A day in the life of Tony Massey

Tony Massey takes a look back at his time at Robinsons over the past 20 years...

Tony celebrates 20 years as a Business Development Manager at Robinsons this year. Having spent most of his career in the pub trade, we caught up with him to find out what’s behind his passion for pubs and how he’s settled into his life North of the M25. 

20 years at Robinsons, Tony, can you believe it? 

20 years... I was so young, 20 years ago. 

Tell us a bit about what brought you to Robinsons in the first place? 

At the time, I had a few job offers on the table. I’d spent many years as a Landlord myself with my wife, Bernice. We’d been running pubs for years, our last pub was in Oxfordshire. But, I was looking to move into the operations side of things and become an area manager. When I started looking, I actually had four job offers on the table, but all those people knew me as ‘Tony who runs the pubs’ rather than as a BDM. I thought leaving the south to start as a BDM in the north, with a company I had no previous experience or ties with was a good idea. Little did I know that, because of contacts within contacts, they actually knew all about me up here too. The phone line had been busy and I found out my colleague Wayne Roach had worked previously worked with someone I’d worked with too. 

When I started looking up the place and sharing the move, I actually found out that Stockport was the family home. My great grandfather was up here in 1904 in Davenport. I came with the intention of learning from a family brewer with visions of going back down south, but that never quite happened. 

So, what has kept you ‘up north’? 

I think I joined Robinsons at the right time. It was an exciting time because the next generation of Robinsons had recently been appointed as Directors, and I think I arrived at the start of the evolution. They were moving things forwards and to be part of the evolution was exciting. Twenty years ago, we didn’t have mobile phones or laptops. On my first day, I remember going into our office and a chap called Norman Eggleson said to me, Tony, you sit on the desk in the corner, you’re young, you can use that. He pointed to this great big thing that had a big dusk bag on it, and I was thinking ‘what have I come to?’. It was the desk with a computer, one computer in the whole office. To be part of that evolution is something great.  

I’m really proud of where the company is today but also mindful of all the heritage and the history which has led us to today. I just can’t seem to escape, it’s the people, the team who you work with here. And from day one, every single one of those people, whether it’s in the offices, at our Packaging Centre in Bredbury or across our pubs, everyone cares about what they do, and what we do. And that’s what’s important, we’ve all got the same mission to make success and enjoy it whilst we’re doing it. 

From what I’ve seen, your interest in people and the relationships you’ve built over the years have led you to take on more than the role of the BDM here. You’re a pretty important part of the company’s culture and encouraging the social side of working at Robinsons? 

After 20 years of your life working in the same place, it gets in your blood. I’m very interested in history and heritage anyway, and to come to somewhere that has the history and the heritage that Robinsons Brewery has, I’ve been able to engage in projects working alongside Scarlett on some of the archiving, it's fascinating. Also, its my heritage because its where my family is from, so I’ve come back home in a way, with a southern accent. 

When I joined here 20 years ago, I felt like there was a lot of people who had been here a long, long time, and I have now turned into one of them people. Talking to people I’d think crikey, you’re one of them, ‘a stick in the mud’.  

But, it seems that you’re not stuck 20 years ago?  

No, I’m actually probably 20 years too old for my where my head is. But, I think that’s the industry, it does keep you young. And the people I work with now as well, the new team of people who are here, work well with introducing new things. It’s nice to have a younger influence around the place too - people joining with different ideas and ways of doing things, it keeps me forward thinking.  

Exactly. Going back to being the social butterfly you are, tell us about how you became the event host of our monthly socials. How did they come about? 

Well, I spend a lot of time with the guys on both of our head office sites and there seemed to be quite a separation between the two locations. Although we all fly the same flag, we didn’t really know one another and there wasn’t much of a cross pollination. I was desperate to get people working and socialising together.  

I wanted to do this social thing, and between myself, Oliver and William, it took a lot of work to get things over the line. It started when the VC restaurant and bar was up and running, 10 years ago. It was a slow burner for a long time, but there is nothing more satisfying than seeing everyone together. And now, we’ve created these big and busy socials. And I love it, once a month I get to be a landlord again. Not forgetting the yearly Christmas quiz for the teams which I also have great pleasure in hosting. They have grown so big now; we almost can’t fit everyone in! It’s a great event.  

It's fantastic how the social activities that people can get involved in have become increasingly popular. I know you’ve mentioned to me previously about the dip in people’s interaction with social events for a while post pandemic too. It's taken a lot of work and adaptation for people to get back into the habit of socialising in the way we used to years ago. Have you seen similar things across your pubs? 

Yes. People are beginning to come back out to drink in the evenings. For a long time, I think we lost out a bit to social media and people staying home, whilst they had to, and then through habit afterwards too. But, before Facebook, there was the pub. Where did you go to chat to people? To get a job?  To find a partner?  To get the village gossip? Or find out what happened last weekend? It was the pub. So, the pub is the original Facebook, and we need to get people back into that.  

