In fact, the co-founder tells The Morning Advertiser (The MA) going into business with his old school friends is the best career decision he ever made.
The trio founded Three Cheers Pub Co. 22 years ago, opening their first pub, the Abbeville in Clapham, in 2003.
While the group now runs 10 sites across London, Peake says the Abbeville “remains close to my heart”.
The following years saw the launch of the Stonhouse (2004), the Avalon and the Bolingbroke (2008), followed by the Latchmere, Rosendale, Tommyfield, Princess Victoria and Bedford.
“The Avalon was a big roll of the dice,” recalls Peake. “We opened just as the banking crisis hit in 2008 and the location, on a main road between Clapham and Balham, raised a few eyebrows.
“I grew up around the corner, so I had the local knowledge to support a conviction it would work - and its success changed our business.”
He adds: “A few months later, we opened the Bolingbroke on the site of the Inebriated Newt, the first restaurant I knew as a child, so that’s a special one too.
Real privilege
“Breathing life back into the Bedford - a pub/club/hotel and historic live music and comedy venue - was also a massive and complex project in partnership with Stonegate, and a real privilege.”
Its most recent addition, and first new site since 2018, the Trafalgar on King’s Road in Chelsea, is set to open later this month, which Peake says is incredibly exciting.
“Converting a beautiful Grade II-listed old bank, at the request of the Cadogan Estate, the first new pub on the King’s Road in over 100 years, with live entertainment, it doesn’t get much better than that.
“From a creative perspective, collaborating on design with my old friend Adam Ellis, who is now an internationally renowned designer of fine prints, wallpapers and fabrics, is as good as it gets. His wallpapers for the Trafalgar’s old banking hall are simply stunning.”
While the co-founder says the company could have expanded more aggressively in the early 2000s, knowing now that fewer opportunities would be available later on, Peake insists he “doesn’t do regrets”.
“You’ve got to let go of the past”, he says. “We all do the best we can in any given moment, and we’re a lot less in control than we might like to believe.”
Still, he acknowledges the low points, adding ambition, deadlines and costs all create pressure.
The pandemic stands out as low point for the industry as a whole, Peake continues: “Not just the early period of not knowing if we would survive, but the impact on our team.
“Living in flats in London, barely being able to move; I was painfully aware of how difficult that was. It took a while for morale to recover. Nothing else comes close but Rachel Reeves’ masterstroke of piling taxes on jobs was a recent low point.”
Wonderful team
However, the experience reinforced the importance of people, Peake says: “This business remains all about the people.
“We’ve got a wonderful, small team who’ve been together a long time.”
He continues: “We’re more a band of brothers. It has been incredibly demanding over the years, which you can’t envisage when you’re starting out.”
As well as good communication, clear vision and collaboration, for Peake, joy and balance are key to success.
He adds: “You’ve got to have fun at home and at work. The world around us is full of so much ugliness but this industry is full of ‘artists and enthusiasts’, as an old friend would say.
“It’s for us to swim against the tide, to bring joy and happiness. It’s about balancing that with looking after your physical and mental health. You can’t be the person you want to be if your lifestyle is constantly undermining how you show up.”
Despite his success, Peake beams with pride when speaking about his family and says he will always consider his three daughters and the relationships he has with them his biggest achievement.
Though he says balancing family and work life is not easy in the hospitality industry: “I have always prioritised my work and my daughters above all else.
“I’m not sure you can build a hospitality business and have perfect balance in other areas of your life. But then I’m not sure perfectly balanced people are drawn to this industry.”
After more than two decades of building a company dedicated to community and character, Peake and his “band of brothers” continue to prove that friendship, creativity and a genuine love of hospitality are the ingredients for lasting success.
