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Meet the MD: The Inn Collection Group's Sean Donkin on growth and "unlocking the potential" of the hospitality industry

The Inn Collection Group, a pubs with rooms company expanding across the North of England, has seen dramatic growth recently. They currently have 24 sites across the Lake District, Lancashire, North Yorkshire, County Durham, and Northumberland.

We caught up with the managing director, Sean Donkin, to discuss the growth of the company, the challenges it has faced over the past 18 months, and what’s next for the expanding pub company.

What are the biggest challenges facing the sector?

Currently it’s recruitment and Test & Trace isolation practices. Individually they are a massive challenge anyway, but collectively they are crippling hospitality. With the easing of restrictions recently we have already seen some positive outcomes, as our model has and always will be bar service, which reduces the need for staffing levels in some respects. However, the hospitality industry as a whole is struggling to recruit across the board, so that issue along side isolation current isolation levels is less than ideal.

How is hospitality changing as a result of the past 18 months?

More focus has to be put on our industry as a profession of choice for future generations to not only enjoy but to carve out a vibrant, fun and rewarding career. In light of the above two challenges, we have got to really invest our people programmes as well as our properties to unlock the potential of the Great British Hospitality industry.

What sets The Inn Collection Group apart from other hospitality groups?

Our people focus coupled with our unique approach to our offering is what makes us different. We believe that our approach to making all of our properties readily accessible to all for enjoyment has been and will undoubtedly continue to be the key to success. Great pubs with great rooms in great locations, it’s as simple as that.

How are you continuing to drive expansion within the group? 

By continuing to identify great properties in great locations, which require the unlocking of their potential with investment. We also have excellent backing as a group and the vision is shared by all, which can be seen through our recent investments too.

Which element of the business are you most passionate about and why?

That’s a tough question, but in simple terms it would be the people within the industry and our properties. We therefore invest in both these departments heavily, and believe this is what makes us different to others.

What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned?

I firmly believe that the biggest lesson I’ve learnt is to always listen to the people that count the most, which are both our colleagues and our customers. We then ensure we are honest with their feedback and make decisions accordingly. Given the past year, this is more prevalent than ever, and I believe this was one of the key reasons we opened to such great success. The work we did with our staff – such as implementing an ICG app and distributing surveys to understand how they felt about returning to work, what their concerns were and so on – enabled us to create optimum working conditions for them to return to, as well as for our guests too. We heavily invested in health and safety protocols, above and beyond the standard government regulations, as our researched showed us this was the key thing upon reopening.

What next for The ICG?

Lots! Our growth strategy in continuing so get ready for more exciting pubs in fantastic locations. We also have some really exciting reopening’s happening soon. The Pheasant Inn in the Lake District is currently undergoing a huge restoration and is set to reopening this August. It’s a cosy, old fashioned inn which we are definitely keeping in tune with, but giving it our ICG twist which we know our guests love. Another exciting refurbishment is The Park in Tyneside. The location is simply breath- taking, on the shores of Long Sands Beach. This is a huge project will reopen in 2022 as one of our biggest sites. Lots of other things in the pipe line too, so I’d definitely say to keep your eyes peeled!

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