Calm after the storm spurs Laurel's growth
It looks like a corner has been turned at Laurel Pub Company, the high-street operator with an estate of just under 400 venues.
It's been a turbulent few years, as three major high-street estates - Laurel, SFI Group and Yates - were bolted together. The companies were acquired within short order and presented, no doubt, all manner of integration challenges.
Last year, Laurel still seemed to be in state of flux, with a number of strategy and personnel changes. There was a concerted effort during the summer to source a trade buyer for less foodie parts of the business, with talk of as many as 150 sites on the block. In the event, sale talk came to nothing and Laurel is about the same size as it was a year ago.
In January, Ian Payne took over from Chris Hutt as chairman and in May the company parted ways with its chief executive Julian Sargeson.
For three months or so, Payne, who had successfully argued against an earlier decision to sell the six-strong Sante Fe Mexican bar restaurant business, ran the company on the understanding that a new chief executive would be recruited.
Paul Symonds, a former Spirit Group divisional director, joined in August to take the top job. A new commercial director and chief financial officer were also appointed.
Unsurprisingly, Symonds set about imposing his own vision for Laurel, which can be summed up in two words: food and focus. Symonds junked two existing divisions, Circuit and Town Local, to create a new Pubs and Bars division. Slug & Lettuce and Ha! Ha! Bar & Canteen (which has three sites trialling the word "kitchen" at the end of the name) were given their own teams to ensure they retained and evolved their own identities.
With stints as MD of Burger King and Bright Reasons Restaurants, Symonds been keen to redouble the effort focused on maximising Laurel's opportunity within the fast-casual dining market.
Yates is still Laurel's biggest brand with 120 sites, but Slug & Lettuce, with its strong food trade (30% of turnover) and enduring appeal to female customers, is the drive brand in 2007. This year, another 50 Slugs (one a week) will be added to the existing 50. The new Slugs will be created largely from estate cannibalisation, with three Yates's changing over last week in a truly imaginative piece of market repositioning.
Ha! Ha! Bar & Canteen, now at over 25 sites, is the second key to organic expansion - Symonds thinks there's room for 50 in the UK - and with food accounting for 40% of sales, it's already a food-led brand; the new outlet in Victoria added a huge £50,000 in food sales alone in Christmas week.
Elsewhere at Laurel, Symonds talks of the great property portfolio and the vast potential of his other brands. Plenty of Yates's take £40,000 a week. He wants to broaden the appeal of Yates and plans to open a new site. "It's not pulling up trees, but it's not going backwards," he says of current performance. He confirmed my observation that Yates currently positions itself as second only to JD Wetherspoon in price terms.
Goose, the M&B discount chain, is cheaper than Yates, but has far fewer sites. Hogshead, the biggest brand in original Laurel, now operates at 65 venues and Litten Tree is now
35-strong. Some Hogshead sites - probably about a dozen - have seen conversions to unbranded venues, such as the Crooked Surgeon, just off London's Leicester Square.
Where existing Hogsheads, like the one in Hornchurch, Essex, have seen a "sparkle spend" on refurbishment, customer response has been strong. Both brands, says Symonds, should play to their strengths as high-street taverns with a strong sport offer.
In November, shortly after Symonds' arrival, sales turned positive on a previous year comparison. This year will see a big reshaping of Laurel, with Slug growing to 25% of the estate.
As Symonds says, his biggest challenge will be steering "wetter" high-street businesses through the smoke ban in England, with sales unscathed.
