As part of the 2025 Annual Industry Leaders Forum series, Tom Francis, MD of Francis Venues, talked of the group’s focused on upping the quality of its F&B in recent years, and how its value-for-money offer is reaping rewards for the business.
2024 delivered unexpected growth for Francis Venues, in the form of F&B sales. Across the eight Victorian pubs, its club and motel, the group saw a seven per cent year-on-year growth in F&B sales. Managing director Tom Francis puts it down to delivering good quality meals at affordable pricing, at a time when consumers are being very considered in their spending.
“Our demographics are really searching for a decent meal special and a good price. People can’t afford going to restaurants which are $100 a head, but they can come to the pub and have a decent meal for $30 a head.
“They would rather come out twice a week to a hotel and spend $100 over those two visitations, as opposed to going to a restaurant and spending it once.”
Tom Francis
And that value for money is extended even further when entertainment is considered. Designed to encourage visits by families, all of the Francis Venues pubs are designed with big bistros that have kids play areas, and then throughout the week there is always some form of free entertainment – whether that’s live music, magicians, or face painting.
“That family market has been a really big uplift in F&B for us.”
That uplift in F&B sales can also be put down to a renewed focus in the last few years on increasing the quality of dishes on the menu.
“Coming out of COVID, we found that nice space where we could actually take our time, work things through our menu creations, to find the right balance for customers and what they want. So we’ve had the last three years as a trial, and now we’re being rewarded and we’re hitting the right strides. The achievements in service standards and food quality has been really good.”
Venturing interstate
Based in Victoria, Francis had been looking to expand the group interstate with an eye on the Queensland market. However in 2024 a couple of opportunities opened up in suburban Sydney that were too good to pass up. Mid-year, the group acquired the Kings Head Tavern in Hurstville off Redcape, who a few months later also sold Wattle Grove Hotel to the group.
Francis said the large-format suburban venues fit in well with the Victorian portfolio, as these types of venues become more scarce in and around Melbourne.
“The market up there [in Sydney] is very different in terms of F&B and gaming, it’s a lot less ‘woke’. Here in Victoria, people are more likely to have meetings over a coffee where up in Sydney, it’s more common to go out for a beer. That culture seems to be huge, with massive clubs and corner pubs everywhere. In the suburbs in Melbourne, those kind of pubs have disappeared.”
Getting to work immediately on the Kings Head Tavern, Francis Venues upgraded the sports bar, installing a three-metre screen and providing a great menu. Francis said the group is already seeing a return on investment in the sports bar.
While Francis is open to expanding the group further, current uncertainty around gaming reform – and an opposing view to the mandatory carded play to be trialled by the Victorian Government – means that Francis currently has no interest in acquiring more venues in his home state.
“I wouldn’t buy pubs in Victoria in the current climate.”
Rewards and trials
Another big focus in 2024 was the implementation of the Frisbie Rewards app across the whole group. It’s a rewards system that gives returning customers access to F&B deals. Francis says it’s an evolved look at the old loyalty system that clubs would impose.
“It’s a little bit different. It’s not based around a card, and it’s purely F&B. I think of the app as a digital wallet, and you get a push notification once or twice a month. That doesn’t annoy people as long as you’re sending a decent offer.”
Francis said the app is also a great way for key supplier partners to put on deals for new products, getting feedback on reaction to new SKUs and the like.
“It gives those key account partners leverage, where they can trial a new product and see how it resonates with customers or a certain segment, without having to commit to a big deal. And providing those deals helps us remain competitive against nearby pubs.”
Frisbie Rewards now has 10,000 members, averaging 3000 active users per week, which has assisted in growing F&B sales.
Growing Frisbie Rewards
The aim for Frisbie Rewards over the next 12 months is to have 15,000 members across the group and 3,000 active members each week.
“We believe this to be achievable with the array of offers and promotions we have in place, as well as how well staff know the product, training is integral in its success,” stated Francis.
“We ran a successful Christmas campaign that saw an influx of 750+ signups, which we put down to great products, marketing and making customers excited to download the app and be a part of something rewarding.
We’re happy with how Frisbie has been received by both customers and staff since the launch in December 2023. There are always new updates that better the customer experience and at the end of the day that’s why we’re in the industry, to provide the best customer experience we can.”
A team focus
Looking ahead to this year, Francis Venues will settle on the Wattle Grove Hotel acquisition in Q1, and will give it a sports bar upgrade similar to Kings Head Tavern. The other main focuses for the year will be on internal leadership programs – including kitchen staff – as well as further Frisbie Rewards expansion and upgrades.
The leadership focus comes from Francis’ preference to hire from within. Even within the group’s executive team, one of the area managers was someone who worked front-of-house with Francis at the Newport Social Club a decade ago. Ninety-five per cent of the group’s venue managers were casuals who developed leadership skills internally and were presented with new opportunities as the group expanded.
“You just get a much better quality kind of staff member coming through the ranks. They know your model, they know what you want. But then you also provide them the opportunities along the way to create a decent career from a casual position.”
The group will continue to focus on providing top-notch F&B as a value proposition, which Francis believes will continue to be a key driver for consumers this year.