Member Spotlight: Greedy Gordons

Greedy Gordons has established itself as a prominent independent chain of pubs around the Kettering, Northampton area. Running The Snooty Fox, The Red Lion and The Pig and Waffle, as well as their own farm shop and in-house café, the business has bloomed into a busy enterprise.

Richard Gordon’s career in hospitality began at the ripe old age of 16, and has seen him clock up a lifetime of experience in hospitality that he has wisely poured into and harnessed to make Greedy Gordons the venture it is today.

Unsurprisingly, as he reveals he ‘always had a passion for food’ which has seen Richard travel and work, notably setting up and running a restaurant in the South of France. As well as this, he found himself working in Spain in hospitality for a few years, before coming back to his home turf of Northamptonshire.

Candidly he states that he’s ‘had some flops, and had some successes, which are important as I think everyone learns from their mistakes.’ This is a time-old adage that rings true in no end of industries and work applications, and is particularly prevalent in hospitality. With a wealth of experience behind him and finding himself in a position able to do so, Richard set his sights on owning his own establishment. And in 2018 took on the lease at The Red Lion in Cranford.

As he puts it, the pub had been ‘on its knees for a little while before we took it over. Going back 10-15 years it had been through multiple owners who hadn’t really given it the stability it needed. And that’s exactly what we did – gave it what it needed to thrive within the community again.’

Since then, The Red Lion has gone from strength to strength and been firmly established as a favourite fixture in Kettering, winning multiple awards including placing as a Great British Pub Awards Finalist in 2022.

They say fortune favours the bold, and so far that has proven true for Greedy Gordons, who following righting the ship and setting things on a prosperous course with The Red Lion, pressed ahead with what Richard jovially terms ‘aggressive expansion.’ In January 2020, they took on The Snooty Fox in Lowick with big plans, however the all too familiar pest of Covid quickly interrupted this and shut everything down. This meant it took the team two years to actually get the premises up and running. However, it didn’t derail expansion plans too much, and mid-Covid Richard and co made the audacious decision to take on another site.

The third site acquired by Greedy Gordons was The Pig and Waffle, in Grafton Underwood. Richard states that at the time, somewhat unsurprisingly, ‘naturally, everyone thought we were mad!’ There is of course no reward with no risk, and today the risk taken has more than matured into reward. Each three are doing well and have built up a ‘base of regular clientele and good customers’ who enjoy the staple of quality that Greedy Gordons strives to provide.

Richard sees the value in keeping things simple – he says the mantra is to ‘offer great service and great style. We offer value for money – we’re not cheap, but the experience, the food, the atmosphere is worth the money’ and this clearly translates. The Snooty Fox and The Pig and Waffle have both won awards in their own right too, and between the three sites Greedy Gordons are able to offer a distinct variety to cater for all tastes.

The Red Lion is a gastro pub staying true to the traditional ‘country pub’ style of the building, with an inviting modern outdoor conservatory, separate restaurant and bar area. The Snooty Fox deals with the more upmarket offerings, serving high-end foods like lobster and wagyu steak and in Richard’s words ‘is not your average pub.’ The Pig and Waffle declares itself ‘the place for brunch and tapas in Northamptonshire,’ rounding up quite a distinct trio.

A lot of money, time and effort has gone into making the sites what they are today. ‘We invested a huge sum to complete the conversion at The Snooty Fox, to open it up as it looks now.’ The kitchen also features a live lobster tank so they can keep up to 70kg of live lobster at any time, which allows at once for fresher quality lobster being served each time and also for the business to keep costs lower as they can buy in bulk.

That investment has served, and continues to serve, the pubs well, when speaking with Richard in early February he mentioned that ‘all of our pubs are flying at the minute, absolutely flying. We’re doing numbers currently which we’ve never seen – Valentine’s week has been just as strong as Christmas week.’

Central to the external success, is a prioritisation of running things properly internally. Greedy Gordons employ 100 people, which gives an indication as to the scale of the operation.

‘We want to be the best. I’m not saying we are the best, but we really try and we’re very passionate about what we do. And we really love what we do.’ Having a hundred staff is no small thing for anybody to organise, and Richard recognises that ‘without all those great team members, we wouldn’t be able to do what we offer. It just wouldn’t work. We take our duty of care seriously, we want to take care of everybody and make sure that they do enjoy what they’re doing.’ This is a simple approach, but a very effective one – happy employees make for a happy workplace, and with a dedicated team pulling in the right direction, it’s little wonder Greedy Gordons are having a good go of it.

Richard understands the stress that can come with working in hospitality more than anyone, having run each of the kitchens they’ve opened, setting the bar and precedent so when they bring staff in, ‘we train them and they know from day one exactly what’s expected of them. I believe that if you’re going to tell someone what to do, you’ve got to be able to do it either as well or better than they can.’

Furthermore, they strive to provide a positive work–life balance, with chefs working four day weeks and being paid overtime for any extra hours they do. This goes a long way to encouraging the kind of loyalty that has seen 60% of employees stay with the company for five years or longer, and fostering the positive experience customers enjoy.

Of course, there are challenges that come with running any hospitality business, and those multiply with a stable such as GGs. Bills have risen massively over the past few years which is tough for any business to contend with. Particularly for the uniquity of the experience Greedy Gordons deliver, keeping on top of compliance matters can be quite demanding. ‘We serve many high risk foods, compliance has changed a lot over the past two years, and to keep on top of this means a lot of changes for us.’ Richard states they’ve spent a lot of money streamlining their operational processes, as well as working collaboratively with their local EHO to ensure they are running things correctly and ensuring a safe experience for everyone.

Sustainability is also a big part of the Greedy Gordons operation, they are a proud member of the Made in Northamptonshire (MIN) brand which is a stamp of quality for locally made produce. Another dimension to the GG group is GG Express in Woodford, where you can find a farmshop selling goods they produce themselves in-house, as well as The Buttery café, and they also facilitate custom orders for ‘fish, fowl or anything else!’

If that isn’t enough, they also run an online cigar shop which does a lot of trade, as they ‘send out cigars every day across the country,’ and this manifests an extra feature differentiating their premises, as each one is housed with a humidor.

Underlying the rounded mission, is Richard’s desire to raise the bar of his hometown area, as he puts it ‘I think it’s important for us to be able to enhance the local villages, enhance the community and give them something to be proud of and that’s our ethos really.’

Find out more about Greedy Gordons here and follow their journey here.