BIG INTERVIEW: No time to paws for Cheshire Cat boss

But ask her what she would change about her career and the answer is immediate.

“We would have probably started our own business a lot sooner,” she says. “I regret that, yeah, because I love working for myself.”

That independence now underpins Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars, the business she runs with her husband Tim Bird. And despite the sector headwinds, McLaughlin is characteristically upbeat.

“We’ve had a great Christmas and new year trading period,” she says. “Everything aligned together.” The rural location helped, with guests meeting family and friends and “coming out for walks in the country”.

This year, festive momentum started earlier than usual. “We had a lot more parties and events going on from the end of November,” she says. “It was almost like going back 10 years.”

The group’s financial year began in October and it is currently “tracking 12% up year on year”. Around “2% to 3% is on pricing”, she says, with the rest on cover growth.

From waitress to IPO

McLaughlin’s career began while studying food and home economics in Edinburgh, working as a waitress at PizzaLand. “I sort of got the bug then for restaurants, food and beverage.”

She joined Harrods’ graduate management programme, later moving into food and beverage and spending nearly nine years there. “It was almost like it was the top-end, quite luxury side of things,” she says.

A move to Paris followed, joining the opening team at Euro Disney months before launch. She ended up running a 300-cover restaurant and describes the experience as “incredible”.

“The sort of disciplines Disney had in terms of the culture was just incredible,” she says. “They really immersed you in it.”

Back in the UK, roles with Devonshire and Greenall’s followed before she joined La Tasca, initially as operations director and later as managing director.

“We grew then La Tasca… and then we IPO’d it,” she says. “Taking it from private to public was an incredible experience.” But scale brought trade-offs. “You glean a lot positively… but a lot negatively as well,” she says. “Suddenly it becomes that people are numbers.”

After a brief stint opening the UK’s first fresh pasta site for Vapiano, McLaughlin and Bird decided to try something themselves.

“I saw a little pub near where we live,” she says. “I said to Tim, why don’t we just have a bit of fun and take the lease on this pub?”

They later bought the freehold and asked a simple question. “What do we want a real pub to be?” The answer was straightforward: somewhere you could walk in without booking, with fresh food and local sourcing at its core.

“It literally was on the verge of closing,” she says. “When we took it, it was doing about £500 a week.” Sixteen years on, it remains their best-performing site.

Cheshire Cat Pubs & Bars has since grown to seven sites, largely through opportunities that came to them.

“We haven’t gone out actively looking,” she says. “Everything has come to us.”

Last year’s triple win at The Publican Awards stands out as a highlight, but not for personal reasons. “It’s not about me, it’s not the Mary show, it’s not the Mary and Tim show, it’s about the team,” she says. “We took our head chefs and our managers with us and to sit there and just watch their faces… that was my moment of pride.”

She also takes satisfaction in developing people. “Watching them develop has given me a great sense of achievement,” she says. “I’d like to feel that I’ve played a small part in where they’ve got to.”

Leadership and resilience

Running your own business, she says, is different. “You just don’t switch off ever.” Working alongside her husband Tim has helped. “We both go through the highs and lows together, and can pull each other through stuff.”

The biggest surprise about leadership? “Suddenly the buck stops with you. There are still sleepless nights and 3am wake-ups,” particularly with around 200 employees across the estate. “They’re all lovely, great people, but they all have their up days, their down days,” she says.

Her approach is grounded in communication and perspective. “Since Covid, I almost feel now that there is nothing that I cannot cope with,” she says. “What’s the worst that can happen?”

On pricing, McLaughlin is clear that pushing too far risks damaging frequency. “You don’t bank a margin, do you? You don’t bank a percentage, you bank cash,” she says.

She recounts paying £52 in London last month for a seafood vol-au-vent with a side. “It was absolutely stunning, but £52.”

Cheshire Cat has taken “a hit on margin” in places to avoid bill shock. “We’d rather have people not getting bill shock and actually visiting two or three times a week rather than that special occasion… once a month.”

The same thinking applies to wine pricing. “We’re selling that bottle of wine £10 less than you are,” she says of some competitors. “But people are buying it two and three times.”

While business rates and wage pressures remain significant, McLaughlin says she is “almost fed up now of listening to it all”. “We’ve all just got to get on and deal with it,” she says. “Let’s be positive. What can we do to add value?”

Internally, the focus is on consistency and knowledge. “Keeping the consistency of the delivery to the customer,” she says. “That whole experience.”

The group has invested in events, including whisky tastings and wine matching evenings, to drive engagement and incremental revenue. “It’s a point of difference for customers,” she says. “It’s bringing people together.”

Low & no has also seen “a massive uplift”, with sales “growing exponentially” following the launch of a refreshed list in January.

Advice for the next gen

Her advice to young people entering hospitality is direct. “You have really got to knuckle down, work hard,” she says. “You have to be prepared to make sacrifices.”

Above all, she returns to the customer. “All you’ve got to do is remember the customer is the most important thing,” she says. “If you keep a focus on the customer then you will do well.”

Despite the pressures, McLaughlin remains optimistic about the future. “We’re pretty positive about it,” she says. “We love it and our customers love it.” And in an industry often accused of dwelling on headwinds, her message is simple.

“Be consistent, but don’t compromise on quality.