Marston’s refocused pub business will have ‘firmer pricing outlook’

Marston’s CEO Ralph Findlay has shared with MCA details of an executive restructure at the company, which sees previously separate divisions brought under a single pubs business. 

The reorganisation follows the spin-off of Marston’s Beer Company to create a new joint venture with Carlsberg, leaving Marston’s as a focused pub operator.

Findlay told MCA the aim was to simplify the executive operation as much as possible, and reduce the costs base, with two operations directors taking charge of the wet-led and food-led pubs respectively.

Ed Hancock, who has previously run tenanted, leased and franchised pubs, takes charge of wet-led pubs, including Pitcher and Piano.

The food led business will be run by Sharon Singh, who was previously head of operations.

A new role of marketing and commercial director will be taken on by Andy Carlill, previously MD for Marston’s pubs and bars.

Collin Sadler, who was MD of premium pubs and bars, is due to step down, and is currently helping with the integration of premium pubs and bars into the wet-led and food led operations.

Richard Westwood, previously MD of Marston’s Beer Company, has become chief operating officer of the joint venture with Carlsberg.

Findlay told MCA that as part of this refocussed pub business, Marston’s would look to convert more venues into premium, experience-led destinations.

He said: “The idea is to be moving away from a platform which got bogged down in price discounting across the sector, to improving the experience that we offer across the pub estate, so the object is value for experience rather than simply value for money,

“This has been a trend, but I think covid has exacerbated it, towards people wanting more experiences. If your raison d’etre was convenience or functionality, there are now many more places where you can get convenience and functionality.

“Obviously home delivery is increased significantly in the past few months, supermarkets have upped their game.

“So for pubs, working on that experience point is critical. For me, experience is a number of things, but it definitely includes service, more premium drinks ranges, better quality food, more engagement with communities, those kinds of things.

“I think that focus on experience should allow us to have a firmer pricing outlook, which I think will be helped by the fact that - and I know it’s a terribly sad thing - but I think there’s going to be a reduction in capacity across the sector, both in pubs and in casual dining, and I think that reduction is going to lead to those places that are left being better equipped to offer better experiences, and also there’ll be less competition.”

Findaly was speaking after Marston’s reported a statutory loss of £397.1m for the 53 weeks to October 2020. Revenues were down 30% to £821m after 15 weeks of closure during the period.

Following the November lockdown, 780 pubs remain closed. The pubco currently has just three pubs open in tier 1, 90% of its tier 2 pubs open, about a third of pubs in Wales, and 12 in Scotland.

Findlay said: “We’re still trying to get our heads around the attempt by the devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland to redefine the pub as a place you can’t drink alcohol.”

The company’s heavy skew towards suburban locations makes it well placed to recover when restrictions are lifted, Finday added.

“Regrettably, there are winners and losers from this trend towards more home working and less travelling into cities,” he said.

“I’m sure some of it will come back, but it does seem that there are certain aspects of home working that are probably going to be here to stay.

“The fact that 90% of our pubs are in suburban locations - we don’t have a significant presence in city centres, we’ve only got three bars in London - I think is important.”