Rupert Clevely, CEO, Geronimo Inns

Published: 23 July, 2008

After 20 years of working as managing director of Veuve Clicquot (UK) and international marketing director for Veuve Clicquot, Rupert Clevely founded the Geronimo group of pubs in 1995 with his wife, Joanna. The company now has 15 sites in London and around the M25, including the Black Swan at Ockham in Surrey and the Tin Goose pubs in Heathrow's Terminals 1 and 3. Next year Geronimo Inns Ltd will open a pub in St Pancras to coincide with the launch of the Eurostar service. Clevely's father, John Clevely MW, is responsible for the wine lists at Geronimo Inns.
Suppliers: Berkmann, Enotria, Louis Latour.

I used to sail a lot, and the boat that always won the race and beat us was called Geronimo. It had the best music and the prettiest girls and it was really annoying - I always wanted to be on that boat. The other reason for choosing the name was that leap into the unknown. You can imagine the base jumper, when they jump off a 5,000-foot cliff, shouting Geronimo!'. And for us, because it was a leap of faith, the whole idea just worked.

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