1. Count your blessings, not your pounds

No one buys an independent record shop for the money. Twelve years ago, Beggars Banquet decided to sell off its stores. The man who bought the shop I had been working in ended up running the business into the ground. He wanted rid, so we took it on – along with all the debts. We’re still doing all the things we did back then – the label, in-store performances, club nights, gigs – but on a bigger scale, under the Banquet umbrella. Some gigs lose a lot of money, but you have to get over it quickly. I’d like to have a big house and lots of money, but I’d rather have a job that’s fulfilling. Banquet sponsor the kit for the local footie team – those little local connections are what make it so lovely.

2. Know your local scene

Giving a shit about what’s happening on your doorstep – as a resident and as a businessperson – is key. I grew up in Kingston upon Thames, so I understand the place. Think twice about opening up a shop in a town you’re new to. If you try to pile what you want on a community rather than listening to what locals want, you’re likely to fail. We didn’t create a punk-rock scene in Kingston – it was already here. We’ve just helped it to evolve.

3. Curate the atmosphere, not just the merch

There’s a lot of stress and hard work going on behind the scenes, but we try to create a chilled-out vibe for our customers. Start by creating a good environment. When we took over the shop, the first thing we did was to take off the big safety grilles that were on the windows. We wanted people to be able see what was on the shelves, and to feel welcome. Also, don’t employ idiots: sometimes you have to school people a bit, let them know they’re entitled to their opinions, but they shouldn’t preach about it over the counter. People who work at Banquet tend to start off as customers, so they already understand our ethos. It’s not an incredibly well-paid job, so they’re here for more than a wage.

4. Think outside the shop

In-store performances are important, but so is branching out. We do gigs at local venues such as The Fighting Cocks and The Cricketers, and club nights like New Noise at Bacchus and New Slang at McClusky’s. Consider using unusual local spaces such as churches and theatres. It is mutually beneficial to work with local venues: they get your business and you get a selection of venues to choose from. This is useful because different bands have different touring needs.

All Saints Church here might work for Kevin Devine, or provide an unusual setting for the likes of Twin Atlantic, but it wouldn’t suit a band like Enter Shikari. The closing of the Peel last year was a disaster for Kingston’s live music scene. When that happened, we bought a good portable PA that we can move to different venues – be that the church, or the Rose theatre, or the local college.

5. Champion local artists

Not only because you understand what they do, but also because it makes good business sense. Selling music isn’t about forcing it on people – it’s about making them aware of the talent in their town. [My business partner] Mike [Smith] was a big fan of DJ Wrongtom when he was based here, so we continue to stock a lot of his records. You Me at Six are another example. They were local kids who bought their first CDs from us; I remember selling their rhythm guitarist Max [Helyer] a New Found Glory album. They started local and are now selling out arenas.

Blood Red Shoes playing at Banquet Records

6. Ignore the internet at your peril

We do good business via our website, and pride ourselves on being a good online retailer. We have a dedicated Twitter account for Record Store Day, which is our biggest single event of the year. (We sell as much that one day as we do during Christmas week.) This means we can give customers a quick answer about stock availability. Though you have to be careful you’re not bombarding people with information. A lot of the customer-base follow the main Banquet Twitter account for gig news, not records – they don’t care how many limited edition copies of that Yeah Yeah Yeahs single we’ve got left.

7. Create an instore label

If we’re ahead of the curve when it comes to new music, it’s because we’re fans as well as businesspeople, and we’re willing to give shelf-space to new bands that excite us. This gave us a reputation for championing the unknown. Before we got Banquet, we were running a label out of my bedroom. It helped bands tour, essentially. At that time, they weren’t getting much money live, but if they got to sell some CDs on the road they did OK. Our label is a trusted home for US bands who might have trouble getting reliable distribution here, and UK bands such as the Lagan and Scholars, who could get overlooked by the mainstream. It’s not wrong to say Banquet gives bands a seal of approval, and acts as a stepping stone to other things. That success is mutually beneficial.

8. If you book them, they will come back (again and again)

The gig we’re putting on this Thursday – featuring Peace – will be our 1,500th live show. Many artists who aren’t local come back to play for us again and again because they appreciate Banquet’s ethos: Laura Marling, the Vaccines, Frank Turner. Frank is a Winchester lad who lived in K-town for a couple of years. We have championed him from day one, putting him on at least 15 times in the last 10 years.

9. Consciously couple

Banquet has collaborated with Kingston carnival for years, booking headliners such as the Skints and David Rodigan. Those are some of the best gigs we’ve ever done.



Our HMV voucher response was a kind of collaboration, too. When the company went into administration just after Christmas, they left a lot of people with gift vouchers that couldn’t be redeemed. The administrators knew the vouchers would be worthless and sold them anyway. We thought that was unfair, so we decided to give anyone with a voucher 50% off a store purchase in Banquet.

We had no way of knowing the amounts on their vouchers, so we trusted people to be honest. Critics said we were dancing on HMV’s grave, but people could see that wasn’t the case. I’ve no doubt that’s what earned us our Music Week award [for best independent retailer in 2013]. HMV is not our enemy. There needs to be a high-street chain that keeps CDs in business. If people stop buying CDs, labels will stop making them – and physical distribution will be gone entirely.

10. Don’t be too exclusive



Kingston has some great independent shops, but it will be a battle to keep them, because of aggressive regeneration. It would be sad if we became another Westfield town. Being independent doesn’t mean compromising though. We’re indie, and we do a lot that bothers the mainstream. Next week we’ve got a Bars and Melody signing. They’re not a typical Banquet act, but engaging with pop music – especially if it benefits young music fans – isn’t a compromise for us. If you can sell a One Direction record to a kid, that’s one step away from McBusted, which is one step away from All Time Low, which is one step away from some of my favourite bands in the world.

The buzz you get out of seeing people discover and connect with music is fantastic, be it a Vamps fan or a Brody Dalle obsessive. That’s why I do this. The point where you start saying one band is better than another is the point where you should step away from this business. The biggest problem we have as an independent is boycotting Amazon as a supplier. This means we spend more money than we need to on supplies, and we have to hope that our customers understand where that extra money is going. It’s not about cheapness, it’s about an ethic, a better service. The dilemma is never the music, it’s about how to do right in your day-to-day business.