Jonathan Perritt: Building on star appeal

Even in 2007, when he and his brother, Andy, were working full-time behind the bar of their first pub, the Regent in Kensal Green, Perritt “identified the key functions and shared them between the two of us”.

“It felt weird at the time,” he admits, but the attention to organisational detail has certainly paid off. Perritt & Perritt now operates three profitable leasehold pubs in the wealthier corners of north-west London and it’s actively looking for number four.

As well as structural discipline, Jonathan Perritt, the elder brother, brings to the pub game 10 years’ experience in top London hotels. It was while delivering five-star standards of customer service that he saw he had something to add to the traditional pub.

“I went to pubs and felt that, when you analyse it, it was a mediocre experience in terms of service. Yet those pubs were still busy.

“If I could graft my experience onto a traditional boozer you would get a pub with a real customer service focus and there had to be an opportunity there.

“A five-star hotel service would be inappropriate, of course, but the point is that good hotels are good at paying attention to the way they care about people, the way they make people feel welcome.

“Customer service is about being attentive, about the way things just seem to happen without any effort and that’s the challenge for us, that’s our point of differentiation. We don’t always get it 100% right, but we’re trying.”

The most visible way that hotel standards have transferred to the Perritt & Perritt pubs is in offering table service. It’s a way of giving customers that extra level of attention. But behind that are the people who work there.

“It’s all about the people. They have to be people people, then we can train the technical skills.”

And you need more of them.

“You can’t just have one person behind the bar, and we have to be competitive on pay, too. We probably invest 3% to 4% more in labour costs than certain industry measures.

“We’ve learnt to focus on our training, as well” says Perritt. “In these economic circumstances people are more discerning, so we’ve raised out game around service quality and consistency. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary.

“There’s a daily focus on training at each site. We have sessions that run from two to 15 minutes and that generates a constant pressure, a repetitive focus in key areas such as product knowledge, health & safety and risk assessment.”

As you’ll gather, this is an especially rigorous operation, but all the customers see is a traditional pub with a strong food offer and staff who seem to like them.

Perritt targets “run-down and shut-down businesses in great buildings in dynamic neighbourhoods”, and takes care to tailor each to the local market.

“We’re mindful of the micro-markets, who the customer is and what they want. It’s different in each pub. I don’t think we’ve perfected it at all. Every day we change things to improve and learn what works.”

First pub​

Jonathan came out of hotels and Andy left drinks company Diageo to open their first pub in an area they knew well. Lack of money ruled out several other options, but this one was a rarity in the capital — a Trust Inns lease.

“It had a late licence, outside space, and it was in an interesting part of west London,” says Perritt. “I lived in West Hampstead and it felt comfortable to me. I knew the competitive landscape, the customers, and I was confident we could deliver.”

Two Enterprise Inns followed. The Stag in Hampstead appealed because of its “space and character” and it’s where the elder Perritt has made his home. The Mall Tavern in Notting Hill Gate “we knew would have to be food-led,” he says, and he went for it in style, installing one of London’s most talked-about chefs in the kitchen, Jesse Dunford Wood.

“The interesting thing about the pub business is that it’s so diverse. Our pubs don’t look the same. You might pick out our DNA, but there’s no overt branding.

“We live in a changing world and our customer base reflects that. At the Stag we’re as likely to get guys off a building site as a consultant surgeon from the Royal Free. And some famous faces too, although that’s not something we shout about.
“It reflects the diversity of London and that’s what makes it interesting for me, having the right menu to match the customers.”

And it’s not exactly an instant win. “When we go into a pub it’s a standing start, we have a neutral reputation at best. There’s a hangover effect — and rightly so. What we’ve learned is that it takes six months to change people’s perceptions of a pub, six months to prove you’re serious.”

That process of winning people’s confidence has become more refined with the Secret Diners Club in which the pubs’ own customers are invited to judge their local.

“I’m in contact with 30 or 40 customers I wouldn’t otherwise have had anything to do with, and we get really valuable feedback from them.

“It’s a challenging trading environment,” he continues. “Sales are up year on year, but our costs are going up month by month. It’s our number-one challenge. There’s only so much you can pass on to the consumer, so it’s a nervy time for us.

“Our margins are tighter, but we’re built on good service and value and we want to maintain that. We have our core principles and it would be wrong if we didn’t stick to our strategy.

“And having three pubs now means we can be more effective with our buying. There are opportunities to leverage our relationships with suppliers to minimise the impact of higher costs. We’re doing as much as possible there.”

Further expansion should help. “It’s not all doom and gloom. There are some really interesting opportunities. We’re looking seriously at three sites, but there are a lot of boxes they need to tick.

“We’re ready for our fourth pub, though, and we have a structure that facilitates growth. It’s important to grow with the right people, people who understand your business, who can deliver your business plan — that is what should govern expansion.

“It’s a fine line, growing at a controlled pace without losing the strengths that got you off the ground. We have to keep control, maintain attention to detail and effective communications, and give our managers the right balance of autonomy and direction.”

Perritt remains committed to growing through leases.

“I think leaseholds are a perfectly good model. There are upsides to freeholds, of course, but at this stage in the game why would we want to pay £2m for a site when we can get one for £200,000?

“Look at Realpubs and Geronimo. They had leaseholds and they were successful disposals. If you get it right, either version can attract commercial attention.

“We’re only in our fifth year so we’re not thinking about that yet — but it shows that pubs are an investable business.”
He describes the relationship with Enterprise as “healthy”.

“The Mall Tavern was in administration when we took it. Enterprise had confidence we could make it work and invested in the building. It’s an example of how you can have a very good partnership.

“Ted Tuppen has a flat nearby and is a customer there. I had dinner with him last night. It was fun."

My kind of pub​

“I’m a NW3 resident and the Bull & Last is a great food pub on Hampstead Heath. The Southampton Arms in Tufnell Park is more informal with a good selection of British ciders and ales. I’d be desperate if I couldn’t go to either of those two. They have really thought through what they offer the customer, and as an operator you know that takes a lot of effort.”