Yummy adds ex-Punch MD to management team

This comes after the news of the company’s rebrand and restructure​, which saw it become Our Yummy Collection from Yummy Pubs and the sale of the Wiremill, near Lingfield in Surrey to Hall & Woodhouse.

Pavli will work alongside Our Yummy Collection founder Anthony Pender, helping provide commercial and strategic support, in a bid to allow Pender to focus on bringing in new partners and allowing the business to become an incubator brand.

This would allow individuals to own and run their own venues alongside the senior management team.

Innovation space

It follows the recent partnership approach adopted at the Victoria Mile End where operating partner Matthew Ward was the first team member to go from bar to boardroom, after starting with the business as a part-time team member at 18 years old.

Speaking on Pavli’s appointment, Pender said: “I’ve known and worked alongside Pavli in various industry projects and good causes over the past five years and he is so committed to our wider sector, the people who work in it and has always openly helped others.

“His dedication is also matched by his experience and commercial knowledge and I feel so privileged to have someone of his calibre onboard.

“With Pavli on board and an already experienced management team, we are in a great space to start innovating and working alongside future partners to develop some interesting venues and concepts.

“His experience will also mean we have another mentor for aspiring entrepreneurs we look forward to working alongside in the same way we have with Matthew Ward at the Victoria, which has proved such a success.”

Contribution to communities

Pavli reflected on his relationship with Pender in the past and looking to the future as part of the Our Yummy Collection business.

He said: “I have known Pender more than 10 years since my time at Punch over the past few years and have got to know the Our Yummy Collection well and have always admired the business, it’s passion for excellence, its values and the contribution it makes to the communities it operates in.

“When Pender asked me to become a non-exec director of his business as it embarks on this new and exciting journey, I jumped at the chance to work with him again.

“I’m looking forward to working with him and the Our Yummy Collection team on growing the current business, developing its people, working hard on finding new venues and partners to add to the business, venue and people that add real value to not only the Our Yummy Collection business but also the communities they are in.”