Feature
Kris Gumbrell, founder and chairman ■ Favourite Book: My favourite book keep changing, so I guess Leadership by Rudolph Giuliani, and Losing my Virginity by Richard Branson ■ Favourite Film: My favourite was The Shawshank Redemption, but Interstellar is now up there ■ Favourite beer and food match: Telemark Extra, our 5% American style IPA brewed in B&K Poole, matched with our wonderful Beer Can Chicken
Simon Bunn, founder and director ■ Favourite Book: I have a couple of favourites, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and Winners by Alistair Campbell ■ Favourite Film: A very old favourite from 1982 when I first saw it, Once Upon A Time In America. I just love the relationship between the group which all grew up together ■ Favourite beer and food match: We brew terrific beers, but my favourite is Britton, brewed at our Islington branch, an American brown ale, perfectly matched with BBQ ribs
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always empty rooms, garages, etc. We tend to be creative. There are operators out there with sites they don’t know what to do with – they should talk to us.” While the two London sites and the Bristol pub came as a package, acquired from GI Capital in the wake of the Orchid sale to M&B, “we’re not planning to buy anything that isn’t a Brewhouse & Kitchen”, says Gumbrell. He adds: “That keeps it very clean, simple and straightforward. The Bristol site would seem to be the runt of the litter, but it was an old pub of mine from 20 years ago, in the right location and it’s shooting the lights out, doing really well for us.” Citing the recycled brewery at Highbury, Gumbrell says: “We get good value for money. We’re not ashamed to go on eBay and buy second hand kitchen or bankrupt stock. Our plan is to get to 18 sites by 2019, and we can certainly get there through cash flow. It’ll be a blend of leaseholds and freeholds, predominantly freehold is the plan, which gives us real strength with the bank.”
“The Bristol site would seem to be the runt of the litter, but it was an old pub of mine from 20 years ago, in the right location and it’s shooting the lights out, doing really well for us” Diversification into related areas such as craft distilling, as some craft beer operators have done, “might be interesting, but not yet,” says Gumbrell. “With distilling, you’ve got be careful in terms of health and safety, and the licensing is a nightmare,” he adds. “To be honest, we’re good at what we do, we love doing it and we get a lot of really good feedback from customers as well as our peers. We also have a responsibility to our shareholders. We’ve raised £15m, and I’ve got a sizeable stake in this business myself. We made a promise in a business plan and we’ve got to deliver on that. You’ve got to make sure you don’t get distracted.” He adds: “We’ve grown very quickly. A year ago we had two pubs, now we’ve got six trading sites, we’re on site in two more. It’s interesting the fear that other operators have of this black art of brewing. In the States you’ve got 80 McMenamins, and you’ve got 152 BJ’s Restaurants and Brewhouse. BJ’s are refinancing and have targeted 400 sites in the next five years. Brewhouse & Kitchen is entirely scalable.”
PROPEL QUARTERLY ¡ AUTUMN 2015 ¡ www.propelinfonews.com