To mark an incredible 15 years at Robinsons, our Communications & Content Executive, Rachel, sat down with Marketing Director, David Bremner, to chat about everything from beer brands to boardrooms – giving us a behind-the-scenes look at a day in the life of one of the brewery’s longest-standing directors.

First things first – how did you get into the brewery industry, and what were you doing before?

That’s a great question. My journey into the brewing world actually started with a role as a Stock Taker and Auditor, working in Glasgow and Belfast. I later moved down to Brighton, where I spent about four years as a Business Development Manager (BDM) for Punch Taverns. My move to Everards started 19 years working in family brewers — so hospitality and pubs have always been a part of my world. It was during my time as a BDM that I was approached about a marketing role. I took it and never looked back!

So you didn’t have much experience in marketing before then?

No, I’m proud to say I don’t have any marketing qualifications [laughs]. I actually have a degree in Economics, which I suppose is a bit unusual for a marketing director role. But, in reality, my role has always been more of a commercial one.

For example, I negotiate most of our drinks tenders. On a cyclical basis – beer, cider, soft drinks – I negotiate directly with brand owners. I also help set all the pricing we charge to our customers, in our Managed pubs, and the prices our Pub Partners buy our products for too. I handle all of that, supported internally but mostly on my own. Other than Sam Kennerley, the marketing team doesn’t really get involved in that side of things – they don’t always know what I do!

But that’s the thing about Robinsons. You have to wear many hats because we’re quite a small company. Everyone has lots of projects, and they don’t always overlap with the rest of the team. In our team meetings, we each have our own roles, and often it’s more about letting each other know what we’re doing.

What was it about Robinsons that made you join and what has made you stay?

I knew Oliver from my family brewing days. When he and William took over as Managing Directors around 16 years ago, Oliver asked me to help him put together a structure plan for a marketing department. So, I put a structure plan together for him, and he said, “Can you talk me through it?”. I visited the brewery to talk him through it, and both Oliver and William were there and they offered me the chance to implement the plan myself I wasn’t necessarily looking to move at the time, but I wasn’t enjoying my current role (outside hospitality!), so the timing ended up being perfect.

I suppose the reason I’m still here is that what I really love about Robinsons is freedom. You’re trusted to get on with it. I’ve never been closely managed – and honestly, that wouldn’t suit me anyway. The culture here gives you the space to try new things, to explore ideas, and even to make a few mistakes along the way. And that’s okay. We’re surrounded by good people, running great pubs, without the pressure of huge debt driving our decisions.

I know you mentioned a little bit about beer tenders earlier, but what does a usual day look like for you?

Well, it’s changed a lot over the years. When I first joined, there wasn’t really an Executive team like there is today. It was just Oliver, William, myself, and the Board – which at the time was made up entirely of family members.  There was just so much to do when it came to pricing, product range, and even basic infrastructure.  A lot of the things we take for granted today just weren’t in place.

As time went on, things got more complicated – more digital. We found ourselves needing to bring in a more digitally-skilled team, simply because modern marketing required it. Better websites were needed, but we didn’t have much of an online presence. Fast forward to now, we’re in a world where we manage room rates online, monitor review scores, and communicate through databases. The nature of the role has completely evolved with the times.

Now, my day changes all the time – and that’s actually one of the reasons I love it here, and why I’ve stayed for 15 years. Every day is different. It shifts a bit with the seasons, but no two days are ever the same. Just today, I’ve been analysing customer data using various digital databases, looking at visitation trends across our managed pubs to help us decide which menu style best suits each site. Another day, I might be working with Sam [Drinks & Brand Manager] on brand work, Holly [Communications Manager] or yourself on communications – there’s always something new.

How does our buying work?

Every three years, we choose a category – say, beer – and we go out to our potential suppliers with a tender. They come back to us with proposals, and we bring all that information together internally. We review it with the Ops Directors and assess the various options based on a mix of factors: the strength of the brands, pricing, rate of sale, and how well each one fits with our own beer range. From there, we choose the best overall offer – and the winner gets the business and is rolled out across the estate. Throughout all of this, the goal is to maintain our target: that one in every three pints sold across the estate is a Robinsons beer.

I’ve always loved the beer brand side of the role. These days, Sam has largely taken over that part – with Richard Edwards, he decides what beer we’re going to make next, what we’re going to call it, who we’re targeting. And honestly, that’s how it works best. It plays to our strengths.

And that’s true across the whole team, really. Everyone does their individual role far better than I could do it myself. My job is to manage you – not necessarily to know what each of you does on a daily basis, but to make sure you’re empowered to do it well. I’ve always believed that if you surround yourself with people who are better than you, things fall into place. And I genuinely think that’s the case here—everyone in the team is better than me in their specialist area, and that’s how it should be.

That said, it does create a certain amount of risk. We’ve all got such large areas of responsibility that if one of us were to suddenly win the lottery and disappear, it would leave a pretty big gap – and quite a technical one at that. A Robinsons-sized hole, if you like, and not an easy one to fill.

But right now, the team is working so well together. I’m not just saying it – it really is a strong team, and genuinely great fun to be part of. The only thing that reminds me how long I’ve been here is that the team keeps getting younger and younger. I’m increasingly finding myself on the wrong side of 50, surrounded by people who are young enough to be my kids… but that’s also a great sign of how the business is evolving.