Propel Multi-Club Conference

The first Propel Multi Club conference of 2019 is to be held on Thursday, 7 March 2019. 

Schedule

9.00am – 10.00am: Registration

10.00am – 10.30am: Graeme Smith, co-head of financial advisory services at AlixPartners, provides an overview of current mergers, acquisitions and refinancing trends in the UK market – and reflect on market growth.

10.30am – 11.00am: What are consumers searching for? David Charlton, commercial director at Zonal Marketing Technologies provides an overview of how the consumer journey is changing, how guests are choosing and booking venues, and what operators can do to meet their appetite for more personal and engaging experiences.

11.00am – 11.30am: Mark Ashley, author of Be Better Than Yesterday and former director of retail operations at Geronimo, who now runs his own eponymous company, gives insights into his unique method of developing and improving productivity and retaining front-line teams.

11.30am – 12.00pm: JD Wetherspoon founder Tim Martin talks to Propel managing director Paul Charity and lists the top ten books that have shaped his business philosophy.

12.00pm – 1.00pm: Lunch

1.00pm – 1.30pm: Nathan Wall, operations director of Managed Investments at Ei Group, talks about the company’s progress with its managed investment scheme that has seen the company partner with 12 sector companies and entrepreneurs in joint ventures to develop pubs.

1.30pm – 2.00pm: Alastair Scott, co-founder of food-led operator Malvern Inns and Catton Hospitality, talks about how the company has set about creating a tool to motivate staff and optimise shift performance.

2.00pm – 2.30pm: Ted Kennedy, owner of Pebble Hotels and veteran operator of pub assets, sets out ten key lessons learned as an operator and how these have been applied to making Alan Yau’s Duck and Rice concept profitable.

2.30pm – 3.00pm: Martin Hayes, co-founder of Craft Beer Co, talks about the creation and development of his brand, offering market-leading variety in craft beer and “old-school pub values”.

3.00pm – 3.30pm: Coffee break

3.30pm – 4.00pm: Ian Payne, chairman of Stonegate Pub Company, talks to Paul Charity about investing in career, the draw of live sport, his people and training philosophy, and investing in building a high-street pub estate.

4.00pm – 4.30pm: Being better in the better burger market: Joe Grossman, founder of the nine-strong Patty & Bun brand, talks about ten challenges he has overcome in his journey from leading the marketing at Roast to finding a unique position in the better burger market.

4.30pm – 5.00pm: James Hacon, British Takeaway Award judge and founder of Think Hospitality, gives an overview of outstanding takeaway propositions and how performance of his investment roll-out takeaway brand, I am Doner, has been transformed through systems and marketing.