Minute on the Clock – David Coffer
David Coffer is the chairman of leisure specialist Davis Coffer Lyons, which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary. He tells Kerstin Kühn how both his business and the market have changed over the past four decades
Why did you first open Davis Coffer Lyons?
My partner Lewis Davis and I had been working in retail when we met David Dutton who, with the backing of the Daily Mail Group, wanted to roll out a restaurant chain called Pizza Land. He took us on as a retainer to find six sites a year. Our first office was on Fleet Street above the first Pizza Land and it was the two of us and a bunch of rats.
How has your business changed since then? We now have 40 staff and are the biggest dedicated leisure team in the country, with the highest level of expertise and access to market both in terms of operators and landlords.
How has the industry changed over the past four decades? There are so many aspects that have changed. Back in the 1970s you didn't have to obtain planning permission for restaurants that were in retail units, you could just change it. Nowadays you need planning consent. The range of operators has also changed massively since then when there were really just a few major players: Forte, Wimpy International and the Kaye brothers. Today we have a database of 8,000 different operators and the range of concepts is staggering.
How has the process of operators finding sites changed over the years? Back in the day leisure was a dirty word and nobody wanted to invest in restaurants or pubs as there was no security. Today leisure is the most important investment sector in the country and there's a huge variety of investors from different backgrounds coming into the industry.
What's the biggest advice you can give budding restaurateurs? Don't get sentimental. Don't hang on to something with the hope that things will turn out all right. If you see something going wrong, let go, take your money and run before it's too late so you can start again. Growing from one to two or three sites is the hardest bit as people expand too quickly, they take chances and fall.
