Julian Clark was determined to do anything other than work in his family’s luxury hotel business, the Lancemore Group. Now he runs it. He says the leisure customers in his boutique properties are looking for more than a recharge. His promise is ‘moments of bliss’.
John: Today I’m in Melbourne, where I’m joined by Julian Clark. Julian is the CEO of the Lancemore Group, which owns and manages boutique luxury hotels in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. Lancemore is a family company, but Julian was determined never to work in it, let alone run it. Yet, here he is—after a sparkling career in Europe in management consulting, strategy, and finance—at the helm of the family business.
Today, we’re going to talk about how that came to be and how Julian now finds himself not only doing this job but innovating around his customers in one of the world’s most competitive and demanding sectors. He has to be increasingly purposeful, and we’re also looking at what drives Julian and his company beyond making a profit. Finally, we’ll get a few tips from an industry insider about how he finds and books the best boutique hotels at the best prices around the world. With that, Julian, welcome to Customers Matter.
Julian: Thanks very much.
John: You grew up in Victoria as your family was getting into this industry, but you ended up working in London for many years. What was your path? Where did you study, and how did you end up in London?
Julian: I went to school in Melbourne and then to Melbourne University, where I did an Arts/Commerce degree.
John: Left and right side of the brain?
Julian: Exactly. Interestingly enough, I always said I did Arts for the passion and Commerce to get a job. That was how it was, though I think I became more interested in the Commerce side. I like “dreaming and doing.” You mentioned the left and right sides of the brain; I’m literally 50/50. In this job, you tend to be pulled more toward logic than creativity most of the time, but I actually value the creative side of my brain more.
After my third year, I took a year off and did an exchange semester at Georgetown University in the States. They have the School of Foreign Service there, which was a stimulating environment. It was during the Gore-Bush election when Bill Clinton, an alumnus, came to speak. Madeleine Albright, the Secretary of State, also returned to Georgetown to teach International Relations. It was a very cool environment.
John: That must have opened you up to a wider world. Had you traveled much as a child?
Julian: I had. My dad’s work took him internationally. He used to cash in a First Class airfare and get a couple of Economy tickets instead. We couldn’t afford for the whole family to travel otherwise. I have three sisters who are eight, ten, and twelve years older than me, so I was often dragged along. At the time, if I’m honest, I probably didn’t want to go. Looking back, I’m not sure if that specifically sparked my passion for travel, but it is likely what led me there eventually.
To answer your earlier question about London: I moved to Sydney when I returned from the States and got a job in banking. I met a girl who was from the other side of the world, so I decided to follow her there. That relationship didn’t work out, and I eventually decided to come home after a few years.
The Transition to Management Consulting
John: Regarding your appetite for work and management consulting, how did you get into that, and was it a passion play originally?
Julian: I think it’s always important to try and work out your life. My 20s were about working; I had worked in four industries by the time I was 27, all in similar roles. I always chose a career path that provided transferable skills.
John: What were those industries?
Julian: Banking, insurance, online sports betting, and hotels. They were fairly eclectic. Obviously, I stayed in the one I’m most passionate about, but you take a bit from every industry you work in.
John: Can you tell me about the businesses you were working with in London and Europe? Specifically, when did you start thinking about the relationship between businesses and their customers?
Julian: I started at Westpac in Sydney after finishing my degree. I worked in a strategy team, but it was a small “SWAT team” that was 100% focused on how to improve the customer experience. That was my job for a couple of years.
John: Any secrets you can share? What did you take away from that?
Julian: A lot. If there were a simple answer, everyone would be doing it. I think the “secret sauce” is focus. Prioritize focus, tick things off, and then move to the next thing. The biggest mistake anyone makes when trying to achieve something is tackling too much at once. In doing so, they hardly shift the needle on anything.
John: Specifically regarding engineering a customer experience, how do you know what a customer actually wants?
Julian: There are two ways of looking at that. A large corporate would do extensive market research and curate an experience based on that. The entrepreneur’s way is to intimately understand what those customers want because you are one of them. You combine that with conversations with your team and your customers, then think creatively. I don’t think either way is right or wrong; they both have their place.
My natural modus operandi is to gather a large amount of information and synthesize it. I go on study tours and I read an enormous amount of customer satisfaction data. With modern tools, I see and read every single customer review that comes through any of our hotels. You can read them quickly, then take a deep dive to create a new customer experience along the way.
Returning to the Family Roots
John: At 27, you had a high-octane job in London working for a successful startup turned monolith, helping with global strategy for an insurance business. What brought about the change? Why return to three hotels in regional Victoria?
Julian: When I spoke to my dad about it, he told me not to be an idiot and not to kill my career. I had gone to London to experience different things and for a relationship that no longer existed. I loved my time there, but anyone who has lived in London knows the weather isn’t exactly like Australia’s. I remember vividly looking out the window; my next step was clear. I was going to be a regional strategy manager, which would have meant leading a division in Poland or something similar. Neither of those options was exciting to me.
John: It’s funny you say that. I was once offered a job in London with a broadcast company. They were running 12-hour shifts, and I thought—summer or winter—it’s like being in a coal mine. You go down before dark and come up after dark.
Julian: I was on the 10th floor in the City. I was looking out over St. Paul’s at 3:30 in the afternoon, and it was already dark. I had been working 12 or 13-hour days, with an hour commute each way in the dark. The work was invigorating and challenging, but I thought, “If I’m going to go, now is the time.”
