MA250: Bravo Inns MD encourages positive attitude for business success

Buckley told the MA250 conference how this attitude has helped his current wet-led business grow from six sites in 2007 to 30 sites today, with financial backing from Albion Ventures. The investment firm gets a return of 20% from Bravo Inns.

He said: “All the way through my career, I’ve always been extremely positive. I can’t cope with negativity. we are a very tiny team, we’re all at full stretch, we are going to have to expand soon but we all buy in and have a view. At the end of the day we go forward with what we can do; we don’t mention what we can’t do. The glass is always half full. That leads to a great team, we have healthy debates, we include our managers, we fall out and at the end of the day we go forward as a team.”

Bravo Inns came about three months before Buckley sold off his previous company Bold Pub Company. He took to buying hand-picked single freehold sites in the north-west.

When refurbishing new sites, Buckley wanted to make sure that the interiors for all his pubs were consistent so he hired a company specialising in redecorating. “In the old days, at Bold, we tended to bring all sorts of trades in and did our best. I quickly realised this was not good enough and we had to put a professional front on. We had to get a consistency with our products and the brand, so we introduced a company that do the refurb and we work closely with them. I know some people would say that we are opening ourselves to over-paying, but I like to think that we’ve got enough about us to know that we’re not over-paying.”

With events at the sites, Buckley says he makes sure that he caters for both the male and female clientele. By sponsoring darts player Andy Hamilton for a year, customers have the chance to play against the professional in their local at special events. Buckley has also booked Kevin Simm, singer in former pop band Liberty X, to play a few nights at the pubs, which he says is a hit with the ladies.