Jeremy Simmonds (along with business partner Matt Grech-Smith) is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Competitive Socialising, the company behind Swingers, the crazy golf club.
Swingers has two locations in central London and one in Washington D.C. Their flagship New York location opens in Manhattan in June.
- Tell us a little bit about your business…
Swingers sits at the forefront of the rapidly growing competitive socialising industry. The concept combines innovative cocktails, delicious street food from well-known restaurateurs and crazy golf in large scale, immersive, theatrical venues. The concept has been a runaway success on both sides of the Atlantic and the Swingers team have a strong pipeline of sites opening in the US over the next few years.
- How did you get into the industry?
Myself and my long-term business partner, Matt Grech-Smith, met at university when we started a nightclub promotion business whilst still students. That business gave us an insight into the hospitality industry. It wasn’t until many years later, through Swingers, that we properly entered the industry. We launched Swingers as a pop-up event that has now grown into a collection of large leisure venues. Somewhere in the middle of this journey, we ended up in an advertising agency, but that’s another story. Hospitality feels like a natural fit and to some extent it feels like my entire career was leading me to this place.
- What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry?
The demand for real life experiences have never been greater. A mixture of an increasingly digitised world and the thirst for hospitality, now that the impact of Covid is receding in the western world, has meant that the opportunities for growth for experiential hospitality businesses are vast. One of the keys to successful growth is down to the quality of the people within the business. This opportunity is therefore also the biggest challenge our industry faces. Covid forced many people in the hospitality industry to reassess it as a career path, and many people left the industry. This has meant that recruitment is incredibly tough. We need to address the systemic failures of this industry to prioritise the well-being of our people. That this change is taking place can only be a good thing, but it will take time and a lot of work to ensure that hospitality becomes a credible career path in the UK.
- How would you describe your leadership style?
I like to think I am collaborative, fair but certainly demanding. I try and walk the line between being involved in the detail but not micro-managing. Admittedly this is not an easy balancing act and I realise at times I get this wrong. I also try to balance the need to demand high standards with empathy. I am acutely aware that our team have lives outside of work and that the job has to work seamlessly with all aspects of their lives. Crazy golf can’t always be the priority!
- How do you get the most out of the people who work for you?
I do my best to find super-talented people and then spend a lot of time and effort making sure they feel supported and understand what is expected of them. At that point I try to step back and rely on the mutual trust that has been built. I believe that the foundation of high performance in business is relationships built on trust.
- What are the most crucial elements to your business running smoothly and being successful?
I would say 3 things:
- A really cohesive and tight knit leadership team – this sets the entire culture of the business. It helps hugely that Matt, my co-CEO, and I have worked together for nearly 20 years and can practically finish each other’s sentences at this point!
- A team that enjoys working together and wants to grow together – keeping continuity in our team is crucial. We are trying to push the boundaries of hospitality. We are only going to do this if we have a team of people that stays together for the long term.
- Great partners – our business is very capital intensive. To build and grow we need supportive capital partners. Luckily our business enjoys a very positive partnership with Cain International.
- How has the past 12 months been for you?
A rollercoaster!
Covid turned our world upside down. We went from having a highly successful and profitable business to one that was closed and we had to work out how to survive. Luckily through the support of our fantastic partners and some good strategic decisions over the last 12 months, we are emerging in a great position. We are well capitalised and well positioned to grow and thrive. Frankly, the opportunity has never been bigger. No one would ever choose to operate a business that is forced to shut down over-night but I can finally reflect on that period and say that a lot of good has actually come out of this tumultuous period. I personally feel like I have developed much more resilience and flexibility.
- What will the next 12 months look like for your business?
We are in a period of real growth. In June we will open our flagship venue in New York City. We are extending our amazing Swingers West End venue in London with another course, bar and roof terrace. All of this will be followed by a second opening in Washington DC and some other venues that are yet to be announced. Just as exciting is the growth of our incredible team. We are so fortunate to be able to continually welcome to the business talented people that bring boundless energy and expertise.
- What are the highlights of your career so far?
The whole Swingers journey has been the highlight of my career. I feel incredibly fortunate to have been given this opportunity to build this amazing business surrounded by a group of people that I genuinely care for. The specific highlights that come to mind have been the opening of our first venue in London that massively exceeded our expectations and continues to delight both guests and the team members that work in this space. Secondly, I am without a doubt incredibly proud of the business’s successful expansion into the United States. The opening night of Swingers Dupont in Washington DC was surreal and very emotional. We constructed that venue at the height of the covid pandemic and the mixture of realising a huge ambition and surviving the impact of the pandemic meant that this moment was both poignant and joyful.
- What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ve learnt from?
In my very early career, I launched a business and fell out with my business partners due to differences of opinions. The breakdown of those relationships destroyed the business. Since then, I have learnt that successful businesses are built on relationships with various partners whether that be shareholders, fellow management, or suppliers. Since this early set back, which was largely due to my own inexperience and naivety at the time, I have sought to build fantastic relationships with trusted partners. I have personally nurtured these relationships with the care and attention they deserve which has required me to develop far better collaboration and communication skills as well as empathy. I believe these relationships are the bedrock of the business. Certainly, we never would have survived Covid without them.
- What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
I discussed Swingers with Adam Balon, one of the founders of Innocent Smoothies, in the early days of the business. At that time, we had lots of ideas how to grow the business. He advised me to balance flexibility and focus. Not getting ahead of ourselves and focusing on what believe are the most important aspects of the business has been key, and I have always appreciated this advice. For us that means focusing on building an amazing team, providing exceptional customer service and having a relentless attention to detail with every aspect of our product.
