In a world with headlines about huge unemployment, and economic headwinds to rival the Great Depression of the 1930s it’s easy to assume that negativity is the order of the day.
Well this isn’t the case for a North East based pub management company, Blackrose, as it starts recruitment to double its marketing team based at their Head Office in Gosforth, Newcastle (yes, the Head Office is next to one of their pubs).
Blackrose Pubs is a new concept of pub management, a start-up business that already benefits from hundreds of years of experience, with a strong team ready to drive the business forward. This team, led by Managing Director Daren Knipe, have an ambitious vision to create outstanding experiences and world-class pubs across the UK.
With 43 pubs currently, and plans to increase this to 200 by the end of 2021 – the current global pandemic has not slowed these ambitions. In fact the pace is accelerating as new portfolios become available and the opportunity a forced closure brings for refurbishment of their current portfolio.
“Blackrose’s strategy has not changed in the post Covid-19 world; if anything it has enabled us to accelerate our ambitions and look at our offer and customer needs in a different way. Our investors’ support means we are moving swiftly on buying new pubs and identifying and acting on new opportunities. So much so that we have recruited three new senior members of staff during lockdown and are looking to add two new roles to our marketing team by June this year”
The ambitious plans are not limited to bricks and mortar, the recruitment drive in the marketing team and head office is linked to plans to introduce a new mobile app which will allow guests of the 43 pubs to order and pay at their table – allowing for convenience and keeping patrons safe when their doors finally re-open. There are also plans to complete a full re-brand during the lockdown as well as new websites for each venue.
“We want to use this lockdown period to get ahead of our competitors, to ensure that our guests have the best possible experience when we are able to welcome them back into our pubs once again. This means large investments in the number of sites, refurbishments of current pubs and bringing on new talent”
Rob Young, Head of Marketing.