John: You had previously vowed not to be in the family business. Why was that, and what changed your mind?
Julian: I grew up fortunate. Both my parents were middle class, and I had a private school education. I had no interest in being spoon-fed. My parents taught me the value of hard work and the value of a dollar. They put everything on the line when they started their businesses. I never wanted a “free kick.” That was the main reason I never intended to work in the business; it wasn’t about the industry itself.
John: And what changed?
Julian: I was mentored by some great people, and I decided I didn’t want to give 30 years of my career to a corporation only to be judged on the next reorganization or quarterly earnings report. You are always disposable in that regard. I wanted to do something I was passionate about, so I thought I’d give hotels a go. Initially, we agreed to give it a year to see if we liked the arrangement.
John: How did you negotiate that with your parents?
Julian: I asked them how they felt about me working for the company. As I mentioned, the initial response was, “Don’t be stupid; you’ll kill your career.” I argued that I wouldn’t. I told them I’d stay for a year, and if we both liked the arrangement, we’d consider a permanent stay. If not, I’d go back to what I was doing. At 27, I had no kids or mortgage, so there was no pressure.
I had worked in the business every single school holiday from Year 7 to Year 12. My parents were keen to teach us the value of hard work. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn many maintenance skills, which disappointed my mother. When I returned, it wasn’t just a simple handover. My mother had been the Managing Director for 21 years and had built three properties herself. It isn’t easy to hand over a business after that long.
The Evolution of Lancemore
John: By the time you returned, what had the business become?
Julian: We had three hotels. We had moved into the boutique hotel space while maintaining a strong foothold in the conference scene, which had become more competitive. We kept innovating, but at that stage, both of my parents were getting older and didn’t have the same energy to take the business forward. We had stagnated for a few years. I didn’t start as CEO; I worked in sales, marketing, and strategy. I spent time learning the business from top to bottom.
John: Can you describe those three properties?
Julian: They were Lancemore Hill, Lindenderry at Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula, and Lindenwarrah at Milawa.
- Lancemore Hill remains an events-driven property. It’s on 275 acres, including 150 acres of bushland. It has a very rural feel. We are about to do a multi-million dollar refurbishment and will likely rename it “The Farm.”
- Lindenderry is a 40-room boutique hotel on the Mornington Peninsula.
- Lindenwarrah is in the King Valley, opposite Brown Brothers, also with 40 rooms.
We were definitely focused on the boutique, regional Victorian market.
John: What did you bring to the table? It sounds like you brought “next-generation thinking” and a corporate strategist’s perspective.
Julian: At the time, I thought I brought a different perspective and a more strategic outlook. What also transpired were two other things: energy and drive. You have that at the start of your career in a way you naturally don’t at the end.
John: That was a decade ago. How has the company grown since then?
Julian: We now have eight hotels in different jurisdictions. That’s the most obvious physical change.
John: For those who have never had a Lancemore experience, how would you describe it?
Julian: You shouldn’t expect a “cookie-cutter” experience. No Lancemore hotel looks identical to another. I always say it’s about how people feel. We hope they receive a personalized experience and feel they are dealing with real people who are passionate about their stay. Our core goal is a high-quality stay. We aren’t what I’d term “young and achingly hip.” We are confident in our own brand, and our customers are quite eclectic in terms of age and demographic.
Purpose Beyond Profit
John: You now have three kids under four and a growing company. What is the bigger picture for you and Lancemore? What are you passionate about beyond profit?
Julian: My dad did a lot of work with vision and values; those have been core to us since we started. We recruit everyone based on those values, and they are part of our performance appraisals. Values and visions can either be a load of nonsense or extraordinarily powerful. We strive for the latter.
Our vision is simply to be the best. I’ve always been competitive. If you’re going to do something, you may as well give it your best shot. We also want to help our people be the best they can be. Looking back over 30 years, we are most proud of the people who joined us on our journey—those who might have started in Food & Beverage and worked their way up to a General Manager role. They are the legends in our company.
John: What is the business’s higher purpose?
Julian: It’s about allowing people to be their best selves. I also try to stay in our hotels regularly as a customer. In the leisure sector, there are “moments of bliss” that aren’t always present in everyday life. People don’t just take holidays to recharge; they take them for moments where life feels perfect. For me, that might be sitting under the stars with a glass of wine at 11:00 PM. Those moments of serenity are what we want to enable for our guests.
Insider Secrets and Recommendations
John: Finally, how do you go about finding and booking the best boutiques at the best prices?
Julian: I’m a bit of a geek about this. I look at reference sites like Mr and Mrs Smith, Tablet, Kiwi Collection, and i-escape. I cross-reference those with rankings on Trivago and TripAdvisor, then look at rates and locations. It’s a painstaking process, but it means I never stay in a bad hotel.
John: What hotel experiences are you loving at the moment?
Julian: I was at Saffire Freycinet in Tasmania a month ago. It’s a special place. I’m a big believer in “non-starchy” service. The old-school, incredibly formal five-star service is no longer what the luxury customer wants. They deliver non-starchy service to perfection.
Similarly, I just spent a week at Lindenderry on the Mornington Peninsula. You don’t have to pay thousands a night to have an amazing experience. With three kids under four, I’m doing less international travel, but rediscovering what Australia has to offer has been superb. It reminds you why people travel halfway around the world to see what is in our own backyard.
John: Julian, thanks very much for joining us today.
Julian: Thanks, John. I appreciate it.