Marston's launches Revere Pub Company
Hammersmith Brands, led by divisional managing director Colin Sadler, currently manages 20 Pitcher & Pianos, plus the Fire Station at London Waterloo and two Bluu bars in London and Manchester.
Marston’s managing director Peter Dalzell revealed that it will now take on 10 more pubs, starting with sites in Birmingham, Solihull and Dorset, and operate them as the Revere Pub Company.
One, formerly trading as the Hogshead in Westbourne near Bournemouth, will reopen in November as The Libertine. Another is Ye Olde Saracen’s Head, at Balsall Common in the West Midlands. Both are described as: “Premium dining pubs looking to offer fantastic, fresh food, a great range of ales, beers, wines and spirits all served in a comfortable yet traditional atmosphere complimented by the best service.”
Dalzell said: “These were managed pubs with okay performance, but which were not fully optimised. We’re now onsite, giving them an independent feel – a different angle.
“We are in a world where everyone is always trying to meet customers expectations - we need to stop trying to meet their expectation and start exceeding it. As an industry we need to recognise that we must create customer experiences which get people excited about coming into our pubs,” added Dalzell.
“We shouldn’t knock the well-run pub restaurants achieving 18.5% returns, which contribute to dividends and bonuses all round. But there’s more room for having a good time – more than just steak and chips on a Friday night. There aren’t many big pubcos that have got the magic dust right.”
Dalzell was appointed as a main board director at Marston’s following the departure of chief operating officer Alistair Darby to Mitchells & Butlers last month.
The appointment brought together the management of all of Marston’s pubs into one team under Dalzell’s leadership. Dalzell joined Marston’s in 1995, and has experience operating the company’s managed, leased and tenanted pubs, and was instrumental in the development of its franchise business.
