Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 11

ONSIDE / INTERVIEW

down and agreed the project - maybe I could have got
a lower price - but it was actually about humanity and
trust and I was very happy with the number. I've always
believed in leaving something in there for the other man.

5. Inspire, lead from the front and communicate.
It's part of what you do, the ethos of the team. Leading
from the front is what I believe in. If they see you doing
something then they know what's expected of them. For me,
it's very satisfying when they come to me and say they've
dealt with something as I would have done, rather than
always turning to me because they know they can. It's about
teaching a sixth sense, we call it "rare sense" as opposed to
common sense.

6. Appreciate the two most important
commercial pieces of paper are the lease and
the licence, not the menu and wine list.
This isn't my favourite subject, and I'm always relieved that
we have good people looking after our leases and licences.
The glory of what we do can leave that detail and it can be
far too late. You've got to have the nerve to occasionally say
no. Possibly the detail in this area requires good people as
I'm not gifted at this.
You have to put your hand up when you don't have these
expertise.

7. Combine vision with determination.
We all have to have these. Nigel and I came together in 1993
and took over a country house with a club type atmosphere,
a real entrepreneurs place. Our vision was what we achieved,
but only this year. We have been close to bankruptcy when
we borrowed money just as the interest rates went up to
17 per cent. We cut everything right back, I said to the chef
one night, let's get stuck in to a plate of fried scallops and
chips tonight, because frankly I think we're knackered. I
was standing in as chef - which was fun because at my heart
I'm a frustrated chef. But to be honest for a while it was
Fawlty Towers personified. You learn through sheer bloody
mindedness and we never lost sight of what we wanted
to achieve. We've now got five pubs and we're catering at
Blackburn Rovers.
And we've found an investor in Richard Matthewman
without whom we wouldn't have achieved our dream.

8. Combine stubbornness with an ability to
bend to popular demand.
At the end of the day we have to please our customer. But
if you aren't doing what they want you'll soon find out.
Having two or three stars and no heart is just not enough.
More substance is required. Jack Walker used to want pan
fried Dover sole, steak or lobster. Nothing fancy. A lot of
people of that age and type will always want that as long as
what you do is fantastic.
We were chatting once to a Michelin inspector and he
actually said to me, as long as what you are doing is fantastic
and the restaurant is full, then that's fine. Don't ever believe
you're better than your customers.
The other thing is that customers have never been better
informed. There are so many books, TV programmes and
strong product knowledge around. Things are getting better
and better for the customer and harder and harder for the
restaurateur.

9. Combine inner sensitivity with a very thick skin.
You should always learn from a bad review or critical
acclaim and read into the detail. Share in the disappointment
and work out how you can fix it. We always work hard to
make sure it doesn't happen again. Use criticism to motivate,
to see it the customer's way, not your way. Social media
and Trip Advisor makes it more difficult and it does seem
terribly unfair at times. We've had to remove people for
unruly behaviour and then discovered we had four bad Trip
Advisor reviews the next day. When it's really unfair it can
hurt, but customers are getting wise and can see through it.

10. Be aware of every restaurant's
environmental aspect and the impact of
climate change.
We are very in touch with our environment and the produce
of where we serve our food. It's very important to our set
of values.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015

Contents
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - Cover1
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - Cover2
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - Contents
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 4
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 5
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 6
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 7
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 8
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 9
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 10
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 11
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 12
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 13
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Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 17
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Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - 34
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - Cover3
Onside Issue 3 - Summer 2015 - Cover4
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