Alchemist CEO Simon Potts: ‘We’ll work to turn fear of going out into fear of missing out’

“Relaxed” isn’t an emotion easily associated with members of the hospitality industry of late, but Alchemist CEO Simon Potts seems to be the exception.

In fact, with consumer behaviour throughout the pandemic largely dependent on their personal proximity to a relaxed state of mind, for Potts, a pragmatic and slow-paced reopening is the obvious route to a successful recovery.

“The key to unwinding this ‘project fear’ scenario is timing,” he told MCA. “And I’m fairly relaxed about reopening being set for July, because it gives people another chunk of time to feel more relaxed about being back in social environments.”

And although the fear of going out won’t entirely ease without a shift in lockdown measures, Potts explained that with well-timed consumer targeting in line with the government’s phased strategy, it will eventually turn back to a more profitable fear – “the fear of missing out.”

“There’s going to be a significant number of people that aren’t going to go anywhere near a hospitality environment for a good few months, but that’s fine,” he said. “What’s going to be important is targeting the right group at the right time.”

So, as it looks to market its reopening, he explained, The Alchemist will “focus on the more fearless element of our database, and use them as a tool to demonstrate to the more cautious group that people are in our venues, they’re having a great time, and infections are still on the wane.”

But this inevitable human desire to return to social spaces is only part of the solution, and whilst the “fearless” demographic may be growing by the day, Potts made clear that this does not diminish the extensive safety measures the business will look to put in place.

A tighter menu offering, increased table service in the place of vertical drinking, distancing controls and extensive sanitising processes will all be a part of The Alchemist’s new normal, but for Potts, “the worst thing we can do is have venues that feel like ICU units.”

“Hospitality has always been a form of escapism and if it looks like a supermarket or a hospital, it’s going to lose that element,” he said.

And with such a strong brand focus on experience and theatre, an initial focus of the business will be to “to see how the consumer and our teams respond to the new measures before we open our estate fully.”

On 4 July, the business will look to open “no more than four” sites, concentrated near its core operational arm in Manchester and Leeds, before opening “a couple of sites every day” over the following weeks if the initial response is positive.

“We have the operational and logistical capacity to open our full estate in that first weekend, but given the levels of government support we’ll still have at that time, it just makes more sense to go at a sensible pace and look at what we’re actually able to achieve,” he explained.

“There’s been an awful lot of work that’s gone into producing our assumptions about what reopening will look like, but at the moment they are only assumptions, so we need to see how that translates into reality.”

But even if the business has to operate under the “worst case scenario” of an enforced two-metre distancing rule and lack of government support, Potts is confident that this measured and flexible approach will see it through the challenging time ahead.

“The key to all of this is to be as flexible and agile as possible, and ready to respond to opportunities as they’re gifted to us by the Government,” he said.

And with a contactless-cocktails delivery and click and collect service set to launch across its estate come July, the business has already set the wheels in motion to a viable and multifaceted post-coronavirus operation.

“Whatever the new normal looks like it won’t be just a case of opening the doors, flicking a switch and expecting it all to be alright,” he said. ”There’s an operational element to understand and we need to be ready to respond on a daily basis to new challenges.

“But we’re confident that we’ve got something that people like. That much hasn’t changed. And while we might have a smaller pool to fish from, we still have an offer that’s going to be well received.”