From cleaning banqueting tables in hotels to running thriving late-night venues in the heart of London, Roger Payne MBII’s career has led him along almost every path that the hospitality industry has to offer. Today he’s heading up operations at his local, The Griffin Inn in Bath. The BII’s Max Burke MBII reports.
Roger Payne’s first foray into the world of hospitality began at the tender age of 15. Like so many who go on to build careers in the sector, a part-time job clearing banqueting tables opened Roger’s eyes to the industry and ignited a fire within him, that has ensured a long and happy career.
Having originally thought that a career in teaching beckoned, upon the completion of his A-Levels, it was a friend going off to train as a chef that led him to ditch the idea in favour of a four-year hospitality course in Bournemouth, that also included some travel to Switzerland and France.
But his entrepreneurial spirit and early career experiences meant that he found it frustrating working for others, so he acquired his first pub, The Gregorian in London Bridge aged just23. There were downsides, however. “We needed £5,000 to get in and luckily, I had £5,000 saved up. Then, my bank manager said I’ll match your£5,000 but I’m going to need to give you another £3,000 for a van to go and get all the food.”
The timings saw Roger taking on The Gregorian just as the Government’s Beer Orders had comeinto place. The newlegislation limited the number ofpubs that brewers could control –presenting an opportunity for Roger,who took on 15 more pubs in theLondon area on temporary tenancies.
“By the time I was 25 years old I had16 tenancies in London. I converted them to leaseholds, as that was the trend of the day, sold them on and then came out of the pub business.”
When quizzed on his reasons for initially coming out of the pub business, Roger cited the fact he felt stuck in the middle of the emergence of big pub companies purchasing huge, fancy venues and JD Wetherspoon, at the other end of the spectrum, making it very difficult to compete. One of his venues at the time, the now closed Garden Gate in Bromley, was quite literally located in between the two differing pub types.
An illustrious time running restaurants and late-night venues over the next years followed for Roger, with many household names including the famous Shaka Zulu in Camden and Sound Republic nightclub in Leicester Square taking their place on his CV. Roger’s interest in this area of hospitality was based on building a whole night out experience for his customers – giving them no reason to leave that venue the entire evening.
Other projects, including restaurants in Mayfair and Bath and a pub in Barnes, meant that Roger had multiple irons in the hospitality fire. But his journey eventually took him full circle, and now he runs his local, The Griffin Inn in Bath.
The Griffin isa coaching inn that has stood since1730, and while on a walk in January2023, Roger noticed it was shut down. He got in touch with St Austell to express his interest and after an interview – and some persistence – Roger and his wife opened the doors on the April 6, 2023. They’ve not looked back since.
“We’re very hands on with The Griffin being our local, but we have a lovely manager called Rycroft, who has been in Bath for all of his 45 years. He doesn’t really like paperwork, but he has the best front-of-house skills that I have ever come across. He’s a dream employee,” says Roger, who is very keen to praise his team as being the reason for the pub’s success.
Priding themselves on their offer of ‘good grub and a warm welcome’, The Griffin’s liquor sales have trebled since Roger and his wife took over. Success with drink sales, along with the revenue from the eight letting bedrooms – alongside a full refurbishment – have all created a thriving pub business.
“The accommodation is vital. Our pub is probably one of the smallest in the city with just 30 seats. Without the accommodation, the business probably wouldn’t survive.” Although Roger claims to be “calming down because he is old”, The Griffin could not be more on the ball. The staff are adept at writing menus, with the pub’s independent chef planning everything at least 13weeks in advance. Roger meets with his social media manager once a month to discuss the venue’s online activity, which includes Roger offering advice to other licensees on how best to market their venue.
“My tip would be that you can’t cut down on the quality of the photography. Look at people you admire and study the angles of their photographs. “The other thing is clarity. Don’t go and bombard people with lots of different information. Slightly less with a clear message on a consistent is much more powerful.”
Having run pubs in some of the toughest areas of London, Roger says that running a venue in Bath has been a dream. But rising prices and bills means that reducing spend is one of The Griffin’s key considerations at the moment, including the refurbished kitchen which is now fully-electric and has helped them to massively reduce their bills. And despite Bath being a traditionally affluent area, Roger subscribes to the theory of the £30 ‘note’.
“I’m a great believer in the £30 note, if such a thing existed. I think people have got £30 in their pocket to spend. For that, they can get a starter to share, a couple of mains and some drinks, and we stick within that budget per person. It’s not cheap, it’s not discounted, it’s just good value-for-money,” he says.
Despite Roger maintaining that his younger years are behind him, he has no plans to stop anytime soon and is, in fact, currently working on a project for another venue, which he hopes will happen in the not too-distant future.
So, it seems that Roger Payne’s hospitality journey has not reached it’s final destination yet. As he says: “Once you’re in, you can’t get out. It’s like the hotel California, you can check out but you can never leave.”
