more.

A Geronimo pub seems to reflect Clevely's own persona: relaxed and laid-back - until he sees a member of the Black Swan's young staff standing around twiddling his thumbs, that is. Then he's not quite so laid back.

His easy-going approach stems in part from his philosophy of "working to live, not living to work". The son of John Clevely, a former chief executive of Veuve Clicquot UK - who today selects Geronimo's wines - Clevely Jr left school at 15 with little in the way of academic qualifications, but with enough entrepreneurial zeal to help him progress in the wine trade.

Having spent 20 years working for his father in the world of international champagne marketing - a career he admits was the result of "pure nepotism" - Clevely decided enough was enough. "I enjoyed the lifestyle that came with working for Veuve Clicquot," he says, "but I wanted to be master of my own destiny and that wasn't happening." And so, at the age of 43, he joined his wife Jo at Geronimo Inns, the fledgling pub company she had set up in 1995.

The subsequent years have seen the operation grow, but late last year Clevely and his wife sold overall control of the business to private equity group Penta Capital, which ploughed up to £10m into the business. Barclays Bank, Geronimo's existing lender, agreed to commit to new facilities of up to £14.5m. The Clevelys remain "substantial shareholders" in the newly-funded group, however.

The experience of having a boss again - rather than holding the purse strings himself - doesn't faze Clevely. "I report to people now, but generally I can decide what I want to do," he says. This is a situation which sees him in pubs - his own or other people's - four days a week. "The current situation affords me the opportunity to be flexible," he adds.

The private equity money also affords Geronimo the opportunity to acquire new pubs. "We're constantly looking for new locations," Clevely says, although the group "won't overpay". There'll be ongoing investing in its existing pubs too, since "you need a constant trickle of cash to keep them fresh, to put back what you take out".

Railway stations and airports

While property prices are at an all-time high, the group will still fork out when necessary. Take, for example, the soon-to-be-opened Eurostar terminal in London's St Pancras railway station. The location for Geronimo's most ambitious pub to date, the project has been particularly complicated, says Clevely.

"You're dealing with English Heritage, main contractors, architects and, of course, the railway guys." A "lot of money" has been spent on the site and, although he won't say how much, one suspects it runs into the "millions of pounds" bracket.

Meanwhile, another new-build pub, the Five Tuns, is set to open in Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 5 next March.

When it comes to putting pubs into airports - the group currently has two - Clevely says his team learned a lot from the first, the Tin Goose in Heathrow's Terminal 1.

"We've been in airports for two years. The first year was horrible. Consumer expectations were massively different and we underestimated the food trade by around four times, which meant our kitchens were way too small."

But that was then, he says. "We've got better at it and we'd love to open more pubs in airports. But first we've got to develop our core business. We've learnt from our mistakes though."

The lessons learnt have been put to good use and will continue to be, as Geronimo looks to expand. Clevely suggests between 25 and 30 sites is the optimum number for the estate, with individual acquisitions the most likely growth route. "But if a package comes along and the price is the right one, then we'll do it," he says.

The group can add 10 pubs to the portfolio without the need to bolster the current team, he says. "We've the infrastructure already in place."

Will Penta, the group's new investor, be around for the long term? "We'll have to see," he says. "The plan is to help each other to grow the business. We want to be innovative but without having to be specialist about it. Go into any of our pubs and you'll see it's a real pub, but with a great feel to it." On this Clevely is adamant: "There's no way we'll stop our pubs from being just that; pubs."

Such sentiments will be music to the ears of those - like me - who dread pubs becoming little more than glorified restaurants. But remember, if you must turn up at the Black Swan on a dirty great motorbike, don't go wearing your leathers.