The Chester-based pubco, which offers southern American barbecue food, has looked to scale up its expansion plans in 2025.
However, as it looks to grow, engaging with communities and investing in big “unloved” sites remains at its epicentre, Welsh told The MA.
He said: “We want to be that local neighbourhood bar and the local favourite neighbourhood restaurant.
“So therefore, [we want to be] somewhere with a strong community with lots of chimney pots where we can really ingrain ourselves.
“The High Street is not for us whereas being more in the suburbs where we can really engage with places like the local primary school, football club and hospital, that’s where we believe we operate at our strongest.”
Welsh added a weak local community ultimately meant a “weak level of trade”.
“We’re all stronger together. Looking after your neighbours takes effort, time and often investment, but you do reap the rewards in the long term”, he continued.
Hickory’s, which is owned by Greene King, has planned to open 10 new sites next year, after completing six this year and four in 2023.
Most recently, the firm, which launched in Chester in 2010, opened a “milestone” venue in Stafford, marking its 25th acreage.
“In 2020 we made a five-year plan and really focused in on it.
“We spent a serious amount of time thinking about how we would execute this plan of opening four, then six and then being able to open 10 sites a year thereafter.
Ambitious plan
“And the plan has worked. We’ve executed it as we wanted.
“We’ve not really veered off it and we’ve learned lots of things along the way.
“Next year we are upping the pace again to 10. It’s a big leap but it’s an exciting one. It shows the ambition we’ve got in terms of taking Hickory’s nationwide.
“In the past we were quite cautious with our pace for openings because it was done quite organically, whereas it feels like we’ve got a really solid plan now and an execution plan that is working well”, Welsh said.
However, the bricks and mortar are not the only aspect of Hickory’s that is expanding.
Each venue acquired by Hickory’s typically costs between £1.8m and £2m or more with around 80 to 100 team members employed at each new site.
It means the firm has scope to employ more than 1000 new people over the next 12 months, Welsh explained.
He continued: “We’ve got really ambitious plans that we’re very confident in delivering. It’s a great time to join Hickory’s.
“We’ll be opening more sites and bringing Hickory’s to places much further afield than our than our normal footprint.
“So, from a recruitment perspective, now is the time to join because with those openings comes lots of progression opportunities for those that want a proper career in hospitality.”
However, the managing director added scaling up would not be without its challenges.
He said: “Everyone’s aware of the challenges that are coming next year, but it doesn’t feel like there’s ever been a year where there’s not been challenges ahead.
Strong culture
“I remember this time last year being worried about inflation, consumer spending, interest rates, where we might go with minimum wage, the living wage etc. and none of those problems have gone away.
“Every year there’s a different challenge - I can’t remember ever sitting down going do you know what next year is going to be really easy. It doesn’t happen.”
Welsh added the main focus for Hickory’s as the brand expands and spreads itself more thinly was holding onto the culture that made it “special” in the first place.
The managing director continued: “That’s the barometer for us as to whether we can maintain it or not.
“At the moment, we’re confident the last one in Stafford is just as good as the first one in that we opened. As long as we can keep doing that, then we can feel positive going forward.”
To foster this culture, Hickory’s has invested in a new larger headquarters that is better suited to its growing business, which Welsh said was “really exciting”.
The firm has also planned to continue investing in learning and development trips for teams across its estate to southern American.
Welsh added: “Southern American hospitality is at the forefront of what we do and we’ve got a really strong culture where the team clearly understand what hospitality means to us.
“Making every guest dance out the door and feel special has always and will always be important to us.”
