James's Journey from an Assistant Manager to a Learning & Development Manager

James’ incredible journey at Greene King started in 2013 when he saw an exciting opportunity in the growth of Hungry Horse pubs. With his background in hospitality, he felt well-equipped for success with Greene King. He applied for an Assistant Manager role at his local Hungry Horse pub and got the job, setting the stage for his impressive career.

In 2014, James advanced to a Designate Manager for Local Pubs working with managers in Sheffield and Leeds to enhance his skills. Although, his journey didn’t stop there. James’ passion for simplifying complex systems led to his role as a Retail Systems Trainer in 2019.

His current role as a Franchise Learning and Development Manager allows him to guide a team and contribute to Greene King’s franchise pub growth, embodying Greene King’s commitment to nurturing talent and seizing opportunities.

Back in 2013 the growth of Hungry Horse Pubs seemed like an exciting venture, and I believed the skills & knowledge I had already acquired in the hospitality sector would allow me to thrive with Greene King.

I started my career with Greene King in 2013 as Assistant Manager at the Ashley Hotel Hungry Horse in Worksop. Here I learnt the ropes of pub management balancing excellent customer service standards with supporting a great team and maintaining financial controls.

Throughout the years in a training role, this has allowed me to naturally ask questions and learn more about each brand in Greene King to provide better support. This could be from menus, drink range to target demographics & service style. I have always been hungry for knowledge with a desire to learn every bit of detail and I can confidently say with every previous role I have acquired new skills and knowledge that has helped me with the following role. For example my time spent learning about different Greene King brands on the Integration project really supported me as a Retail Systems Trainers as I was already aware of how each different Greene King brand operated.

Greene King has allowed me the freedom to figure out what I enjoy doing and pursue that passion, while helping me to network with wider teams, build great relationships and surround myself with people that know the answer.

Customer Service has always been the most satisfying thing for me, whether that's providing quality food and drink for our Guests, delivering great Training & Support for our Pub Managers and their teams or collaborating with Marketing, Operations, Recruitment, IT and Property to overcome challenges and support each other to deliver amazing results.

I have had an incredible journey with Greene King over the last 10 years, the company has helped me understand my potential and supported me in achieving it every step of the way.