After finishing a master’s degree in manufacturing and engineering at Nottingham University, a few eyebrows were raised when Chris Hill decided to go full time behind the bar.
“People assumed I was having an early life breakdown and, at some point, I would go back to doing something sensible. There were a few scratched heads,” the now managing director of New World Trading Company explains.
Self-funded through uni, Hill worked in a pub to pay his way and increased his hours after deciding he needed a break from education, but soon discovered he had a passion for the industry.
Living Ventures
Hill was introduced to Paul Moran at Living Ventures, now the managing director, and, in 2003, started as duty manager on £15,000 at Prohibition bar in Liverpool.
“It put a fire in my belly. I’d just walked away from a master’s degree in engineering, so I thought if I’m going to do this I need to do it well and climb that ladder quickly,” Hill says.
After becoming ops manager by the age of 27 at Living Ventures, he took on New World Trading Company (NWTC) when it had just two sites, and is now managing director of the 14-strong pubco.
NWTC has strengthened, having recently been acquired by private equity backer Graphite Capital for £50m, and four new sites are set to open this year, including in York and Sheffield.
Sector growth
“Other than selling oxygen, the best thing to be selling is food and drink,” he continues. “The eating and drinking-out sector will only grow. If you compete in that market, within that boxing ring, there are plenty of people to go around.”
Hill’s ethos is to distance NWTC from potentially damaging external factors.
“There are lots of debates, and people standing behind causes, but they’re not my thing. We are fighting a fair fight,”
he explains.
“Where tax breaks are given it is lovely, but they aren’t, so you get on with it.
“For a site to be busy you don’t need to worry if there are 5.3 million people eating out this week compared to 5.4 million last week, it’s whether you get your 2,000 in your own site.”
Botanist
NWTC’s Botanist brand, which boasts a flagship Newcastle site that took £6m in its first year, can grow to 100 sites, according to Hill.
“We fit everywhere. It’s not about the site or the clothes it’s wearing; it’s about giving people a great time served by great people.”
Hill’s path to the top is undoubtable proof of career potential in pubs, and arguably no pubco challenges the perception of a stop-gap industry – which Hill admits hospitality is still trying to shake off – better than NWTC.
“It’s a service industry but people see it as servile – and educated people or people with uni education are above it – but it shouldn’t be the case,” he argues.
Equality
Hill’s background has encouraged him to disregard the age of staff. When the new national living wage of £7.20 an hour for over-25s was introduced in April, Hill moved all staff up to that level regardless of age, and maintained wage differentials so, effectively, all staff were given a pay rise.
“To discriminate on age is like discriminating on hair colour, it doesn’t make sense. Anyone who is making decisions based on age is playing a dangerous game,” he says.
“Those that work hard, get to the top. You can reward your ambitious talented people. You can easily be head bartender at 23, managing people older.”
Hill introduced an app that encourages bar staff in NWTC pubs across the country to compete in Tribes on work performance, fundraising and ‘flash challenges’, with the winning members gaining prizes and extra paid holidays.
Awards
NWTC’s investment in staff has led to recognition in this year’s Publican Awards, winning best small employer and best managed operator (2-50 sites). But Hill’s ambition does not end there.
“I intend to win the Retailers’ Retailer of the Year award. It may sound big-headed but I want to be looked back on and for people to say I made a change to the pub industry.”
Friendly, motivated staff – who are trained for two weeks before serving a customer – are the key to NWTC’s success, Hill concludes.
“I’ve been asked why we are performing so well. The reason is we take service standards, training and investing in people seriously.
“It’s a people business. There’s an underlying story of internal promotion and development, and people know they are joining an upward escalator.”