Let's hope Gerry Martin bounces back
There will be a lot of sympathy out there for Gerry Martin. No-one likes to see a business go under and its founder lose everything. And thefellow feeling, even amongst rivals, is heightened by the elements of Greek tragedy colouring the story. Older brother Tim, massively successful and wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice, yet shunning the leather briefcase for plastic bags. Gerry, always in his shadow, yet determined to make it himself and keen to display his success through the Rolex and membership of one of the country's most expensive golf courses. You don't need to be Dr Frasier Crane to see an awful lot of Freudian tensions unresolved in the brothers' relationship. No-one who knows Tim was seriously expecting him to ride to Gerry's rescue. He's just too fiercely competitive for sentiment to override his business brain. Whether he can help him get back on his feet again remains to be seen. Hopefully Gerry will do it himself and be back before too long. He's too nice a bloke not to be at the heart of the pubs and bars world, and he clearly has a wealth of experience that will stand him in good stead next time round. The trade is full of people who've taken a knock and bounced back. Let's hope he's one of them. The biggest lesson he'll take to his next venture is the crucial value of tight operational control, particularly when a company is expanding fast. Old Monk has been without a finance director and an operations director for much of this year. Things are bound to get loose in those circumstances. SFI had the same problem with FD James Kowszun's departure. The other lesson is to keep your bankers on side. It's not clear just why the Royal Bank of Scotland felt it had to pull the plug at that moment, but the suspicion must be that it lost patience because Old Monk had broached an agreement without consent. Banks are getting edgy about the economy generally, and the pub sector will be under intense scrutiny. Other pubcos in the high street will be feeling nervous. This is not the time to muck about with your bank manager.
