MAGAZINE

Face of the industry

While those inside this industry will recognise many of each other’s faces, viewing peers as superstars in their own right, it takes a special level of success for a pub operator to be famously known by the majority of the general public. 

Sure, celebrities own pubs, which can often be enough to generate decent footfall on its own, but how many contribute to the day-to-day offer is another matter altogether. Does Guy Ritchie ever do the menus? Has Rick Astley changed a barrel at Mikkeller? Will James Blunt run you through the specials? “How are the scallops today, James?” “They’re beautiful!”

Tom Kerridge, of course, made his fame through hospitality – his success was secondary to the industry. With his two Michelin-starred pub The Hand & Flowers and sister site The Coach just down the road, Kerridge has become one of the UK’s most recognised and, I think, liked representatives of the pub world. While many will know him for TV appearances, cookbooks or his Pub in the Park festivals, the fact remains that when The Hand & Flowers opened its doors in Marlow some 20 years ago, Kerridge set the bar for what could be achieved when combining high-end cuisine and pub culture. 

The 20th birthday of The Hand & Flowers was the catalyst for our catching up with the Gloucestershire-born chef this month. It’s some going to keep a pub not just surviving but thriving for two decades, so I was delighted to sit down with him on the first morning of Pub in the Park, Marlow, where we had a frank discussion not just about the sector and his role within it, but the wider state of the Tom Kerridge Group business and how that can represent the rest of the industry. 

As it turns out, not even someone like Kerridge is exempt from casualties. A week after the interview, he announced the closure of his Butcher’s Tap & Grill pub in south west London. I assure you this is not a Pub & Bar jinx – his summary of that site certainly seemed to suggest it was almost last orders for the Chelsea outpost of The Butcher’s brand. You can read what he had to say from page 22. 

Tristan O’Hana - Editor