EP Business in Hospitality Issue 53 - April 2015

Colin Bailey | Business
WHEN
CULTURE FITS
After taking on the role of managing director Sports, Leisure & Hospitality at Compass four
years ago, Colin Bailey has hardly had time to pause for thought. Arlene McCaffrey sits down
with the industry stalwart to hear more of the story so far and about his plans for the business
With a strong background in
hotels, Colin’s first foray
into the world of foodserviceevent-catering
was in the form of Compass’
joint venture with the Jockey Club. Finding
the experience powerfully positive, it was to
point him in the direction of a trajectory
that would soon see him taking on a more
senior executive role at Compass and
redefining Compass Group UK & Ireland’s
Sports, Leisure and Hospitality Sector in
Levy Restaurants UK.
A convivial and friendly character, Colin
is relaxed and thoughtful as we sit down in
a private room at Somerset House. Across
the hall Pennethorne’s Cafe Bar is buzzing
as professionals in suits and teenage art
students happily mingle over the tempting
array of open tartines and pastries on offer.
Not necessarily the sort of venue one would
immediately associate with the catering
giant that is Compass, but the fact the
venture is clearly thriving is a testament to
the company’s about-face over recent years.
Echoing this are Colin’s observations
on the place of friendship in a successful
business partnership and how ‘ownership
of an idea’ has brought the team on board.
“When you’re with friends, you can talk
openly. By their very definition, friends
want the best for one another, so it’s a
relationship that allows for open, two-way
communication. In business, as in life, it’s
important to have friends around you to
support you and to point you back in the
right direction should you go off course.”
This sounds straightforward, but like
all good things, the relationship must be
constantly nurtured, something about which
Colin is ever mindful. Choosing not to have
an office for 20 years, he is constantly ‘on
tour’ visiting venues, meeting the teams and
business partners and ensuring that all is
running as it should. “The most important
aspect of these visits and trips to me is
seeing the various venue managers interact
with their own clients. It’s important – and
gratifying – to see our teams working in
partnership with the venue teams.”
Changing the culture of an organisation
as large and complex as Compass, albeit
only in one sector, is no mean feat. What
strategies has Colin used to do this? “One
of the most important changes we have
made, I believe, is consciously stepping away
from a more ‘balance sheet management’
approach towards something far more
personal and more customer-focused.
“It wasn’t easy, and some people
struggled with the idea of spending more
time at the coalface and less chained to their
desks checking emails. But overall I would
say it has worked. Last year we achieved
a 99% client retention rate, proving the
change was positively received by our clients
and customers, and the majority of feedback
we get from our teams is that they feel more
empowered and part of the venue.”
So, coming from a hotels background,
what were the challenges Colin faced when
moving into a completely different sector?
“Coming from a senior position at a major
hotel company, I was accustomed to simply
making decisions with our own teams and
seeing them implemented. If something
went wrong then it was up to me to rectify.
However, in a venue like the Jockey Club
there was a very different make-up. It was an
interesting dynamic because now I needed
to liaise with a whole host of teams and
committees, which I wasn’t accustomed to.
But the partnership we grew with them is
fantastic and incredibly rewarding.”
Blessed with an innate ability to ‘read’
people, Colin says this is something that
he has tried to hone and teach from the
beginning. “Some of the greatest advice
I received in my early days there was, ‘It’s
all about being able to read and work with
people’. If you can build great relationships,
then you’re already halfway to success.”
The company has recently recruited
some non-contract caterers, as the aim is
to attract professionals with the right
attitude and ability as opposed to the ‘ideal’
CV. “You can’t see on a CV what someone
is capable of in the way that you can by
speaking to them. We’ve brought in people
at senior level who are ex-restaurant,
ex-hotel and ex-retail because they can
look at the business from a different angle
and get a different perspective. We need
28 | EP Magazine | April 2015