I wanted a job that I couldn’t be fired from, and greed mostly.
The first bar was probably the biggest, then the opening of Covent Garden – doubling the size and tripling the profitability of the company.
The usual – running out of money, learning not to terrorise and want to murder your business partners, turning around poor venues…
Waterloo is imminent
We wanted to create a more compelling proposition, we felt it would drive more footfall to a slightly off-pitch location.
Between 22-35 years old, weekend rock stars and post-work drinkers.
More bars…probably world domination.
Get a lean model, spend as little cash as you can and love what you do. It’s a vicious journey – if you don’t love it, it will eat you alive.
Currently in our sector, the Meat Liquor guys (Scott Collins and Yianni Papoutsis), Be At One guys (Steve Locke, Leigh Miller and Rhys Oldfield), Loungers guys (Alex Reilley, Jake Bishop and Dave Reid), the Cleaverly’s, and the legends such as Luke Johnson. Mostly folk that have run businesses with a point to them. People like Seth Godin, Tim Ferris – in particulat his later stuff around his books. Obviously you can roll out the big guns – the Richard Branson’s, Henry Ford’s, Bill Gates, etc. people that have fundamentally disrupted things.
I don’t really use a phone much for anything other than audiobooks and phone calls.
My favourite holiday destination is my grandmother’s farm in northwest Yorkshire. The Forest of Bowland is the most beautiful place in the country.
Favourite book – The adventures of Cavalier & Klay.