The Galvin Brothers have appointed Morven Finlay, formerly with Marcus Wareing and Pret, as head of HR, MCA has learnt.
Chris Galvin said the appointment was part of a learning process for the group, which has seen it open “an unprecedented” five sites in the last year, including a pub, hotel, a golf club and Dubai.
Galvin said: “Morven has experience managing multiple units, and has lots of tactics such as migrating staff from business to business. She’s teaching us a lot about planning, which has been organic so far.
I like that mix in her past, that’s what we definitely need the ability to understand –running sites independently, but as part of a group.”
Galvin told MCA the group was learning lessons from operating their first two pubs, Galvin HOP in Spitalfields and Green Man in Chelmsford, and ensuring they found the right, large footprint sites for their next pub site.
He said after an aggressive growth spurt, the group was happy to take stock and adapt to being a larger operator.
He said: ”Last year was pretty unprecedented, with five new properties. I can’t think of anyone who’s done that. It’s certainly tested our metal. We’re not afraid to lay fallow – you have to do that. It’s not a mad scramble. We are definitely looking but trying to learn from our experiences.”
On building the pub estate he said the collection could grow to as many as 20, though there was no specific target.
Galvin added: “It’s so important to get that right site and making sure the footprint’s right. They’re normally too small.
“Having experienced Galvin HOP and Green man, we are learning at a rate of knots about what works and what doesn’t, our learning curve is like a hockey stick.
“Unless you’re prepared to be there 24/7 serving drinks all day you need a food aspect. Because I’m obsessed with it not being a gastro pub it’s a mix we have to get right.”
