Capital conversions

03 October 2002 by
Capital conversions

"Running a pub is easy and, when you've done it once, it gets easier each time," says Tom Etridge. This might be considered a rather blas‚ comment from a man who, until three years ago, worked for a design consultancy and had no previous formal experience in the hospitality industry.

Etridge, however, has good reason to be sure of himself. At the tender age of 27 he spotted a run-down local in west London and left his job to transform it into a hip gastropub. Within a year of Etridge taking over, Golborne House in Notting Hill was firmly on the map and shortlisted for the London Evening Standard Londoner's Award, in the Dinner for Two Under £60 category.

Transformation
Two years later, Etridge spotted a similar opportunity in Maida Vale, north London. Its transformation was completed in May when the Waterway opened its doors to the local trendy urbanite crowd, and it has been "incredibly busy" ever since. Leaseholder Enterprise Inns is delighted with Etridge's results and is encouraging his vision to expand his gastropubs around London - a further four sites are planned to open in the capital by the middle of next year.

So how has the 30-year-old former designer made it look so easy? His vision is of a new generation of high-quality, stylish bar-restaurants, where better-than-average food and drink are served in a relaxed setting. "We want to create lively urban pubs with top-quality dining," says Etridge. "Each site will be tailored to the local area, with individual interiors and a style that's influenced by the building's architecture."

The Waterway is in keeping with that vision. A 1970s boozer in the middle of a large council estate, it is built on the banks of the Grand Union Canal between Maida Vale and London's picturesque Little Venice. Etridge spotted its potential and found a second private investor (different from the backer of Golborne House) and put down about £20,000 of his own money towards the initial outlay of £325,000. Enterprise Inns took little convincing that the pub would be in good hands.

The site was completely gutted and transformed into a split-level bar and 50-seat restaurant, complete with a purpose-built 120sq ft wooden-decked terrace on the waterfront. Floor-to-ceiling glass doors connect the terrace to the inside area, which has a timber-clad ceiling and lots of deep-red leather furniture, including low-level sofas around a contemporary fireplace in the bar. Etridge was personally involved in the design and wanted the atmosphere to be warm, cosy, pubby and "not too formal".

The result, he says, is a good cross between a trendy cocktail bar and the restaurant, which aims to have more appeal than the classic gastropub - "all sanded floors and second-hand wooden furniture", according to Etridge.

Food operations
Celia Harvey, formerly of the River Café, and Leigh Codyre-Benson, who used to be with North Pole, will oversee the food operations across the expanding group. The head chef at the Waterway is Thomas Locker, and he has a six-strong brigade who serve modern British dishes with a Mediterranean influence, reflecting Harvey's involvement. Starters include gazpacho with crostini and olive oil (£4) and sesame-crusted tuna carpaccio with sweet soy dressing (£7.50), followed by potato, spinach and Gruyère cake on braised leeks (£9.50) or lemon and garlic chicken with soft Parmesan polenta and roast pepper relish (£10.95). Home-made desserts include mascarpone and raspberry crème brûlée (£4.50) and green apple and Calvados sorbet (£3).

The menu changes once a week, and there's usually a special on each day. On a busy Sunday, 200 lunch covers can be sold.

About 33% of total sales are from food, almost the same as at Golborne House, with 90% of sales taken in the evening. The target market is 20- to 40-year-olds, and average spend for dinner is about £35 a head. This is higher than in classic gastropubs, says Etridge, which he feels tend to attract people having one course and a pint. "We can offer a better meal without charging a hell of a lot," he says. Some 4.5% of sales are taken in cocktails, and all the bar staff are trained to mix the list on offer. There's also a choice of about 50 wines.

With the Waterway up and running, Etridge is already busy with the next sites. He is currently negotiating a lease on the Running Horse in Mayfair (opening date still to be decided), while next February is the target opening date for the Ebury in Sloane Square. This will be followed a month later by the Farm, on Farm Lane in Fulham.

The Wells Tavern, near Hampstead Heath in north London, is Etridge's only venture so far with leaseholder Innspired, and is scheduled to open next spring, bringing his collection to six.

"They're all very different sites," explains Etridge, "because they're all in different areas of London. Our target market is the locals who live close to each pub - within a mile radius - and we use the building to create something to suit the neighbourhood. Fulham is a very different area from Little Venice, hence our plans to have lots of walnut in the Ebury, and a modern brasserie style, with high ceilings, lots of light and more upmarket food.

"It's easier to expand than stay still," he muses, "but I don't have any concrete plans beyond the next six months or so. I'm happy to keep expanding, as long as the systems are in place to make the expansions work. Each project is easier than the previous one."

As yet, Etridge has no plans to take his gastropubs outside London. "It's difficult to have a long-term plan," he says. "I want to build up a solid group which I could leave alone if it's working and move on to something else. The natural progression would be to have a crack at something different in the future, but I'm not sure what that is yet."

Waterway

54 Formosa Street, London W9 2JU
Tel:020 7266 3557

Hours: Mon-Sat, noon-11pm; Sun, noon-10.30pm
Capacity, restaurant and bar: 150

Etridge's empire

Speciality: creating trendy gastropubs for Londoners
Sites: six by mid-2003, all in London
Projected turnover, 2002: Waterway, £1.4m; Golborne House, £850,000

Timetable
Golborne House, Notting Hill:
opened August 1999
Waterway, Maida Vale: opened May 2002
Running Horse, Mayfair: acquired September 2001; lease and refurbishment currently being negotiated
Ebury, Sloane Square: due to open February 2003
Farm, Fulham Broadway: due to open March 2003
Wells Tavern, Hampstead: due to open spring 2003
Investment to date: Golborne House, £220,000; Waterway, £325,000; Ebury, £400,000

Key personnel
Owner:
Tom Etridge
Manager, Golborne House: Olly Etridge
Manager, Waterway: Mitch Upton
Creative management (food): Celia Harvey and Leigh Codyre-Benson

A family affair

Although Etridge moved into hospitality only three years ago, the Oxbridge graduate was brought up "around the family dinner table" and his mother once ran a restaurant in Nottingham. Tom is the eldest of four children. His brother and sister, twins Olly and Charlotte, are already involved in the business on the operations side, and there is a younger sister not yet involved.

Olly cut his teeth managing the Prince Bonaparte gastropub in north London, and is now general manager at Golborne House, which has 25 seats in the main dining area, 50 in the bar and room for 20 more outside. Although not involved in the financing of the pubs to date, he will have a share option on the next project being opened by his brother.

Charlotte is chef de partie at Golborne House, under the supervision of Celia Harvey.

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