Trading places: newcomers to the pub trade

The Household Cavalry tank commander: Andy Short, the Plough & Horses, Cove, Hampshire

"Work hard, play hard." That's the ethos Andy Short lived by during his 25 years in the army, and he has found it fits life as a licensee just as well.

After leaving school, Short spent two months as a petrol-pump attendant before joining the army in the mid '80s. He was a tank commander in the Household Cavalry, spending his last six years training a support team in Warminster. During his career he travelled the world, despite being based primarily in Windsor, visiting places as far afield as Bosnia, Germany, Australia and Egypt.

He even had a week in Jamaica to play cricket.

In September 2009, he was chatting to a friend, Mark Horgan, while they watched their boys play football. After floating his idea of taking on a pub, Horgan was interested and they decided to set up a partnership with their wives, Claire and Lesley. Together, they took on the Shepherd Neame lease at the Plough & Horses in March last year.

Horgan has held positions related to marketing and he manages that side of the business and balances the books.

Similarities between a life in the army and a life in the pub may not be immediately apparent, but Short has found his previous career equipped him better than some may think.

"There are a lot of similarities," he says. "They both involve dealing with the public, thinking on your feet, planning and preparation. During operations in Bosnia, I dealt with a lot of people and got to know them.

"Asking yourself: 'Are your guns clean?' is not so different to checking all the equipment in the kitchen and on the bar."

Other aspects Short has applied to his new career are organisational skills, running a team and time management.

"It's been an enormous life change," admits Short. "Even fitting back into civilian life. Whereas in the army I tried to be as proactive as possible, I find here I need to be very reactive. No day is the same and there's always something cropping up to throw you off track. You need plan A, B, C and D."

The business partners and their 11 staff are working hard to turn the pub back into the hub of the community — and seeing results already. They have introduced a simple traditional menu that has helped the wet:dry split to swing from 90:10 to 80:20 — a direction they are keen to build on.

"It has been great to get my teeth into something new," says Short. "And I'm learning fast. I know how they feel on The Apprentice​ now."

The safari guide and cattle ranch manager: Mark Genders, Lord Lyon near Newbury, Berkshire​

Clearing people out of the pub at the end of the night could be likened to herding cattle, but that is where the similarities ended when Mark Genders swapped the Masai Mara for the pub trade.

He was born and bred in Kenya and educated in England, but returned to Kenya in 1985 to work as a safari guide.

For two and a half years Genders would collect up to 20 tourists from the airport and take them on a 10 to 14-day trip around the Masai Mara.

He then became manager of a 12,000 acre cattle ranch where he took care of the day to day running. During the eight months he worked there, Genders introduced simple catering accommodation.

Following that, he turned a Chinese restaurant owned by the property company he was working for into an Irish pub, organising everything himself.

Until 2010 he flitted back and forth between Kenya and England, travelled in Europe and dabbled briefly in the pub trade.

In April last year he took on the Lord Lyon — an Arkell's tenancy. It had been shut for six months and needed a total refurbishment, including new floors, plumbing and electricity, for which Arkell's invested £10,000. He took the initiative to approach a nearby landowner who possessed a disused field right on the edge of the pub's land and secured an agreement to rent the field for £5 a year. It is used to grow all the vegetables that are used in the pub and Genders has also bought chickens. The food served in the pub is all locally sourced, traditional pub fare.

"My time as a safari guide taught me good customer service skills," says Genders. "I have travelled all over the world and seen all sorts of different places, plus I have had a good education." He says all of these attributes helped him fit into the life of a licensee.

"It doesn't matter if you are bumping across the Masai Mara or serving behind the bar, customer service is the same."

The pub is currently split 70:30 in favour of dry trade and Genders and his team have achieved a turnover of £5,000 a week.

"We are better than everyone else, we use better ingredients and have better customer service," he says of his success. "We do things properly."

The most difficult part of the career transition, says Genders, has been the poor economy. He also misses the feeling of space he used to have in Kenya. However, he is enjoying his foray into the pub trade and plans to take on more in the future.

The air hostess and the graphic designer: Rebecca Davidson and Nic Flook, the Armoury, Wandsworth, London​

After deciding, "it might be fun to run a pub one day," Rebecca Davidson and Nic Flook spontaneously entered the pub trade in February last year.

Davidson had excellent customer service skills, having worked as a holiday rep for Airtours for four years and then as a member of cabin crew for British Airways for a further four and a half. Having tired of the overseas life, she came back to the UK, but couldn't see herself living a nine-to-five lifestyle.

Meanwhile, Flook felt his career as a graphic designer in the West End was no longer challenging and, after discussing it for a while, the pair decided to take on a pub.

Flook had grown up in Suffolk close to Adnams Brewery, which gave him a love of ale. He had also helped out at a friend's vodka and Champagne bar, planned and maintained gardens and worked at a hotel, a florist and a delicatessen, all of which gave him a strong overview of the different aspects of a pub business. Davidson had always been a keen cook. They chose a Young's tenancy due to the quality and heritage of its beer, the location of its pubs and the support the company offered.

Davidson was well equipped for front-of-house service after years of looking after holidaymakers of all ages and charting room reservations at the biggest hotel in Crete, which cemented her organisational skills. She also runs the kitchen and financial side of the business, while Flook looks after the bar, cellar, website, social networking and mailing list.

"My previous jobs involved the same long days, late nights, early starts and unsociable hours as running a pub, so getting up at the crack of dawn for the dray wasn't a shock," she says. "Being a holiday rep is remarkably similar to being a licensee, you take on many different roles, from salesperson to agony aunt, you are the person that gets up first, goes to bed last, has to know everyone's name and always have a smile on your face."

Flook adds: "The most difficult part has been losing my life outside work, but it has been rewarding to see the change in the pub and the business grow.

"It has been hard to adjust to being on duty 24 hours a day. Commuting is no longer an issue, but living on site has its down sides too, as it's hard to relax without thinking there could be something work related to do."

Flook's background was paramount during the Young's-funded refurbishment last May that saw the pub renamed the Armoury from the Crane, which it had been since 1748, to give it the "clean slate it needed". His experience in website design enabled the couple to get one up and running and manage the technical side at "little or no cost".

The couple enlisted the help of his old agency — Purpose — to help design a new sign, identity and brand. This was very successful and put the pub "back on the map". The design they came up with for the gable end has since been replicated at several other Young's pubs.

The professional football player: Mi​