Q&A: Stuart Slaughter
7 July 2023
Stuart Slaughter is MD of Plato Catering Hire, which is based in Alcester and covers Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and the West Midlands. The company employs 11 full-time people supplemented by seasonal personnel. Stuart also sits on the HAE Board and is Chairman of its Event Hire Committee.
What was your first job after leaving school?
After doing a masters degree in marketing, I worked for a number of facilities management software companies.
Is it true you got into hire because of a bet?
On New Year’s Day 1999, my wife Lynn and I went for lunch with my parents. My father in his entrepreneurial spirit placed a £2 coin on each place setting and asked who could make the best return on it by Millennium Day.
Eventually we came across a small hire business, Stratford Hire Centre, which was closing down to make way for a housing development. As well as tools and equipment, it had a token event hire offering with around 100 plates and some glasses. We purchased the company, believing that many people would be holding parties for the new Millennium.
What happened next?
We sold all the tools and invested in new plates, glasses and cutlery – which admittedly cost more than £2! Initially we ran the business from my parents’ garage, combining two jobs until Plato could support me full-time in 2002. Lynn joined full-time in 2006 handling the operations and logistics side of Plato (she previously worked for the logistics business Unipart).
Where did the Plato name come from?
I liked the classical name of the antivirus software supplier Sophos and decided on Plato, which has a philosophical quality and is quite different from other brands. It stands out and is memorable.
How is business at the moment?
It’s very good. It bounced back extremely strongly last year following the lifting of Covid lockdown restrictions in 2021 and the huge backlog of events that people wanted to move forward with.
How had Plato coped during Covid?
We endured 16 months of doing nothing. In November 2020 our monthly turnover excluding VAT was £39.42! The catering equipment hire world obviously revolves around social gatherings – which weren’t happening. And we didn’t get help like the Eat Out to Help Out incentive for pubs and restaurants and the Restart grants, which were only available to those mandated to close. The weddings, events sector and the hospitality supply chain - who were not mandated to close, but were effectively forced to do so due to the restrictions on gatherings and the closure of hospitality - got nothing.
Even when restrictions eased slightly, only 15 people were allowed at a wedding, yet many more could attend en masse in a pub’s beer garden.
What did you do?
We took out bounceback loans, personal loans, used business savings and invested our own savings in the business. We were determined to make no-one redundant. Thankfully on ‘Freedom Day’ of 19 July 2021 (when lockdown restrictions in England were lifted), the floodgates opened and customers came back. It was unbelievable.
Has Plato added any new equipment recently?
Since the rise of HBO’s (Home Box Office) Succession we have seen an increasing demand for ‘finer dining’ as a knock-on from the ‘quiet luxury’ trend. As a result we have added the stunning Luigi Bormioli Magnifico fine crystal glassware range and Robert Welch ‘Sandstone’ cutlery into the Plato Hire offering.
What’s the main challenge facing your industry?
A combination of factors relating to supply chain disruption. Some of our glasses and plates come from Europe and a number of manufacturers have struggled to meet demand; there’s also the uncertainty about the cost of living and inflation, and how this might impact our sector.
What’s the most unusual hire request you’ve ever received?
Prior to the Queen’s Golden Jubilee weekend in 2002, we had to give a client a selection of plates, cutlery and glasses for the police to check before being used by the Royal Family – we believe it was for Prince Charles, as he then was.
What annoys or frustrates you?
“Nice to meet you” when you’ve never met and, in business, when a salesperson calls me “mate”.
What was your favourite school subject?
Music. I learnt the trumpet and the tuba, then started singing. But I haven’t done much for the best part of 25 years.
If things had been different, what other career might you have chosen?
Presenter of Desert Island Discs – I love the programme.
What’s the best piece of advice that you would pass on to others?
From the mother of Steven Tyler (rock band Aerosmith’s lead singer): “Don’t ever be afraid. Amateurs built the Ark, professionals built the Titanic!”
Tell me an unusual fact about the business.
We drive 6.5 times around the Earth’s circumference (24,901 miles, making a total of more than 160,000 miles) every year delivering our products.
What new skill would you like to learn?
To speak Italian. Lynn and I love holidaying there. When we retire, we’d also like to take up bridge.
If you could invite three famous people to dinner (past or present) who would you choose?
Stephen Fry, Tim Minchin and Elon Musk; and if I could add a fourth, Kirsty Young, to discuss all things Desert Island Discs.
Finally, any future plans or ambitions for Plato?
From the outset in 1999 our ‘crazy’ goal ambition was to become the most successful service provider in the Event Hire Industry. We’re still working to achieve this.
Driven by our passion for delivering award-winning excellence from the start, we soon adopted Ben Hunt-Davis’ 2000 British Olympic rowing team’s three clear principles: “Focus on what’s important – Find your ‘concrete’ and ‘crazy’ goals, and ‘what floats your boat’; Focus on performance, to get results – concentrate your attention on driving improvements in performance; and work effectively with others to achieve goals”. The future is to continue on this path and to keep highlighting the need for end users of event equipment hire to use HAE EHA SafeHire certified catering equipment hire/event equipment hire companies.
