#033 - Hospitality Meets Niels Sherry - The International Private Members Club COO

One of the things we love about Hospitality more than anything else is the international element to it and there's no better career if you want to see the world.Niels Sherry is a shining example of that with a career that has taken him to the USA, Middle East and Asia as well as establishing himself in Europe.Now the COO for the expanding private members club 67 Pall Mall (www.67pallmall.com).We chat about lots including gaining variety in your career, the Savoy, leaps of faith, opening a press hungry hotel, recruiting for character over qualifications, making time for people, utilising your neighbours internet, online wine tastings, being denied entry in Saudi Arabia and so much more.Niels has forged himself and incredible career and it's an excellent story told with eloquence and energy.Enjoy!Recorded on 7th July 2020.Show TranscriptionSUMMARY KEYWORDShotel, people, business, wine, hospitality, called, savoy, London, Singapore, club, world, run, started, bit, learning, stories, asked, openSPEAKERSNiels Sherry, Phil StreetPhil Street 00:01Welcome to hospitality meets with me Phil street where we take a light hearted look into the stories and individuals that make up the wonderful world of hospitality. Today's guest is Neils Sherry, CEO of 67 Pall Mall a stunning private member's club for wine lovers in London. Coming up on today's show... Niels tells us the extremes he'll go to when learning.Niels Sherry 00:22I spent probably two months, maybe a bit more literally glued to Ian.Phil Street 00:27Phil gets confused and thinks he's on the telly... So just for I suppose for the record for the viewers And Niels calmly understates the severity of his predicament,Niels Sherry 00:37They took my passport, and they threw it on the floor. I thought um, this is not going well. Phil Street 00:42All that and so much more. As Niels talks us through His story and journey to date, as well as some fantastic snippets of advice from an excellent career. Don't forget to give us a like and a share across your favourite social channels. Enjoy. Hello, and welcome to the next edition of hospitality meats with me Phil Street. Today, I'm delighted to welcome to the show someone who I've known on and off for, I'd say about 10 years now. And I've got a story actually about how we met, which you may or may not remember, but we'll come on to that in a second. delighted to welcome the CEO of 67 Pall Mall, Niels Sherry. Niels Sherry 01:15Thanks very much, delighted to be on the call. And hopefully, we've got some interesting stories to share.Phil Street 01:22I'll bet you have I mean, you cover off one of my favourite topics, which is wine, so I'm sure what we'll talk about that at some point. So just for I suppose for the record for the the viewers, where in the world are you right now and kind of what have you got your head into.Niels Sherry 01:38So having spent about six years with sixty seven Pall Mall setting up the club in London, with Grant, the founder, we, about two and a half years ago, we did a strategy meeting with our board of directors and one of the things that came out of that was that we need to take 67 Pall Mall around the world. So we conducted an exercise of places that we could possibly open. And the country state that came to the top of the list was Singapore. So that's where I'm residing. So I'm sitting in my office overlooking, actually not my office, I'm at home, overlooking Marina Bay Sands. So it's great to be in Singapore. It's amazing. Nice, amazing city.Phil Street 02:22Yeah, no doubt, I'm guessing as well, you you both opening a club at the time of year that you were going to do as been presented with some on well, unknown challenges that at the beginning of the year, I suppose that's part of your strategy, you wouldn't have written in that you would be facing a pandemic in the first quarter and beyondNiels Sherry 02:42Yes its probably shared with millions of hospitality people around the world right now. Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, we're we're we're in a good position, we have an amazing location on Scotts road in Orchard Road is right in the centre of, of town, it's a penthouse that belonged to the owner of the main building the shore family, and that's been gutted. And we were working on designs. So all the sort of the work behind the scenes in terms of design, mechanical, electrical, all that stuff that's just carrying on as normal. But certainly, our original intention was to open the club in September this year in time for the Grand Prix, right, I suspect will be delayed probably by about a year. So we need to be open for September next year. Well, it's just there's just there's so many other things that tie into it. So you've got membership acquisition going on, you've got the financing and finding shareholders going on. And literally, when lockdown started, you know, the world came to an end on that front. So it's almost as if we have to start again. Which is interesting, though, as I say, all the behind the scenes stuff is cracking on so we're, we're in a good place there. Before lockdown. I was I was hosting events every week in our office, and for about 80 people a week. We already have about 700 members for the club in Singapore, right go with a goal to open with about 2000. So that's very doable. We're, we're very excited. The the Singapore is ready for 67,000 hours. There's no doubt about that. And the whole wine culture here is really progressing. Sometimes people say why didn't we do Hong Kong? First. And this was before sort of the issues and troubles started on in Hong Kong. So that wasn't really, you know, on the agenda. But we looked at Hong Kong, we looked at Singapore, and we just felt Singapore we were getting in there. slightly earlier stage in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is already a crowded market in the wine world and hospitality, whereas Singapore is on a journey. And so we're getting there earlier. And for us, that's more exciting, to be honest.Phil Street 04:42Yeah, absolutely. I mentioned in the preamble at the beginning how we met Can you remember that? Or shall I just regale you? Why don't you remind me. It was at a networking event run by EP This is probably 2010 or 11. About then. And I think at that point, you are running your own company. And I always remember this, this is just stuck with me for for the rest of time, I asked a typical question that you do at networking events is Who are you in what you do? And you told me the name of your company at the time. And I said, and what does that involve? And you said, Well, basically, I help people with their drinking strategies.Niels Sherry 05:20Yeah. Phil Street 05:21And until that point, I'd never known that you could have a drinking strategy. And that's always stuck with me, I just think it's a it's a really, you don't you didn't need 30 seconds of an elevator pitch, you just needed that one line?Niels Sherry 05:34Yeah, it's, um, you know, the whole wine thing kind of happened By... of course, wine's always been a big part of my life of being in hospitality. But the kind of getting into sort of wine business more seriously was a, just an off chance, you know, meeting with a chapter wants to create a private, familiar service, consult someone. And so I was one of the first person to be part of that we built that business up. And then then the sort of wild thing has kind of stayed with me along the way. It's a fascinating world, and very enjoyable. And I particularly like what I'm doing at the moment, being in the world of clubs. And what I find quite refreshing is, I love hotels to bits, and you'll hear probably a bit more about, you know, what I've been up to. But in hotels, generally speaking, your customers come and go, will be with a few regulars that you see more often. Yeah. But in a club, you have a permanent base of people that aren't going anywhere. And so you really do spend time investing, you know, getting to know them, getting to other personalities, then getting to know you, you know, you share the sad moments shut you share that the moments of joy. And it's just, it's just fascinating. And, you know, being a club that's, you know, cycles around wine, we have a really interesting membership, you know, really high achievers, and they've got interesting stories. And I find that, you know, particularly interesting, and one of the most rewarding parts of this current part of my career.Phil Street 07:01Yeah, I'm glad you mentioned stories there. I'm on board with that 100%. I just think the stories that people have to tell are one of the most interesting things that exist in any kind of career that you you end up pursuing. So let's talk about your story. Or take us all the way back to the beginning of your career. You don't need to mention yours or anything like that. But what was your What was your path to do? Did you study at university? Just Just talk us through from the beginning?Niels Sherry 07:32Okay, it's some Well, I've been in, I've been working in the business for about over 36 years. So I've been around for a while. And it's interesting.