Tony Hughes: Casual Dining Catalyst

 
‘Work hard, have fun, make money’ sums up the robustly hands-on approach of Tony Hughes to the building of Europe’s largest pub-restaurant/casual dining business. Following senior operational roles at Whitbread, Hughes has led the restaurant activities of the Bass/Mitchells & Butlers (M & B) group for the past twelve years. On the eve of his retirement from the company, he discusses priorities, perceptions and personnel development in his fast-changing market sector.Interview by Bruce Whitehall.
 

 
You have been widely recognised in the UK and Europe as a highly motivated and motivational restaurant operator. Was there any one moment in your 40 year career which had a particularimpact on you?
 
Hughes: I was working at TGI Friday’s in the USA back in 1985 prior to introducing the chain to Europe. I was doing a routine daily report on labour control when Fred Holtz, a regional manager looked in and suggested we did a store ‘walk through’. His actual words were: ”let’s go and catch some people being successful.” So we went off and talked with some of the employees, including a Mexican kitchen worker whom Holtz praised for his impeccable uniform, punctual timekeeping and always consistent guacamole preparation. He then called him out in front of the other staff, praised him in public and pinned a ‘WoW’ (Walk on Water) badge on him. It was a big emotional moment for the Mexican and tremendously motivating for everyone else. I thought: ”that’s magic, we don’t do that in England.” For me, it was the moment of truth, a paradigm shift. Until then, I had always thought that the job of restaurant management was to stop people doing things wrong. What he did was not simply management; it was leadership, helping to give people a real edge and pride in performance. The UK restaurant industry at that time was still in the dark ages and we did not have leadership like that.
 

 
How did you come to be working in the USA?#/C'
 
Hughes: I had spent the previous six years with the Whitbread group as operations director of the Beefeater steakhouse chain, from its inception in 1980. On a visit to the USA, I saw the TGI Friday’s restaurant on Exeter Street in Boston and immediately got very excited about it. At that time they only had 50-60 stores but they really were the big thing in US casual dining. The service and energy was fantastic, I felt I’d arrived on a different planet! After talking to Alan Jackson, then my managing director at Whitbread, I went to Dallas and knocked on the door at Friday’s head office. I then pestered them to death trying to get them to come to Europe in partnership with Whitbread. We wanted a joint venture but we ended up getting a franchise, which included my working in the USA. So I went there with my family and had a genuinely lifechanging experience.
 

 
| 3 December 2007 |
 

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