The pubco currently has five sites in the south west of England, including The King’s Arms in Dorchester, which is just about to undergo redevelopment and will open in 2019.
Co-founder and MD Rob Greacen, told MCA: “We plan to add at least another five sites over the next three or four years. We have been growing the business from our own resources all the way through, and we have got the capacity to keep doing that, which gives us the control that we are keen to have.”
He said the business had experienced its best trading year to date, with sales up around 10% year-on-year across the whole portfolio as it comes to the end of its financial year. “It varies from one property to the other but we think that’s a pretty healthy performance given how challenging it is out there,” he said.
Greacen said the company would continue to look for sites within the south west of England. “We know the market really well in that area, and there isn’t too much competition in the region, so we certainly think there is a lot of opportunity in the south west,” he said.
“All the properties we have bought have been in conservation areas or heavily listed. We want to buy places that are pretty, in pretty areas, because that means that we can have a good tourist and weekend market, but they also have to be in busy locations.
“Often that means we end up with buildings that are complex to redevelop. Because our background is in property it is something we are familiar and comfortable with – but it can slow you down,” he explained.
While its properties have increased in size, in terms of the number of rooms available (from seven to 35), as the company has grown, Greacen they are not looking to go any bigger; further acquisitions would ideally have between 15-30 rooms.
The challenge of finding and retaining good people is another reason why the business has kept a relatively small footprint in terms of the location of its estate, he said.
“The business really hinges on our staff, who are hard to find and train, so we like to keep our properties relatively close together, so that we can offer people a career and move them around; and if needed we can drop people in quickly to sort out any problems,” he explained.
Greacen said that the business was investing an increasing amount of time on recruitment and retention of staff, with annual staff parties, regular internal communications and get-togethers. “We find that, combined with a good training programme, gives people a really good reason to come to work and enjoy themselves and feel like they are going somewhere,” he said.
“The main thing is to get people to enjoying working with you, so we spend a lot of time on things that raise morale and bring people together. It’s the emotional side of it that seems to be most important,” he explained.