How did you get into the drinks and hospitality industry and why?
I only joined the industry two years ago having worked in the media and tech world for over the last 20 years, previously having been managing director at Verizon (Yahoo, AOL and Huffington Post).
Anna Watkins with her fellow directors Sam Hart, far right, James Hart and Crispin Somerville, left
I have, though, sat on the advisory board for Harts Group since they first started, given I am the cousin of Sam, Eddie and James Hart, and like them worked in their parents’, my aunt and uncle, Michelin starred hotel, Hambleton Hall, in my holidays.I feel that hospitality is somewhat in the blood, given there are no less than eight happy restauranteurs and chefs in the family.
How would you describe your style of management?
Positive, action orientated and energetic. Probably too much for some on a Monday morning.
What is your approach to managing and motivating people?
I think that empowering the team and shared decision making are key to success. You make better decisions by encouraging different perspectives and people to contribute – the more the team are involved in the co-creation of solutions, the more they feel ownership of making change happen.
How do you retain good talent?
Barrafina and the other restaurants in the Hart Group have attracted some of the best talent in the hospitality sector
Through fairness, flexibility and progression.
We always strive to treat our teams with fairness: fair pay, rewards and benefits.We have an enhanced maternity leave as well as two weeks paid paternity leave, we offer sabbaticals for long term service. We offer all our teams 50% off all our restaurants as well as heavily discounted wine for our staff to take home, we organise supplier trips both here in the UK and in Spain, and free language learning, and more.
Whilst we have clear policies in place, we are as flexible as possible when it comes to each member of the team to ensure they have a positive work life balance.Whether that means allowing our teams to take more than two weeks consecutive holiday so they can return home to countries often a long and expensive flight away, or working specific hours to be able to manage childcare.
We are very focused on career progression and have recently published a ‘skills matrix’ that everyone can access which outlines the skills required for each and every role within the Front and Back of House teams.
To run alongside this we have developed a three tier training and development programme with ‘Intros to…’ (introductory specialist courses), ‘Refresher Course’ (intermediate to senior training on everything from stock control to managing wage %) as well as ‘Masterclasses’ where we invite internal and external speakers to inspire our teams. Be it Sam Hart talking about the history of and vision for Harts Group, to world class chefs, such as Maria Marte talking about her rise from kitchen porter to becoming a two Michelin starred head chef.
How do you deal with unmotivated and non-performing members of your team?
With honesty and clarity.
It is only by having open and honest conversation about areas for development and being super clear about what behaviour needs to change and what new skills need to be acquired, can any one of us learn, improve, and grow.Alongside any constructive feedback, we offer support and training, to ensure we give our teams the best chance of flourishing and success.
How has the role of business leader changed?
Quo Vadis is one of Soho's iconic restaurants thanks to the influence of chef Jeremy Lee
It’s 20 years since I took my first leadership role and whilst technology has transformed the industry and the world around us - for the most part for the good, with data enabling us to make better, more informed, more precise business decisions - in my view, the essence of great leadership remains the same at its core.
It’s about setting a vision and ambition for the business; articulating a clear strategy and plan for our teams to deliver through consistency, operational efficiencies, and innovation; and by recruiting the very best talent and continually motivating them to collaborate, to nurture their curiosity and their drive to excel.
Have you had business mentors in your career and what have you learnt most from them?
I’ve worked for some fantastic companies, M&C Saatchi, El País, The Guardian and Verizon and now Harts Group, and their leaders as well as some stellar executive coaches, all of whom have hugely helped me along the way.One of the most important lessons I’ve learnt is that you are only as good as the team around you and that by listening, embracing collaboration, and empowering your team, can you affect positive change.
If you have a problem in a business what are the steps you put in place to try and solve it - can you give an example?
Of course, in these tougher times, it’s key to have the courage and flexibility to pivot and change course when needed.
Based on clear analysis of the data to pinpoint what are the underlying issues that need tackling, it’s then critical to canvas the insight and opinion from the team who work in our restaurants, day to day, on the floor, as to how we can solve it.
Given the challenges of cost control across 15 restaurants, as we have rapidly expanded over the last five years, we have listened to our teams about the whys and wherefores of the need for better visibility and management of sales, purchases, stock and wastage.
As a result, we have rolled out a new EPOS, stock management, reservations, and integrated reporting platforms in the last six months – all of which have been trialled and tested by our management teams running our restaurants.
Who do you admire in business and why?
In the industry
The Hart Group has beek working with Bodegas Hidalgo to produce its own range of sherries
Fermín Hidalgo Garcia, chief executive of Bodegas Hidalgo – La Gitana, who is the eighth generation of his family to run Bodegas Hidalgo, one of the oldest and most prestigious sherry producers, who not only supplies much of our sherry at Barrafina but who also produces our own Harts Bros Special Selection Manzanilla for us which is just superb.He’s really inspired and helped us put sherry on the map here in London.
Outside drinks industry
It has to be David Menendez, managing director of Mevalco, who sources and supplies Barrafina with the most mouth-watering high-quality produce from olive oil to wild prawns, to chipirones, to jamon to cheeses, from wonderful family run, sustainable and passionate producers in Spain. He is leading the charge and championing the breadth, beauty, and integrity of Spanish food here in the UK.
If you are interested in buying a business what are the key questions you need to ask to determine whether it is a possibility or not?
Is the vision aligned with ours at Harts Group and will it help us achieve our plans to scale with integrity, with quality and with our teams and their future at its core.
What is it that gets you out of bed in the morning in running a business?
Anna Watkins believes in leading from the front and setting a strong, positive example
No doubt, our team. Led by Sam Hart, we are a wonderful group of super international, super friendly and super informal (in the sense of limited hierarchy!) people and it really is a pleasure to meet, to share views whether sourcing of our products, to the latest spend per head, with such a talented and enthusiastic team.
What are you doing personally to improve your skills as a business leader to keep up?
At the moment, it’s really wrapping my head around the new technology and systems out there to ensure that we’re embracing the latest advancements, whilst not becoming overwhelmed by it and the possibility of making head over heart decisions.Ultimately, we are a people business, one centred on the enjoyment of sharing wonderful food and wine, with our teams providing the very best customer experience to our wonderful clients in our restaurants day to day.
If you had not had the career you had - what would have been your dream career?
Funnily enough, having worked in the media and tech world for over 20 years, I feel that I’ve now been lucky enough to land in my dream career in hospitality.It really is a joy, I’ve ditched the corporate board room politics for a world focused on immediate customer joy and satisfaction through beautiful food, wine and service which I’m so personally invested in and passionate about.
Favourite business book and why?
I’ve read a fair few business books over the years, but the most important lessons I’ve learnt are from the people I’ve worked with and the teams around me.It’s the day to day listening, learning and experience that have made me who I am today.
Alistair Campbell and Rory Stewart's guests on their Leading podcast is a big influence on Anna Watkins
That said, I find the ‘Leading’ podcast hosted by Rory Stewart and Alastair Campbell where they interview international leaders from Tony Blair to George Osbourne, is utterly compelling and inspirational, whatever views you hold, they share life, business and political insights and learnings, which are invaluable and relevant to running a business day to day.
Anything else to say?
Hold onto the happiness of working with people you share a passion with; however rocky times may be, we are lucky to work in an world where our ultimate goal is to give people pleasure.
* You can find out more about the Harts Group here.
