Meet the Team
Paul Clarke
Group Chairman
Paul Clarke, Group Chairman
I have lived and loved (for the most part) the pub trade for the majority of my working life. I have been an operator, operations manager, trade director at PLC level and even had my own small pub company.
Knowing the trade as I do and understanding first-hand how recruitment of operators is vital to the success of any site, I was delighted to be asked to join the board at MyPubGroup.ltd in 2017.
When I am not in pub mode I can usually be found in golf mode, golf having taken me to Portugal in the early 90s cemented my love of this wonderful country where I now have property and holiday as often as I can.
However as they say Home is where the heart is, and I am lucky to live in a lovely part of the country, Oxfordshire, alongside my wife Jackie. We have three grandchildren that keep us on our toes and I am slowly trying to convince them that the “Super” Spurs are the club to follow! Although I am not sure they are yet convinced.
Helen Lees
Chief Executive Officer
Helen Lees, Chief Executive Officer
In 2009 I booked a wedding, fell pregnant with my youngest son and started what feels like my third child, FindMyPub.com
With a toddler running around and a letter of redundancy in my hand I stared at my computer and wondered what was next. What did I know? What was my passion? Where was I going? These questions became the foundation for the future of FindMyPub.com.
The Pub trade had been my life for many years, I had been an area manager, I had been a field-based recruiter, and I had worked for some great companies. A friend asked me to help them find a pub, and off I went to the shops to pick up a trade mag – of which there was none.
This I suppose was my lightbulb moment, what if there was a place that could promote pubs to people wanting pubs, could I facilitate this?
The answer was yes.
Ten years later I stand proudly as the CEO of MyPubGroup.ltd. A business I have nurtured, loved and developed alongside an incredible team.
We have hurtled our way through a myriad of challenges, met with huge change, grown exponentially and exceeded my expectations on every level.
This company is driven by my love and belief in the trade, strong relationships with our clients and my utmost faith in my team and our ability to collectively deliver. There has been a lot of fun along the way; fun is one of our core values and in the spirit of this we adopt a work hard, play hard policy.
While CEO of MyPubGroup.ltd is my work title, Mum is the title I am most proud of – when I am not working, I am housekeeper (slave) to two little boys and a husband and walker of two Labradors! I am a fishing widow most weekends, and I spend a lot of my down time in Mid Wales with the boys just being mum. At the office, I have earned the title Vera from Madeira as that is also the place where I spend as much family time as I am able. I am also partial to a tipple and believe Sambuca Tuesday, and Beer Fridays have been key to my success (or sanity!)
Rachael Nixon
Group Managing Director
Rachael Nixon, Group Managing Director
I walked into the (then) small offices at FindMyPub.com five years ago, initially recruited by a friend of a friend (rescued from a life of soul-crushing hard-edged corporate recruiting) to get involved with a small start-up in a casual part time position.
Fast forward seven years (filled with blood, sweat, tears and bucket loads of laughs) and I am now the Managing Director of the industry’s leading pub recruitment business, and what a fantastic seven years it has been. I could not be prouder.
Why? Because MyPubGroup.ltd is a fun filled, fast paced, highly amusing, hugely entrepreneurial place to be and we are at the forefront of our game. I am by nature a go–getter, I like to play devil’s advocate (some might say), and most importantly I have a strong desire to innovate, improve and deliver. MyPubGroup.ltd allows me to do all of this and so much more.
Alongside being Managing Director of MyPubGroup.ltd, I am a keen photographer, rugby mum, kid’s taxi driver and dog lover. I love spicy food and am partial to a good New Zealand Marlborough. When I’m not on the FindMyPub.com website, I can usually be found surfing holiday websites planning my next adventure.
Stuart Maynard-Keene
Head of Technology
Stuart Maynard-Keene, Web & Marketing Director
I am a self-confessed computer nerd and graphic designer. In 2009 Helen came to me with her idea for FindMyPub.com asking for a favour, a logo design, of which I facilitated (ten years later she uses this in meetings of an example of how far the business has come from that original ‘rubbish’ design – no offence taken!)
I have spent nearly twenty five years working in web development and design, my specialities are in interface development and implementation, creating content management solutions and graphic design, there are some other programming specialities, but I won’t bore you with tech talk.
I have watched Helen develop FindMyPub.com for the last ten years and finally after a lot of badgering gave in three years ago and agreed to join her as her web and systems manager. It has been a whirlwind three years.
Joining the board of MyPubGroup.ltd as Head of Technology is a proud moment for me, and I am excited to be part of a dot com business that holds technology and innovation so highly in their priorities. Thankfully Helen is now much happier with my designs (phew), and my role is to ensure we are on the forefront of our game, ensuring user accessibility and creative content are aiding in the business growth and wider strategic plans.
Away from the day job I am a dad of four brilliant children, a fanatical follower of the Wolves and official beer taster at my local pub. I have earned the nickname ‘interface’ which supplies the team with a constant source of amusement, I am an Apple fan (not the ones you eat) and have a strict ‘do not touch my screen policy’ also to the amusement of my team.