BIG INTERVIEW: Getting to know ‘the real David’ at Stonegate

Good ethics such as having time for all of Stonegate’s employees, ensuring all his charges know the real person behind the leading role and the realisation that he is in charge of the largest UK pubco results in a man who has his feet firmly on the ground.

But he knows he – and the rest of his team – have the ability to fly in their jobs.

“I was brought up in Glasgow, in a working-class family in a housing estate and my family worked hard,” McDowall explains. “My gran was a really big influence in my life and taught me to work hard and believe that you could follow your dreams and do what you wanted to do.”

Having started working in pubs at the age of 18, it wasn’t really a career choice he made.

He reveals: “I got to that age and wanted to earn a little bit of pocket money. A friend worked in the pub and we got free passes to a local nightclub and that was probably the primary motivations for starting to work and I really fell in love with working in hospitality.

“And I didn’t realise that at the time, of course, but I look back on those days as formative.”

McDowall then went on a graduate programme for “one of the biggest pub companies in the country” and then worked for a number of operators before bigger times beckoned.

He says: “The two big jobs that were important pillars of my career before Stonegate were ops director at the G1 Group, which is a Scottish hospitality business, and had some phenomenal businesses all over Scotland – I learned a lot there.

“And then eight years at BrewDog, where I was CEO of the pubs business to begin with for the first half and, for the last four years, chief operating officer where I was running the day-to-day of the international business across all aspects of BrewDog and then I got a call [from Stonegate].”

In fact, the Scotsman rates “that call” as a career highlight.

He states: “Pubs and leadership are the two pillars of what really gets me excited and motivates me at work so to get asked to even speak to the guys about the job at Stonegate felt like a really big thing – and to have been successful in that, quite lengthy and in-depth, process and to get a chance to run the biggest pub company in the UK felt like a really important moment in my career and life.

“It’s a real privilege, and it’s my biggest achievement. I feel fortunate and proud of that every day.”

Be unreasonably stubborn and stick to what you believe in

He is also keen to offer advice to those beginning a burgeoning hospitality business.

“I would say stay close to the front line, stay close to the action and what’s happening,” McDowall says. “Even going from one to two to three sites, there’s a danger of forgetting being close to team and guests day in and day out is what’s important.

“Also, if you find you are a part of something special and you want to grow it then be unreasonably stubborn and stick to what you believe in because if you’ve got the embryo of a great idea that you believe in and that you love, staying true to the simplicity of that idea gives you a good chance to succeed.”

From a leadership viewpoint, he sates what he sees as qualities one needs to qualify their position, beginning with the importance of looking for the best in people.

He continues: “I’m a firm believer that 99.99% of people come to work with the intention of doing a good job. If you build your business and your culture around the 0.01% who maybe don’t, that is the wrong way to build a positive culture.

“Secondly, I would say great leaders collaborate well and encourage collaboration. That, for me, is where great pace comes from. Getting a small group of people together from a diverse group of different parts of the business to work on a project is the fastest way to get stuff done.

“And that’s my last point – get stuff done. Leaders who have a bias to action are successful. There’s always so many people in any business who are going to tell you all the reasons why something isn’t going to work so be the person that’s going to drive the solution and you’ll have a better chance of succeeding.”

A love for creating hospitality experiences​

On excellent leadership, in summary, he added it is really important that – even in a business of reasonable scale – the team feels like they get to know “the real David” and they feel connected to the person who is leading the business.

Naturally, Covid was a low point for most of the world and McDowall is no exception. He says that when Covid began during his time at BrewDog, on a personal level, it was hard because he is a “natural introvert” and, over the years, has really learned that he loves creating hospitality experiences for people.

“Suddenly that was taken away and I didn’t have a chance to do that and it felt really difficult,” he continues. “On a business level, it really pushed us to the limits and we’re still dealing with tonnes of that.

