Cheers to The Old Ivy House, the London local with pints of personality

In the next of our series celebrating Britain's pubs, we chatted to Kate Davidson, who runs The Old Ivy House in central London, to find out about her business journey. We found out about her biggest achievements and struggles, and why she thinks it’s important to support your local boozer as the weather warms up.

“I'm the landlady of The Old Ivy House in Clerkenwell,” says Kate, telling us excitedly about her pub, “my business partner Del and I took over in September 2022.”

Was The Old Ivy House Kate’s first gander at being a landlady? She says she’d already gained top experience at a previous pub beforehand, so she felt more confident taking on a new venture.

“Before taking over The Old Ivy House, I’d been running a pub in Shoreditch for five years beforehand called The Price Arthur. Although I was running that pub, I didn't own the lease or anything. The two owners were quite hands-off and let me get on with it. So, it was a great way to learn what I was doing!” She explains, before going on. “With The Prince Arthur, there wasn't much scope for putting on events. It had a good customer base, but it was a very small little backstreet boozer,” Kate recalls, “it’s been great to spread my wings a bit in The Old Ivy House, which is much bigger.”

How did Kate make the jump and source out a new premises to take over? She cites her business partner Del as a huge inspiration and driving force when taking the leap.

“Del was a customer at the Prince Arthur,” Kate tells us, “he became a friend, then became a business partner. We were talking one night and he'd always wanted to run a pub but didn't know how. Anyway, a plan was hatched and that’s how we came to take over The Old Ivy House.”

When sculpting the overall aesthetic and feel of The Old Ivy House, what did Kate think was vital to showcase? She said the most important part was creating a space that she and Del would personally want to spend time in if they were customers.

“The main inspiration was creating a pub we’d like to drink in, so we thought about football, comedy nights, good music and dim lighting. All the things that make a pub’s atmosphere appealing.” She tells us.

From Guinness to gaming

Speaking of events, they can be a fantastic way for pubs to draw in more people and access a wider customer base. Bionic was interested to find out what reels these drinkers in. Does the Old Ivy House host open mic nights and live band sets every week? Not quite. The team have certainly put on successful events like that in the past, but now they go even further to stand out from the crowd.

Kate tells us they regularly invite a jazz band from the nearby college to perform, they’ve put on everything from stellar Christmas carol concerts to singalong favourites. But the most ambitious event yet was providing background music for a customer Mario Kart marathon. Sounds intriguing, right? How do Kate and Del come up with these unique concepts?

“It's kind of organic. In terms of events, we try things out and see what works and what doesn’t. When we first took over, it was a bit of a dead pub. It's on the main road and there’s not much footfall,” says Kate, continuing, “although it’s only a ten-minute walk to Angel, Farringdon, Barbican or Old Street stations, no one really passes our door unless they're going to one of the offices nearby.”

“To draw people in, we initially decided to try a comedy show, so we sourced a comedian who curated our nights for us. We did that for about six months, and it was great to begin with, we were getting a full pub on a Saturday night,” Kate explains, “but then towards the end, when we'd become a bit more popular anyway, we were essentially kicking out locals so other customers with tickets could come in. So, we decided to move on from the comedy.”

“But we always come up with different ideas,” she says excitedly, “we did a dog show last year. Last summer we got a jazz band from the local music school and they play every Friday.”

Bionic was interested to hear more about the Mario Kart fest though. How did that come about and did it drum up a lot of extra custom?

“Del had seen this live band Mario Kart thing on an Australian Instagram,” Kate laughs, “So we tasked the jazz bands to learn all the scores in Mario Kart. We had different game courses and people paid to play. It was 'winner stays on' and then the band performed while customers were playing the game. I didn't know how it was going to go, but it was really successful, and we'll do it again.”

So with all that in mind, what has been Kate’s biggest achievement so far?

“To be honest, probably staying open and busy,” she says, “we're by no means coining it, but we've got our head above water at least,” Kate tells us proudly, adding, “the pub is a nice place to be. People don’t like to come to an empty pub, so we always try to have something going on that suits somebody's interest out there.”

