Tim Bacon

He once dreamt of being an actor, but for Australian Tim Bacon, this year’s winner of Caterer’s Pub and Bar Industry Award, stardom has come as the co-founder of Living Ventures.

Time spent previously at TGI Friday’s had convinced Bacon he had something new to offer. He teamed up with Jeremy Roberts, and the pair founded Life Restaurants in 1996.

Selling the business to Marstons and Whitbread, the duo formed Living Ventures in October 1999 and the first Living Room restaurant and bar opened in Manchester in December of that year.

In its first 12 months the Living Room took in excess of £1.9m, and a second site opened just 10 months later.

Today the company has a turnover of £30m and has become a national player with bars in Newcastle, Glasgow, Birmingham, London, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, York and Chester. Ventures’ brands include Mosquito, Prohibition, the Vampire Room and the Bar & Grill.

A reciprocal deal in March this year saw The Restaurant Group (TRG) buy a 40% stake in Living Ventures for £7.7m. As part of the deal, Living Ventures bought TRG’s flagging Est Est Est restaurant chain for £16.4m, doubling the size of its estate.

Ever ambitious, Bacon plans a complete overhaul of Est Est Est with a new look and new menu on the way, while some sites will be converted to Living Venture’s Bar & Grill concept.

Our judges had little doubt that Bacon was involved in running a group operation that had been successful in pub retailing through innovation and vision, that through achievements in the past year it had demonstrated consistency of product and service, and that it provided a standard of excellence for the sector.

Andrew Page, group managing director at The Restaurant Group, said: “Living Room is something with style and panache, which maintains wide appeal. I’m impressed with their training, recruitment and retention of staff.”

Last year’s winner, John Hoskins, managing director at Huntsbridge, felt Bacon was particularly strong on his vision for the business and the innovation he had brought to it: “Living Ventures remains new, different and exciting. No one else is doing this sort of thing at the moment.”

About 10% of each new opening’s budget goes on training, with three to six months’ training on full salary for the management team and three to six weeks’ training for the other staff before the doors even open.

Examples of staff motivation comes in the form of the Living Ventures bartender competition, which had a recent prize fund of £7,000, and is open to the public. The company also has a personalised incentive scheme in place for its team.

Page said: “I would challenge anyone to find a better motivator of staff. Tim is really leading the way.”

The Judges

• Nick Bish, chief executive, Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers
• John Hoskins, managing director, Huntsbridge
• John McNamara, chief executive, British Institute of Innkeeping
• Andrew Page, group managing director, The Restaurant Group
• Ewan Venters, managing director, Brakes White Tablecloth Business

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