Follow-up hit is a tough proposition

In music, it’s known as the ‘Difficult Second Album Syndrome’ (DSAS). My business partner Joel and I are feeling the pressure of DSAS now, as we’re in the process of taking the perilous leap from single-site publicans to multiple operators.

It’s not a prospect we considered with much trepidation mind you; far from it in fact, we’ve been eagerly seeking a second property for more than 18 months, but without success. And that’s something I feel is indicative of a momentous shift in our marketplace: pub operators are getting stronger. As a London operator, I can only offer an opinion based on what I’m seeing here, but we’ve found the London leasehold market to be extremely competitive.

Naively, Joel and I assumed that, as a proven operator that was able to grow a failed site to become Great British Pub Of The Year in only a short time, that Mr Pubco would be beating down our door to work our magic on any number of his available properties.

Not so. Because we’re not alone, and, rather more crucially, we’re relatively small fry in comparison to the plethora of exceptional small to medium-sized operators out there, keen to grow their businesses.

The ‘rapid decline of the pub industry’ that we’re familiar with has a great number of commercial and economic influencers, but in my view, one of the most crucial is the operator. Those unwilling, or often, unable, to move with the times and diversify,struggle to survive. This has made way for strong, successful operators to salvage and strengthen what remains of the UK pub sector. In these capable hands, it continues to thrive.

In the face of stiff competition, we were eventually able to strike a deal and here we are in pub number two. With keys in hand, a new set of difficulties now present themselves and we find ourselves beset with the dreaded DSAS.

Are we putting our existing business at risk? Can we create an independent identity for our new pub? Will we be able to replicate our previous success? These are the questions keeping us awake at night.

Time will tell, but what we are certain of is that we have the processes in place to ensure we aren’t spreading ourselves too thinly.

Management teams are empowered to operate autonomously at the Grafton, allowing us to focus fully on the new project, while control measures are in place to safeguard our business, affording us a bird’s eye overview of what’s going on. Here’s hoping the ‘second album’ won’t prove so difficult after all.

Susie Clarke is licensee at the Grafton and the Gypsy Queen in Kentish Town, north London