Introducing the new General Manager of The Swan, Salford – Lianne Sargent…
- What was your first job in the industry? Glass collector, age 5 in my Dad’s pub!
- Why did you get into the hospitality industry? Both my parents ran pubs so you could say I was born into it. My Mum, brother and I lived above a pub that she ran for 3 years. My Dad had pubs and nightclubs so when I went to his on the weekend we would clean the beer lines as the first job of Saturday. At the age of 10, I ‘ran’ the kids bar in my Mum’s pub, it was the games room that had the pool table where all the regulars kids would hang out. I served the best crisps, lemonades and cokes in town! And, the till was one that you had to type in the price – nothing pre-programmed.
- What’s the most surprising thing you have learned from Peach? The ideas really do come from the pub upwards. I better get my thinking cap on!
- Which of the pubs is your favourite and why? The Swan of course. I will always have a soft spot for The Rose & Crown as it was the first Peach Pub I went to 13 years ago, Ollie (husband) and I would go there at the start of our relationship and have sharing boards as a starter – the only person I would share food with!
- What inspires you? How you can achieve anything through hard work. You get what you work for, if you aren’t willing to work for it, don’t complain about not having it.
- Describe yourself in 3 words: Organised, ambitious, passionate
- What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given? Be a leader, not a manager. Great leaders don’t tell you what to do, they show you how it’s done. I also love the saying, “Go the extra mile, it’s never crowded!”
- Name four people you would invite to a dinner party: David Beckham because my husband loves him and would be lurking in the background. Will Smith for the comedy, Megan Markle for the insight into royal life and charity work, and Monica Galetti to do/help with the cooking!
- What is the most exciting thing about your job? Seeing ingredients turned into something delicious, then people sharing that food and their moments with us. I love how tasting a certain food brings back all the memories and emotions of the best times.
- And finally, one random fact about you! I can’t wear socks normally, I always wear them inside out as the seam against my toes makes me feel sick! (Yes I’m a freak) My sister in-law would always buy me funky socks for Christmas until she saw me wearing them inside out and you couldn’t see the pattern, just the stitching.