INTERVIEW
INTERTAIN – JOHN LESLIE
John Leslie looks a happy man. The boss of Intertain is sitting in the newly-refur- bished Walkabout in Temple, London, surveying the busy lunch-time trade and the effects of the £800,000 fi t-out. Closed for just 10 days, the Aussie-
themed bar reopened in the nick of time, a day before Australia Day, when London- based Antipodeans and their friends spent £50,000 in the bar. That’s right: £50,000 in one site, in one day. No wonder Leslie looks happy. In fact, Walkabout Temple has always
traded well, despite having no money spent on it over the last 10 years. Les-
16 TWENTIETH FEBRUARY 2012
lie tells me more than £30m has passed through its tills in that time. The refurb should help keep that money coming. Even in London, £800,000 buys you a
lot and the new venue is almost unrec- ognisable from what stood here before. The main area has been fully redesigned, with a larger stage for live music, a new DJ booth and dance fl oor, a contemporary ‘wave design’ main bar, a new secondary bar, and more seating. In addition, money has been spent on new music systems, staff uniforms, menus, state of the art screens and ‘intelligent sound’ technology. Many of us think of Walkabout as a
sports bar concept but music, whether live or DJ-led, is actually more integral to the brand’s success, Leslie points out. “Fifty per cent of our business is party business, driven by late night Fridays and Satur- days,” he says. Sport – customers coming to watch it – accounts for 20% of turno- ver, with another 20% driven by student nights; day-time revenue represents 10% of total turnover. “There’s only one brand that can do
all those things,” he says. “Walkabout is very adaptable.” The company’s primary objective, adds Leslie, is to grow the party and sports business. “We’ve increased
the amount of seating and put in these booths to make it more conducive to pre- booking,” he says. “People tend to go out in larger groups now and while they may go out less frequently, they go out for a longer evening. They want to know where they’re going in advance. They want to be looked after. They want to know places have the space for larger groups. Our aver- age dwell time in Walkabout at night is 119 minutes now.”
THE NEW BEACH CLUB CONCEPT Walkabout Temple’s redesign has also introduced a new concept, the Temple
pub&bar
THAT’S INTERTAINMENT
It’s been a long wait but Intertain is fi nally ready to -
implement a major investment programme. Its redesigned Walkabout in Temple, London, complete with enhanced stage and state-of-the-art sound system, suggests the scale of the brand’s reinvention
Words: Paul Wootton
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64