The appliance of science

Derry’s Garvan O’Doherty is re-inventing his business from the ground up – and putting plans in place which, he says, will help revolutionise the hospitality offering in the city.

Garvan O’Doherty  deals daily with the minutiae of a complex business portfolio that incorporates hospitality, property and investment interests both here in Northern Ireland and in London.

It’s a responsibility that calls for global awareness and he adopts a perspective on the business environment quite unlike that of many of his contemporaries. He relishes talk of globalisation, the practical application of robotics and artificial intelligence across industry and the likely future shape of the world’s economy. There is, he says, serious trouble building once again in global financial markets, the effects of which may very soon be evident.

The Garvan O’Doherty Group is only now emerging from a protracted period during which little was heard from its founder outside the rarefied atmosphere of the board room. It was a deliberate inward focus, he says, necessary to ensure that his business was robust enough to undergo the period of re-structuring and growth that will get underway this year.

“It was a necessary response to the financial environment,” explains Garvan. “After the Lehman Brothers crash, we knew we had some tuning up to do and now we’ve completed that. We’ve been in a learning process over the last 10 years and now we are going to apply the lessons learned in the high pressure environment of the financial markets.”

A five-year development plan is now in train alongside a major corporate spending schedule for the Group’s hospitality portfolio in Derry. A key feature of that will be the beginning of work on-site at the corner of Foyle Street and Shipquay Street in the city centre where Garvan has plans for a 24-bedroom boutique hotel incorporating extensive bar, restaurant and entertainment facilities – all of which, he promises, will be radically different to the current offering

“This will revolutionise the trade in Derry,” he promises. “It’s going to be a combination of all the best operations that we’ve seen in Belfast, Dublin London and New York. And of course, we’ve applied some of our own science to the equation as well.”

It’s part of a sizeable portfolio of local hospitality interests that includes five Chill off-licences;  Da Vinci’s Hotel; the Waterfoot Hotel and the former Trinity Hotel in Strand Road which is now leased to Travelodge. The Group also took on management of the historic St. Columb’s Hall in 2013 – venue for last year’s NI Tourism Awards.

In Derry at least, the Garvan O’Doherty Group is known primarily as an operator of hospitality venues, yet it is worth noting that, as an element of his overall portfolio of interests, hospitality is relatively small and much less than most people believe.

“We will, however, be growing all our interests very considerably over the next five years,” adds Garvan. “And on a very wide geographical basis not just confined to projects based here in the north. On the back of that, we’re about to enter a major recruitment drive, looking for some exceptionally skilled and innovative people…We’re going to be going to the marketplace to seriously enhance the senior management team and this will be part of a process of total reinvention for the business.”

Garvan O’Doherty was born in Derry, the son of a successful accountant, and Garvan himself spent time in the profession, working all over Northern Ireland.

An entrepreneur at heart though, he dabbled in investment and bought his first licensed premises – The Townsman at the foot of Shipquay Street in Derry – in 1983. He held on to the enduringly popular venue right up until 2000 when he sold it on to the Downey brothers.

These days, his commitment spans a wide gamut of property investment, much of it unrelated to hospitality, but Garvan maintains a healthy interest in the business life of his native city and while he agrees with those who argue that the north-west hasn’t received the investment that it should in past years, he says that not all the blame can lie with those in charge:

“In the 60s and 70s here, we had gerrymandering in the political sense and I think that now, we have economic gerrymandering in that we haven’t had the investment into the area by government that would be fair,” he says. “But by the same token, we have not gone to the government with our own creative, engaging projects, things like Titanic Belfast, so it isn’t all the government’s fault. I think we’ve been asleep at the wheel.

“Look at what Pat Doherty [chairman, Titanic Quarter] is achieving in Belfast. What he has done is tremendous, he’s a visionary and I think we need more of that. We need more signature projects, certainly here in Derry. What I want to do here is take what is already a unique city and create something ‘Titanic-esque’ right here.  I don’t want us just to be relying on the Walls or the heritage or the history of this place alone.  I want us to create a whole new future for ourselves in a city that offers cutting-edge, tourism, cultural and entertainment attractions and takes account of our unique historical background.”

Garvan insists that the situation is already changing and that plans are in place in the city for a brighter and more prosperous future:

“Derry is about to enter a renaissance period,” he declares. “A new Temple Bar is being created before your eyes here. We’re going to be doing our site on Foyle Street/Shipquay Street, that’s a great site and we have other sites too. There are major projects in the pipeline around the city and I can tell you that people walking around Derry in 10 years’ time, they’re not going to be able to believe what they see, they’re going to be in awe of it.”

But he has concerns too. He worries about the decline in disposable income, VAT rates, bureaucracy, Brexit and the skills gap – all issues that any hospitality operator in the country would be familiar with:

“The next three or four years are going to be difficult economically,” warns Garvin. “There’s another serious recession coming. Look at what’s happening with Brexit, at the Italian banks, with Trump in America and a feeling amongst voters that the establishment hasn’t delivered a fair deal. Globalisation is no longer acceptable to voters and Trump was able to tap into that sentiment when he talked about bringing overseas jobs back home.

“I think that 10 years from now, we will definitely have lessons to learn from this, but Derry is only at the beginning of the process of applying this science and I think there will be a time in the future when serendipity will kick in for us.”

The current changes to the Garvan O’Doherty Group will lead to “a total reinvention of everything we’ve done until now”, promises the company’s owner. That will include a new brand that doesn’t feature his name – a design company in the States is currently coming up with proposals.”

“We are focused now around creating a unique company culture and this has to be the driving force behind everything going forward,” says Garvan. “We want the best people in the best jobs with the best package…We’re going to create new platforms that will let people be the authors of their own destinies.

“I will create a model in which I am no longer a fundamental part, but which can grow enormously under a smart executive team.”

Passion, he says, is the secret to success in business.

“If you don’t have that, an unshakable belief in yourself, then you can forget about it. You have to be clear in your vision…and then you need to set your vision on what you want to achieve, the steps and tasks that lead to that being delivered against a time frame.”

In the future, the Garvan O’Doherty hospitality brand and property interests will develop internationally, he says, including building on recently formed alliances with major international hotel brands.

“We are going to be thinking way outside the box of what we normally do,” he adds. “We are going to be more focused and our interests will grow significantly and more quickly than you think.

Garvan also believes that young people today are more adaptable, more creative, more energised and more willing to learn than ever before:

“There is a revolution going on among them and we want to tap into that and maximise the potential,” he says. “Their way of thinking is totally different from that of previous generations.

“A new way of living and operating is coming to us and we need to be working towards that now, we need to be preparing the groundwork so we don’t miss this new way of living and doing business – and that’s what we are all about.”