IWD 2025 - an interview with: Sarah Weir

Tell us a little about your career journey leading to where you are now.

I started my career in Marketing for the global FMCG company Procter & Gamble. It was an incredible time there with world-class training, exciting roles and brilliant people. But after several years, something was missing. I realised that I wanted to be closer to the customers, the people that we were there to serve.

I decided to move into the world of Supermarkets and took a senior Marketing role at Safeway. This gave me what I was after, it was fast paced, challenging and fun.  The decisions I made were immediate and one could see the impact in a matter of days, not weeks of months.  I could see and feel the difference I was making which drove me every day.  I loved it!

Then a head-hunter approached me.  They were working with Bass PLC (now Mitchells & Butlers) to find great Marketeers out of their sector, who had the skills and experience to elevate their retail division (2000 pubs, bars & restaurants) into the modern world. At the time Bass Leisure Retail (the retail division of Bass PLC) operated very much under the strict direction of Bass Brewers (the brewing arm of Bass PLC), so didn’t have much leeway to operate as modern day retailers.  They were limited as to what they were allowed to do around developing brands, creating marketing campaigns, launching innovative food & drinks offers and so on.  However, a new breed of Senior Management was drafted into Bass Leisure Retail, and they wanted to change that, to shake that up and become professional, modern retailers.

The brief to the head-hunter was to go and find talent in other retailers out of sector and bring them into Bass Leisure Retail to help shape the future.

When I was approached, I knew nothing about Hospitality, other than going to the pub at weekends with my friends!  I wasn’t an industry that was on my radar as a career move.  However, the head-hunter was very persuasive and said meet them, see what they have to say, you might be surprised! So, I caught a train from London to Birmingham with an open mind, but doubtful it was the right move for me.

And I was.  They were a brilliant bunch of people, full of vision, energy and passion for what they wanted to achieve.  To revolutionise the sector, to break new ground, to come out of the shadows of the Brewery and become a standalone world-class retailer. So, I caught a train back from Birmingham to London with a job offer in hand and accepted it the next day.

My Hospitality journey has begun.

Over the 27 years I have been in Hospitality, I have worked for large companies, like Mitchells & Butlers and Pizza Express, and turnaround companies, like Barracuda and Davy’s Wine Bars. I finally decided I wanted to set my own business up and took the equally daunting and exciting decision to seek funding for a start-up of my own and found Imbiba who agreed to back me.  I have never looked back. I built Albion & East from scratch, starting with a laptop and some good ideas through to a portfolio of some of the leading bars & restaurants in London.  We have 140 people working with us and I am proud that I know so many of them personally as I spend each and every day in our bars (we don’t have a head office, deliberately). We have won some brilliant awards, recognising what our teams do every day, from Publican Best Drinks Award and National Pizza Award Winners through to 27 awards for our gins, which we distil, bottle and wax-seal by hand in our bars each day. 

What does the International Women’s Day slogan “accelerate action” mean for you?

I don’t sit still; if you want something done, ask a busy person.  And that applies to IWD.  It may be easier to wait, to tread carefully, to be considered and reticent to upset the apple cart.  But that leads to inertia and complacency.  Every day we need to stand up for equality and inclusion.  I truly believe that Hospitality, as a sector, leads the way on this and should be a poster-person for other sectors to take inspiration from.  We have the most diverse people working in the sector, the most open and fun people, the most inclusive people.  There is a job for everyone, no matter what race, religion, gender, sex or age.  As long as you turn up for work on time, are honest and hard-working then there is a job.  It might start as washing the dishes or running glasses, but I have seen so many people progress from there to be bartenders, chefs, supervisors and managers.  They are inspiring every day.

How important is it for women to lift each other up and what does that mean to you?

In a world where we still have to be conscious of equality and not assume it is a given, other people are a great source of inspiration and strength to keep pushing on that journey. No one if an Island and power of strength in numbers will win the day.

How important is diversity across senior leadership teams? 

It’s at the heart of good teams and accelerates performance beyond the norm.  The richness of ideas, talent and opinions drives better strategies but more importantly, this diversity sets the benchmark for the entire business, with everyone knowing that there are no bounds on diversity, that there is no discrimination and what will out be great people, hard-work, vision and purpose.

Senior leadership: 26%, C-suite: 19%, Chief-level: 1 in 4. These are the percentages and numbers of female leaders in our industry. What do these numbers represent to you?

They are not enough.  Businesses must look at how they increase this, not by paying lip-service to it by creating less-important roles and filling them with a woman (and we all know this exists in places), but creating meaningful progression plans which develop, nurture and promote women and broader diversity objectives. Businesses must also look at how they adapt working practices to support people who are raising families or supporting their partners in their endeavours, so these do not become a barrier to development and promotion.

As a successful leader, how do you think (business) leaders can accelerate action toward closing the gender gap and ensuring equal opportunities in the workplace?

Businesses need to have the ability and safe space to talk about this. Just demanding it changes won’t drive the right behaviour always.  Leaders need to be able to talk about why there are barriers, without being judged or shot down.  Opening up and being honest about why the gap exists is the first stage in closing it. 

Can you share your top tips for entrepreneurial/managerial/leadership success?

We have five core principles at Albion & East.  These go in every job description, are posted on every staff wall and we live by them every day, from myself as Founder through to the brilliant people who deliver our service every day

• Be Nice
• Tell the truth
• Always do what you say you are going to do
• Always be available
• Say hello and goodbye

What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to a woman thinking of starting a career at leadership level?

You are as worthy of your position as anyone else, you got there on merit not gender. Never forget that.

Have there been any role models through your life (work or professional) who have helped shape you as a leader?

By business partner and Operations Director, Darren.  His values are so strong, it is inspiring to see him lead our teams. He is obsessed with developing people and everyday lives by the knowledge that our people are the leaders of our business, and we are just there to help them on that journey.