It is happening, but it is why it really is key now more than ever, to get the right people running the pubs. It’s so important now to get that social bit back into the pub, to remind people it’s the hub of the community, it is what the pub has always famous for, and it’s nice to be part of that. 

Yes, perhaps some of those elements have been taken away and replaced by our phones and social media, but it’s not the same. 

No, it's not. Hospitality and in our industry, is all about people. It’s eyeballing people, shaking hands with people, it’s whatever form it is. It’s saying hello to people. It’s just the engagement with real life, and that is what makes the world go round. Pubs are such an integral part of that. 

It is sad to see villages without pubs and shops anymore, where they’ve not survived. Because there are so many holiday houses, businesses cannot survive without the community and people move on.  

Years ago, Bernice and I both got a bit upset, we were told by one of the locals in a pub we used to run, “you’re only a caretaker here’, we’ll be here long after you’re gone”. And, when I first heard that as a young licensee, I did get a bit upset. But, when I reflect on it, I think, yep, fair play. Because here I am in Stockport, yet my pubs in Devon and South London are still there. They probably still have the same characters sat at the end of the bar, talking the same rubbish and having the same fallouts.  

But, it takes a good person to keep a pub in that way, where regulars come in and support you. So, I think as much as that pub as a building is still going, the regulars and locals will only support it with a good ‘caretaker’ looking after it … 

Absolutely, you’re only as good as the person running that pub. You could have the nicest pub in the world, but if you haven’t got characters within it, whether it’s in front of the bar or behind the bar, it’s four walls and some pretty pictures. It’s people that make pubs. 

Listening to that and then going back to what you were just saying, I think that’s the difference. The pubs in the moment. You can be that person or who you want to be, and then it's not, lasting on Facebook, it's not there forever, it’s just it happened, and that moment is a memory.  

I think it’s nice when people refer to the pub by their name. So, it’s ‘Pete’s’ pub, it’s not Robinsons’ pub. I don’t think that is insignificant, but it’s a small part of the pub experience. Especially in my current area, Stockport, most of the pubs are Robinsons, so it’s the people that make the difference. The reason you go to the pub is because of the people, it’s not just the beer, of course that is important, but the person makes the fundamental difference.  

So, perhaps thinking about your area, where you have lots of pubs in close proximities and considering the news we hear and the stats we see in regard to the about the amount of pub closures, we have had very few in recent years. What do you think it is that keeps our pub doors open and our Pub Partners with businesses?  

One thing that I think some people don’t appreciate, and certainly I didn’t appreciate until I joined, was the support network there is at Robinsons. There is so much business support if our Pub Partners would like it. A lot of the pubs coming and going are in free trade sites who might not have access to so many skills and professions for support.  

But, again, you look at the pubs in Stockport, it’s the people. The pub is about having a nice feel to it. It’s traditional, they get the basics right, the cellar’s nice, the beer’s good and their welcome is right. I’ve also got some very long-term pub partners in Stockport; they wouldn’t have been in these pubs had it not worked for them. Some of them want a lot of help from us, and others not so much, so we help when required and back off when it's not.  

We should be very proud of the pubs we have in Stockport, being our hometown as well. Each of the town’s pubs are all slightly different as well. They all have their own little spin on what it’s like to run a pub, what service it is they’re delivering and what product it is they’re selling. Two extremities in the town centre are probably the Arden Arms and the Bakers Vault. They both have their place in the community depending on who you’re with and what mood you’re in.  

Although we like to go to all of them for various occasions, I think a lot of the pubs probably all have their own clientele too? 

They do, it's almost like their team. You’re part of team ‘Swan with Two Necks’ or ‘The Queens, Portwood’. People like to be part of something and are often very proud to be part of that pub. People like to have a local and say what their local pub is; they’re proud of their local. But that’s when you know you’ve got it right.  

So, what’s your favourite part of the many hats you wear at Robinsons? 

Crikey, too many parts. The people? 

I go all around the estate in my tenancy support role, and I get to know people everywhere, and we still get to chat now. This part of my role came back in the aftermath of the covid pandemic, it’s a really rewarding part, starting with new Pub Partners at the induction and mentoring them as they settle in and establish their business. I hugely enjoy this part. 

So finally, you talk about a local being important, and I know you don’t have a ‘favourite’ pub. But you’ve recently moved house… so, what has helped you decide on your new local? What makes you return to the pub? And how do you decide if it’s a local for you?  

I really don’t know. They’re all special in their own way. I just know when it’s a pub for me. We are surrounded in the Peak District by a load of great pubs and there is a few we go to regularly. They’re just nice; whether it’s the food, the welcome when you walk through the door, or a pint of beer. It’s like a game of Top Trumps, as long as you’ve got one or two of bits you like, I’m not really bothered. So, I don’t know what makes it special, you just know, everyone knows if you feel at home in there, you do just feel at home.