Searcys re-brands as part of company overhaul

Searcys, the caterer and restaurant and bar operator, has revealed a rebrand, part of an aspiration from the 1847-founded company to overhaul its identity and “start looking forwards”.

Managing director Matt Thomas told MCA the new look brought the company identity in line with some of the changes he had implemented during his c18 month in charge, and aimed to celebrate its heritage, while making it more contemporary.

Thomas said the group had made significant investment at two of its flagship venues, at St Pancras and The Gherkin, with the former already showing a 28-30% growth in sales year on year.

Since being appointed from parent company Westbury Street Holdings, Thomas has revamped the executive team, bringing in Sid Clark, formerly of Ramsay Holdings, as operations director, as well as Anna Fenton, as head of brand, communications and marketing, and Kate Bell as head of people.

Thomas told MCA: “Over the last few years we have spent quite a lot of time looking backwards, or looking internally, and so the aspiration is to really start looking forwards.

“The only way we can really do that is by understanding what and how our customers want to interact with us, and look at what makes us unique, what we want to be known for, where we can add value.

“I wasn’t convinced the branding stood for anything, or meant anything to anyone.”

Describing the estate and management overhaul, Thomas said: “We looked at each venue, to see if they could operate better financially or qualitatively, and looked at the team which deliver our objectives.

“We saw some team members go, particularly at the executive level, but that gave us opportunities to find the right team members going forward.

“We now have a really strong executive team of nine, a hugely professional board of individuals.

“During this time, we said goodbye to some customers, where we struggled to make financial returns, or culturally felt misaligned, which was the sensible thing to do

“And we tried to polish up the business we look after, to ensure it was fit for purpose. We had some real pockets of excellence, but they were only pockets.”

On the friction between heritage and contemporary relevance, he added: “We are definitely proud of our history and heritage, it carries a lot of weight. We want to continue to enjoy that, but we want greater depth and diversity.

“I don’t think we’ll ever be cool. But contemporary, relevant, appropriate – these are words I would like to have associated with Searcys - while also celebrating and being respectful of a mature and established brand.”