We recently caught up with Rob Greacen, co-founder and managing director of the Stay Original Company, which owns six award-winning properties including The Grosvenor Arms in Shaftesbury, The King’s Arms in Dorchester and, most recently, At the Chapel in Bruton…

Can you describe how Stay Original Company works?
Normally we buy beautiful but rundown old buildings, spend huge amounts of money rebuilding and redecorating before relaunching them as busy hotels, restaurants and bars. So far it has worked quite well! Occasionally (as with At the Chapel) we buy similar existing businesses as well.
We love being based in the West Country and all our properties are quite close together. We’re quite an unusual company in a couple of ways: we own all our properties and we have a young, driven team running the business within a very ‘can do’ management structure.
And although we’re clearly a group (with over 230 employees now) each property is run as a unique business adapted to its local environment. The only common theme is that all our food is cooked fresh on site and our food and drinks offer must take advantage of the best locally available produce. It’s a real pleasure to show what the West Country can offer.

You were in real estate and private equity; how did you get into the restaurant trade?
I was in real estate and private equity for much of my career and at one point was a director and shareholder in River Cottage with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. I really didn’t know anything about hospitality when we decided to buy The Swan in Wedmore 10 years ago. I was very lucky, though, because the team that joined us to run that project – Tom Blake as Head Chef and Natalie Zvonek Little as General Manager, really knew what they were doing, and they still lead the company now.

What is the secret of your success?
To succeed in this game, it is about everything – the building, the staff, the food, the drink, the atmosphere and the consistency – relentlessly maintaining the same standards day in day out. Get one part of that wrong and you won’t thrive.
It took us quite some time to master all those elements. Finding the right property and making it beautiful was probably the easiest part to get right. Again, we were hugely lucky to work with Ali Guttridge of Origin Design and we still work with her today. With Tom and Nat, we created attractive menus and service style, but learning how to build and motivate a great team took us a lot longer. It was only when we succeeded there that we really began to thrive. Providing a rewarding and happy environment for your staff is critical, especially in hospitality. Happy staff really do ensure that you have happy guests, so we spend a lot of time making sure that we are a good place to work. It’s our annual staff party next week in a field at my house… I’m always a little apprehensive – people in hospitality take their partying seriously!

What drew you to At the Chapel in Bruton?
I’ve known Catherine and Ahamed for a long time. We started our businesses roughly at the same time within a few miles of each other and are good friends. I’ve always hugely admired what Catherine has done in creating such a ground-breaking and well-loved institution, one that deserves its plaudits. I think that she put Bruton on the map and kick-started the food scene here. We both agreed that At the Chapel was an ideal fit for Stay Original.
The advantage of allowing each property to run as a unique business means that At the Chapel can fit in seamlessly and can continue to do what it does really well. We have no plans to change the offer, we just want to bring it back to its peak. The restaurant for example, is now open again in the evenings and by the end of the month we plan to reopen all day every day. We’re also super excited about the bakery, which is outstanding. We’re hoping to be able to spread some of that bakery love to the rest of our group. It’s really special.

At the Chapel’s light-filled restaurant

With such a busy professional life, how do you relax?
I’m not a great one for sitting still, so outside of work you’ll find me on the tennis court or on my bike. We’re open seven days a week, so there is always something going on and I’m really quite happy not to have too much down time!

What’s the best thing about owning a pub/inn/hotel?
It’s a very rewarding business and I work with some very special people and that makes life so much more fun. It’s also very satisfying to bring old buildings back to life. It’s a very tangible thing. And there’s always somewhere to go for a pint.

And the worst?
You can never have a pint in peace.