Capital boss in staff incentivisation call

Capital recently sold its 34-strong London estate to Greene King for £70m and Watson told the MA250 audience last week that its success was built
around staff.

He said success was built around sticking to a strategy of creating individual London pubs and knowing exactly who the target audience was.

“But the best way to build profits is through motivating and incentivising your staff,” he said.

Watson said he empowered staff to make decisions from the moment they took over a pub. “We said to them ‘run this business as if it were your own business’.

“We don’t send them generic promos from head office. I think the best promotions are the ones managers come up with because if they have thought of them, they are passionate, believe in them and get the staff motivated behind them.”

He added: “Too many pubs, I think, have lost their fun because managers have not been allowed to express themselves.”

Capital operates a profit-share scheme for managers where they are paid 10% of profits for the month.

“There has to be trust between the company and staff. We always make sure that the company’s interests are aligned to the pub manager’s.”

Some managers were also invited to take part in share incentive schemes, with one receiving £70,000 when the Greene King deal went through after nine years’ service.

“We gave them good incentives but most importantly we gave them job satisfaction and recognition.”

Watson also believes that head office should sit alongside the pubs, not above it.