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Brownswood Tavern Being free-of-tie was particularly important for Harley because his first two pubs were, and remain, tied. The Rose & Crown, also in Stoke Newington, was a lease from Scottish & Newcastle, while the Wrestlers in Highgate is a leasehold from Punch. From taking on the lease at the Wrestlers in 1997, Harley had always worked hard at offering as varied a mix of beers as possible within the limitations imposed by the tie. He had also got his hands dirty cleaning up this boozer, which was heading into oblivion. He says: “It had been taken down the pan with screens, fruit machines and pool tables. We had no money to invest in it so we just slugged it out with lots of smiling. There was no formula – I was only 26 and I’d not worked things out. We were just very customer-focused and it took 18 months to turn it around.” Things ticked along for 12 years while he learned his craft, at which point Harley took on the Rose & Crown from his parents, who had owned the lease since 1986, when they decided to move abroad. Again the focus was on the basics – “friendly staff, not too-cool-for-school, who would say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ in the proper way of a bartender”. At this stage he says he was simply running two “good, upmarket community locals”. That ended with the Jolly Butchers, which rocked the boat and pushed Harley forward as a craft beer pioneer and owner of a cool destination bar. This move seemed to kick him into action and no doubt gave him with plenty of confidence. Enough to take on the hulking Brownswood Tavern in June 2011, which rather surprisingly threw him back into the land of the tied pub.
“[Restaurants are] a tough game and without the beer element I’d not be doing it. I’m a pub person and I’m using my skills of pairing beer with food”
Harley’s five beers that changed the drinking landscape (former Jolly Butchers mainstays): Thornbridge Jaipur Dark Star American Pale Ale Oakham Green Devil IPA BrewDog Punk IPA Camden – Town Hells Lager
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The Rose & Crown
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Despite this downside, Harley could see the upside. He says: “I had known it for years and knew it was a challenge but there was great potential. It’s a big pub with a large garden. I thought we could put in as many interesting beers as Ei Group would allow and also some good food to appeal to the young professionals of Stoke Newington.” An even bigger challenge came in April 2012 when Harley, along with other investors, took on the freehold of the Rose & Crown in Brixton. He says: “It was a different part of London for me and it required lots of hard work. We had squatters in for the first six months and then we had to put a new roof on. It was all about it being at the right price because it was not in the most salubrious area and it was doing no business.” The key point, again, was it being free-of-tie and Harley had the intention of making it “Jolly Butchers’ little sister south of the river”. At this point you would think Harley’s future would be free houses all the way but he then surprisingly took on a Punch lease at The Westbury, near Wood Green in north London, in late 2014 because, again, he could see the opportunity. Although proud of the pub, he adds: “We knew we were early into the area but maybe we were too early. The locals love it but there are just not enough of them yet. It’s making money but, for the quality of the pub, it should be busier. However, it is going in the right direction, it’s near a tube, and there are lots of chimney pots.” His objective over the next two years is to have all his six pubs free-of-tie by taking the Market Rent Only option when it becomes available. Any new pubs he takes on will be free-of-tie, he promises. He adds: “We’re not interested any more in pubs that are tied. To date, we’ve been successful with the tie as we’ve utilised what we could get and worked hard at it. We’ve also pushed the pubcos to do more good beers – but any new pubs will be free-of-tie.” He also has the Booma concept, which is still finding its feet and will no doubt be given all the time it requires because Harley is proud of the fact he has never had to close a pub or surrender a lease in his 20 years of operating. It might take time, but it’s more likely to be Booma than bust for London Village Inns.