It’s true to say that for Flo and Joe it has been a whirlwind two years. Having entered and become finalists of Licensee of the Year Award in 2022, they launched themselves straight back into the awards, by applying again the following year. They were hungry to win and win it they did – and as far as we know, they are the only finalists to have ever gone on to win the Licensee of the Year
Award title the consecutive year.

For those that don’t know The Tolly, tell us what makes it a stand-out pub and business?

Flo begins: “It’s a quintessential British pub that focuses on sustainability, local ingredients and great customer service. We take great pride in our offer and every customer receives a super warm
feeling and welcome, which flows through every element.”

Joe continues: “At the forefront of what we do is run a business that wants to create a better work-life balance for our staff. Our commitment to sustainability extends to our teams, in that we care about their welfare and we want them to want to stay in the industry

“We do things differently: we’re not black and white about starting times. We offer 4.5 day weeks, with hours capped at 44 a week. People don’t work every Friday and Saturday, and we have benefits on site, including a gym, which has been well received.

“Our staff want progression and every member of our senior team are on some kind of training course.”

You mentioned before that on achieving finalist status in 2022,  you took away everything you had learnt to help you win this year. What were the main takeaways?

“Taking part in the awards really helps focus your mind on the business,” says Joe.

“We had our business plans and projections in 2022 and over the following year, we were able to show how we had completed that pipeline and were in front of our projections. We had completed our outside expansion, and we could show the positive impact our investments had had on our customers, from our rebranding of the business to our village shop and design work.

“We met many exceptional and motivational people over the awards’ process, people like Chris and Jason Black FBII [LOYA Winners 2021], who have inspired us. But the truth of the matter is that when you get to the finals, there’s only a very fine margin between  you. You are the six best licensee businesses in the UK.”

Flo continues: “Having gone through the process before, we did work to improve on the areas we hadn’t been so confident about or comfortable with in 2022.

“When we met the judging panels this year, we knew what to expect and we had a better understanding of our financials, and we were able to present the key figures in a much more proactive way. We were ready to answer the questions on our break-evens, GPs, wage costs and the knock-on effects that the cost-of-living crisis had had on our business. We made sure everything was front-of-mind and we were ready to bring it all to the table before they asked.”

Can you share with us what you have taken away from this year’s awards’ process, as well as any plans for the future?

Flo says: “It’s not just ideas from the awards process, but also the advice we’ve received from all the motivational people we have met and made friends with along the way – especially the multiple operators like Chris and Jason and Amanda and Nick Hemming MBII [LOYA Winners 2022]. They’ve explained to us the importance of streamlining the business and to make sure we are at a point where the pub runs well. For example, making the back-office admin simpler, implementing foolproof plans that will allow us to be able to step away from the business and take on a second pub, which is what we’re looking to do.”

Joe adds: “Getting the right tech is key for everything, from staff holidays and rotas, to the payroll, etc, and we are looking for a one-stop-shop that we can run across two sites.

“We’re also focusing on the small things, for instance, we have been rewriting everyone’s job descriptions, so they  know their roles and who they are responsible for. It makes everything a lot easier.”

Joe continues: “As we grow, we want to make ourselves redundant, so that we’re free to take on a new business.” Flo says: “We’ve successfully made The Tolly a very special place. We know our skill set and what we need to do next.”

In the current economic climate, why is now the time to invest and grow the business?

Flo says: “We’ve learnt a lot from seeing what other, successful operators are doing – and we enjoy a challenge.

“Our business is in a better position than it was 12 months ago and we are very comfortable in how we’ve got this place running.”

Joe adds: “As sad as it is to see other businesses close, it does mean that there are more opportunities arising. “These last 12 months have been our busiest ever year and that’s because people come to The Tolly for what we give them. This comes down to having a good, consistent offer. You can’t vary it, it must remain as strong for every visit,” says Joe.

“Training is huge here. We make sure our teams are clued up, both back and front-of-house. We are constantly developing their skills, with formal courses and on-the-job training. Creating a consistently good offer comes down to training, but also in ensuring that everything we do is manageable. A good example of this is having a menu that the kitchen team can deliver well. There is no point writing menus that they can’t cope with. We can guarantee consistency, even if it’s a busy Saturday night when the place is full.

“In terms of our ROIs [Return on Investments], our £120,000 Barn project – a new outside eating, drinking and entertaining space – was expected to give a return over three years, but we’ve done it within the first year,” says Joe.

“There’s no doubt that all the media attention and marketing helped, when we won the BII Award and then went on to win another three awards at The National Pub & Bar Awards and also the Northamptonshire Food & Drink Awards. Local awareness is great, but national recognition is immense. And as the BII’s Licensees of the Year, we are invited to attend trade forums and events, which also serves to spread the word about The Tolly and what we do and the way we do it.

“For us it all feels super personal,” adds Joe. “I’ve worked in this industry since I was 14 and I’ve been subjected to a lot of aggression, shouting and male testosterone, over that time. I’m glad to see the industry is changing. We try to be positive role models and work to create a wonderful atmosphere here. Our senior team are trained to be able to undertake multiple roles, both back and front-of-house, so they can support everyone across all areas of the business. We have management days away and it’s a different and exciting place to work.”

Tell us about any challenges you have overcome?

Flo says: “We were expecting the worst, last January, and so we made a very big effort to cut our costs and take control of any spending.”

Joe continues: “Drink prices have been rising and there have been a lot of delivery problems. There are still supply issues, but we are lucky in that we try to only deal with local producers. When you’re buying meat from someone who farms down the road it helps. In summer, we’re able to get veg from allotment traders too.”

Where would you like to be in another 12 months’ time?

“On a yacht somewhere,” laughs Joe. “We’d love to buy a freehold pub, but that’s £1 million. We are not looking to replicate what we have done here, but we are talking to people in the local area, as we have children – Eliza, aged nine and Nancy, aged seven – and we’re settled here.

“Weddings are something we are definitely interested in exploring, as well as external catering and events. We want to grow our Tollyfest summer festival too – we get 2,000 people visiting over 2.5 days.

“Everything that has happened hasn’t just been an achievement for us, but the whole team has been involved,” says Flo. “I’d love someone from our team to enter the same competitions some day and have the same ambitions as us,” says Joe. It’s great to have everyone  involved and to know that it means as much to them as it does to us.”