And how about struggles? What has Kate’s biggest obstacle been?

“Probably battling against the cost of living crisis,” she answers, thoughtfully, “The price of beer keeps going up but that doesn't mean the customers have got more money to spend. To make the same profit we would have been making five or ten years ago, we'd have to sell a pint at £12, which is just crazy. So we try and keep all our pints under £6.50.”

Speaking of the price of everything increasing, has Kate had to adapt how she runs the pub to save money?

“We're owned by Shepherd Neame, we run the pub independently but we're under the umbrella of the brewery and we buy all our beer from them,” Kate answers, “we pay an annual cost to them to have a range of services. For example, the sprinkler system and all that, but one of the services is access to an energy broker company.”

She continues, “I rely on the broker quite heavily to find us good deals because prior to this, I’d never really had to look at how many kilowatts there are to a pound or whatever, so I do rely on them a lot for advice.”

She goes on, “In terms of saving money, we can't get our stock from anyone else, but we can get our energy from elsewhere. So I keep an eye on contract prices and then in day-to-day life, we just make sure to turn off everything at night. In the winter months, we can turn off the big chiller in the cellar, little shortcuts like that can make a big difference.” 

It sounds like Kate is being mindful of her bills, but did she think there was enough practical information out there when she was setting up? Or does she think small business owners need more support in the early stages of their journeys?

“I’d have been so lost if it wasn't for Del," she laughs, "he's in his mid-50s and has run a couple of businesses before, so he's very savvy.” 

Ramping up the motivation

As summer approaches, we’re all craving a cold beer or fizzing cocktail in the sun. So is the summer Kate’s busiest time of year, or does the winter bring more custom?

“Our busiest time of year is definitely Christmas,” Kate answers, “During the summer, it’s a bit of a ghost town around here actually, because we don't have a beer garden.” She goes on, “I mean, we've got a nice frontage, we open the windows and it all looks inviting. But when it's hot, people want to sit in a beer garden or a park. So, July and August, or any weekend day where it's super sunny can be a real struggle. We do have the sun on our side though, the way we’re facing means it comes out at lunchtime, so we get a good lunchtime crowd, all outside basking.”

She adds, “Christmas is very busy though and that starts early November. We put on fewer events because we don't really need to draw people in during those months. But it's good to keep people so we put on a few. Last Christmas, we had the jazz band do Christmas songs and got a choir in.”

And how does Kate deal with those slower summer months?

"I mean we’ve tried and failed a few times," she says after a pause, "sometimes it can just be down to timing, you know putting on an event when it's the last week before payday or a really sunny day. You can put on as many events as you want but people aren't going to come if they haven't got any money or if they've got a park opposite their house or something,” she observes, “so, for us, the summer is a good time to organise and plan for the busier times, come up with new ideas, organise things in the cellar or train staff.”

“But we also make sure we’re consistently open," she adds, "that's important. If you suddenly start shutting early on a Saturday night, if people are passing in three weeks, they won't come by. Even if we're quiet, we still stay open.”

And how does Kate keep her staff motivated during these quieter times? Does she have any specific ways to inspire her employees?

“We've got five core members of staff,” she explains “When we first took over, I was doing shifts all day, every day and obviously that's not sustainable. I actually had a baby last November, so I've had to relinquish the reins a little bit. We do live on-site though, so it's really hard to switch off, but because of that I’ve had to make sure we have a really good team in place.”

"We run the pub on two staff members per shift and then I dip in and out if it gets busy. But yeah, we've got a good team.” She grins, “it can be hard to motivate, but that's why we invest in giving back, we pay well and give employees full-time hours,” She says, adding, “if you've got ownership over a role, you're more likely to put more into it. We give positive feedback and it's a really nice place to work. It's a bit of a cushy number, I mean, you can have a pint on shift!”

