A pint with Ralph Findlay: The boss of Marston's on the lockdown and reopening pubs

Ralph Findlay, the chief executive of Marston’s, spoke to the Evening Standard about having to work with numerous stakeholders during the Covid-19 lockdown, and reopening pubs. The interview took place via a video chat. Findlay was in the The Manor House of Whittington in Kinver and he had a cappuccino.

What has been one of the hardest parts of the Covid-19 lockdown?

For me it has been managing many many things, each of which has been critically important, and trying to prioritise within that with the resources that we’ve got. So what struck me right at the beginning of this crisis was that as a business we have a significant range of stakeholders, each of which required attention and had different needs.

We had employees, we’ve got 14,000 employees, and 13,000 of those people were furloughed. We had lessees, suppliers, shareholders, we had the banks [that Marston’s had to have conversations with, plus a number of other stakeholders]. In the middle of all of that we also had a deal running along with Carlsberg to put our beer business into a joint venture with them.

So [one of the hardest things] has been trying to prioritise just an enormous range of different needs, with the knowledge that you weren’t going to be able to keep everybody happy because you’ve only got so many resources.

What are some of the changes you have implemented across the estate?

We opened about 1300 pubs on Saturday (July 4) and I’m pretty pleased with the way that has gone.

We have tried to do three things: to make sure that we operate safely, to make sure that pubs still feel like pubs, and to be economically viable. There are more regular, more enhanced hygiene measures, we’ve got disposable menus, and it is a slightly slimmed down menu because we are trying to speed up service time, and there are hand sanitisers, you can see those.

I think we have got the balance about right. Everything tells me they [Marston’s’s sites] look like pubs, they feel like pubs.

What are booking trends looking like?

The general feeling was Saturday was really hyped up as ‘super Saturday’, and I always thought it was going to be quieter than many observers thought it would be. Most places were down year on year [on Saturday July 4], and that I think has been the experience in other countries, it has been the experience across the entire UK sector, and I think what we are expecting to see is a steady recovery from that point.

You can break it down, and say city centres are definitely the most difficult, where there are very few people travelling into cities… that is going to be the hardest part of the market I think. (Marston’s does not have many city outlets).

The strongest part of the market has been community locals. Wet-led pubs have actually done the best out of all of them. I think that is probably because what people have missed above all is a pint of a beer, and a bit of a relaxing occasion. A bit tougher on eating-out, you’ll have seen that from other restaurant operators, that is partly due to the fact I think it is going to take people time to have the confidence to come back out to eat and go to restaurants.

How confident are you feeling about the future of British pubs and why?

Well I am confident. My confidence has increased having been out and about this week and looking at people in pubs and how pleased they are to be able to go back out again and socialise.

I have to say, I think that we won’t be running on all four cylinders until you can stand at the bar and social distancing is not such a big issue.

I think the [new] VAT cut is a fantastic move on the part of the Chancellor, I think the efforts to stimulate employment or protect jobs for under-25s is also really welcome.

Pubs that don’t sell food are still in a more difficult place, and I guess we will be looking to see what the Chancellor can do with beer duty in the autumn statement.

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