A self-declared grumpy and cash-strapped teenager, after his dad stopped his pocket-money, Sam Beech got his first job, aged 16, as a part-time glass collector at the Ferry Tavern in Warrington. “It was the best thing my dad ever did. He believes in having a strong work ethic.”
Two years later, while studying computer animation and special effects at university, he secured a job as a bartender, doing promotional projects, before working his way up to become a supervisor. On graduation from uni, Sam made the decision to stay in hospitality, working for Revolution.
“When I told my dad that I was going to work in a bar, he said ‘brilliant’! He could see my passion for it. I loved the cocktails and making drinks, and creating a great guest experience. I like to chat to people – I become a bit of a grump if I spend too much time on a laptop.”
Sam then went on to work for the highly innovative and exciting bar group Living Ventures, founded by the late-Tim Bacon and Jeremy Roberts, who went on to set up the New World Trading Company (NWTC), as a trading division of the company.
“I thought Living Ventures was the best of the best. It had the highest standards, when it came to training, and over the next four years I worked my way up to become the General Manager of The Botanist in Alderley Edge in Cheshire.
“When I first joined them from Revolution, I was taken aback, the level of detail at Living Ventures was like nothing else. They take you right back to the basics. I was literally ordering the straws! But they build you up, giving you the tools through lots and lots of training. I loved it. The standards were high and there was so much structure in the business. It is all about giving everyone the same opportunities – if you work hard and are hungry for opportunities, you will do well.”
In 2016, Living Ventures sold NWTC and Sam left the business, spending the next few months selling promotional merchandise. But when he received a call from NWTC’s Operations Director offering him the opportunity to come and do recruitment, he jumped at the chance.
“They wanted someone who understood the company and its culture, and what I lacked in knowledge about recruitment, I made up for in my passion for the business. There’s many in the business like me – I think if we were cut, we’d bleed New World blood! We believe in everything we do and work to make it even better.”
Having quickly got to work setting up the recruitment arm of the business, in January 2020 he was given the title Head of Talent.
“I visit all the new cities where we’re opening to find amazing people to join us. When we’re bringing on new teams for a new site, it’s all about the training. And as we don’t want to risk diluting our company culture, we have created talent pipelines and encourage our managers to spot talent within their teams.
“These days, there are certain roles for which we only recruit internally and we are constantly looking six months ahead for any new openings. This gives us time to identify internal recruits – we offer a good relocation package – and get the new team up to standard. As we open more sites further away from our hub, we need superstars to go there and embed our culture. For instance, when we opened Plymouth, which is 6.5 hour’s drive from our Head Office, we had our Area General Manager Paul move down there to take our culture south.
“Internal recruitment for new roles stands at 60% currently, but we are aiming to move that figure to 75% this year,” he explains.
Sam is launching the new Management Academy this month (April), to be followed by the launch of the Future Management Academy in July – all designed to identify management material within sites and develop them into new roles within 9-12 months.
“My job is just awesome. I get to work with a ton of different people every day. My role has a huge impact and it’s lots of responsibility and involves a high level of trust – working with people to help move them on into new roles and opportunities. It’s very exciting. No day is ever the same. I’ve made friends for life here."