Sounds like a dream job for many, but what is Kate’s all-time favourite thing about running a pub? She says it’s the people she meets every day. They make her job varied and wholly interesting.

“In an environment outside the pub, you wouldn't normally have this range of interesting people to talk to,” She tells us enthusiastically, “seeing how they all connect is so great too, like that 80-year-old man knows that 20-year-old student because he walks her dog or something like that. We've become part of the community here, which is really nice. That and the range of people is the best part for me.”

And out of curiosity, what is the best seller drinks wise? Is it lager, prosecco, complicated cocktails?

“Probably our lagers, the best sellers being Birra Moretti or Cruzcampo. We're a big Guinness pub and people drink a lot of wine too. We do cocktails, but our bread and butter are pints and wine really,” she smiles.

And where does Kate hope to be in the future? Would she like to expand the business, take on more staff or stay as a local pub?

“It would be great if the pub made a profit,” she laughs, “I mean, we're keeping our head above water, but it's tough. Sometimes we're really close to the bone with what's coming in and what's going out. So it'd be great to make more income. I've got high hopes for this year. We've taken a year and a half to ease into the pub and see what works. We've been getting to know the area and the customers, so hopefully we'll start making a bit of a profit now.” She goes on, “ultimately, the plan would be to have another pub, but at the moment that's a pipe dream. But then who knows what will happen?”

Bionic was intrigued to know how Kate handles her marketing and spreads the word about The Old Ivy House. She says she mostly gravitates towards old-school methods. 

“We’ve got an active Instagram account, but it's not like we've got thousands of followers. I think we've got about 700 and that's people who already drink at the pub. So, they're kept up to date with us on Instagram.” Kate tells us.

“I think a lot of our marketing is word of mouth. We still get people coming in saying ‘oh, I didn't realise you'd changed hands.’ But it takes a while for that to filter down. We make posters and put them in coffee shop windows or the fish and chip shop. If say, we’re doing an open mic night, we give posters out to the local college or university. It's pretty basic marketing but it goes back to our roots.”

Vibing with the community

And if Kate could share her expertise with another business owner just starting out, what would she say? What advice would she give?

“It's a bit like Grand Designs, whenever they have a budget, it's always half as much again. So, my advice would be you always need more money than you think, it's lucky that at least when we came into this business, we knew everything the utility bills were already sky high, so we anticipated that cost in our budget.” She says.

But despite the struggles many small business owners are facing at the moment, Kate thinks supporting small pubs is so vital and you should try to shop small where possible.

“This building has been a pub for 250 years,” she tells us, “It will always be a pub, but it won't always be run independently if people don't come to it. The Weatherspoons of the country have such a monopoly and such a reach of money, I'm guessing they can pluck up any old pub that's failing and turn it into one of theirs." 

She continues, “but they can appear very faceless, they won't necessarily tailor their events or change things to suit what their customers need. I don't think they'll engage with the little band down the road and see if they want to do a gig. You get the personal touch with us. We’re a local pub in central London.”

It sounds like community is really important to Kate. Does it matter that she knows her customers through and through?

“Absolutely," she nods, "I think that's what differentiates us from larger pub chains. Customer service is so important to us. If you walk into the pub and the bartender is like, 'oh, hey, Chloe, same as usual?’, you feel like they know and appreciate you as a customer.” She beams, “we know most of our customers by name and it makes it a much nicer environment for both the customers and staff.”

And finally, if Kate could go back to the start of her business journey, would she change anything or is she happy with how things panned out?

“I sort of cut my teeth with the previous pub,” she answers, thoughtfully, “I didn't make mistakes as such, but there were a lot of learning curves. Whereas with The Old Ivy House, I sort of knew what I was doing already. We've got a great team and Del is a great support. So, it's been a nice journey. I don't think it would change anything!”

Out and about in London and want to toast the approaching summer early? Head to The Old Ivy House to be welcomed in like an old friend. Find them in Clerkenwell or check them out on Instagram.

Watch the full interview below or over on the Bionic YouTube channel.