TALES FROM THE TOP - SHOELESS JACK

Passing the publican baton

Hunt Hospitality has created a digital industry companion called Shoeless Jack to guide staff on every aspect of running a pub.

GIVEN THE labour shortages that are currently plaguing the pub sector, minimal qualifications are the norm among staff, and this is resulting in an increasingly unskilled workforce, according to Hunt Hospitality.

“Outside of compliance short courses, there is no qualification for ‘How to Successfully Run a Pub’,” says Hunt Hospitality managing director Stephen Hunt. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult to stay true to ‘Traditional Australian pubs with a twist of today’ when traditions are not being passed down sufficiently.”

Hunt has sought to address this issue by creating an industry companion called Shoeless Jack which can guide staff on every aspect of running a pub. The tome includes hundreds of internal processes in the form of step-by-step best-practices delivered digitally.

Two things inspired the development on the app. Last year, Hunt Hospitality was approached by TAFE NSW to advise on the curriculum for hospitality courses, and several shortfalls were identified, including a lack of cellar education and people skills.

Soon after, the group appointed a new operations director with a background in sales and marketing who struggled due to a lack of pub-specific knowledge, and it was then that it became clear that a lack of documentation was hindering the group’s performance.

“I’ve run this establishment for over two decades. To expect that my life experience can be learnt off the bat without further assistance is unrealistic. Shoeless Jack allows for any person to run a pub successfully,” says Hunt.

“Through developing an industry companion that teaches, we upskill our employees while empowering them to take initiative through their own personal autonomy.”

Hunt says Shoeless Jack has been so successful in streamlining processes, it will become the backbone of a new bar franchise

model, with the first franchise to roll out this month, with a lease already secured for this purpose.

Under the franchise model, Hunt Hospitality will hold a joint lease with the franchisee, and will share costs, with the franchisee paying a head-office fee in return for help on things like accounting, marketing, and menu ideas.

Shoeless Jack was this year named as one of the 2021 AFR BOSS top five innovations in the retail, hospitality, tourism and entertainment category.