“You learn a lot, particularly about your character, and about who your best people are around you at tough times like that and a massive believer that the approach is to take challenge and adversity and turn that into opportunity and that belief was tested resolutely during the Covid crisis.”

Equally, an issue for many is balancing one’s family life and with work. He says: “It can feel difficult at times. I’m away from home. I live in Scotland and spend three, four or sometimes five days a week away from home.

“I don’t believe that you can run a pub company from an office or a desk so my life tends to be around the country and, hopefully, a good week is visiting as many of our pubs and teams as possible.

“When I am home, the priority is being with my wife and children, and we fill our weekends with time together and quality time and activities – the highlight of my week is when I get back home and look forward to spending time with Clare and the kids and that’s why I do what I do.”

We’re in a good position to build on the growth of the past 18 months

On the question of pressure build-up in his role as CEO at the Solihull-based pubco, McDowall admits he joined Stonegate at a time that “wasn’t the easiest for our sector”.

He explains there was a raft of external pressures that were out of Stonegate’s control from inflationary pressure, the cost-of-living crisis through to the regulatory and taxation environment for the sector.

“That meant we had to be very focused on delivering a clear, simple strategy and staying resolutely focused on the things that add value.

“The pressure often comes from what’s happening out with the business and I feel a real responsibility to help the team navigate that and to make sure they can focus on what they are brilliant at, which is making sure guests feel better in our pubs, bars and venues when they leave than when they cross our threshold.

“We’re navigating those challenges as a team really well and we’re in a good position to continue to build on the growth of the past 18 months or so.”

Sometimes, a person entering a CEO role can be caught by surprise by certain things and the thing that drew McDowall’s attention was the fact the CEO “casts a long shadow” and he became very acutely aware early on that he was key in setting the tone with the words I choose, his actions and behaviours, and saw that as a real responsibility and was “very keen for the team to see the real version of David”.

He adds: “Moving back into a dedicated pubs role in the sector was really interesting because it reminded me just how strong people’s connections and views are about their local pub bar and that is a massive asset that was amplified by what happened through Covid.

“But even for me, spending a load of time visiting pubs all over the country, it was a stark reminder about how important these businesses are to the communities they serve.”

Hard parts have been formative​

Again, McDowall explains what his actions would be if he were to start all over.

“The principle at the start was to meet as many people in the business as possible and use that to really understand what the business is all about at grassroot level and then work out how we develop the business – and we stuck really hard to that strategy.

“If I think about all the hard bits that we’ve been through, all of those have been formative and I don’t really believe in dwelling too much on the past.”

And he has a couple of pieces of advice for anyone bidding to reach the top of their career pathway.

He says: “I would probably say two things. First of all, ego and conflicts just get in the way of making progress so I would say to be kind in your relationships with people. Secondly, I would be the type of person that gets stuff done and, in any organisation, if you do those two things, you probably get a good chance of doing well for yourself.”

Bringing something he does in his personal life into a work environment is important to McDowall, who describes himself as “really curious type of person”.

He says it’s hard for everyone to disconnect their work and personal lives but says he is constantly trying to learn, grow and understand more about our sector and leadership, along with other parts of the business so he tries to challenge himself to come to work a “little bit better than the day before”.

He disagrees with the notion that being in a position of leadership can be a lonely one and says it is a choice for a leader to be that way or reject it.

“I probably learned that the hard way through various parts of my career when dealing with difficult things,” he states. “If you go into yourself and think that you have to solve it all yourself, then it can be a really lonely place.

“When I’m trying to deal with a challenge, I find leaning in towards the team and having a great network of people around me and being as close to the business as possible helps me make better decisions and helps me feel like part of the team, not the guy who runs the team. So that’s a real choice for a CEO to make.”

And as for regrets… he says he doesn’t have any and admits that statement is said with humility because leaders get things wrong sometimes.

“It’s how we react to it that is important,” he explains. “I would prefer to use my time and energy on ‘what’s next?’ as opposed to looking in the rear-view mirror.”