Geetie Singh-Watson - My Fight for a Better World & Sustainable Hospitality
Indilisi founder Safia catches up with her friend, Geetie Singh-Watson, who opened the world’s first certified organic pub in 1998, known for the famed ‘Duke of Cambridge’ and now The Bull Inn, Totnes, Devon, to prove that regenerative and sustainable hospitality is possible.
Geetie grew up in a commune in Herefordshire, where her life deeply reflected the environment and society. From a childhood of munching on vegetables straight from the garden to radical politics discussed at supper, her life as an activist and social entrepreneur disrupting the restaurant industry comes naturally to her.
Safia - How did you go about ecologically refurbishing The Bull, gastro pub and boutique hotel?
Geetie- I was led by the textures that are already there. The lath and plaster, the ancient walls, which you strip back to the plaster and just enjoy the texture and colours.
In many places, old wallpaper bits transferred onto the plaster, like faded pineapples in one room. You start with that and build around it, so the yellow used reflects colours in the stripped-back plaster.
We begin with the building's structure, then add texture suited to it, followed by materials and colour. I aim to make each space authentic. Practical elements are crucial - where do you store your wash bag? Is there space for three? Can the kettle fit under the tap? Are there hooks for coats?
We bought a lot of curtains online from a stately home being shut down and repurposed them. I laid them on the lawn, and I stood up at the top of the house. It was a lovely process. Then, a local woman refurnished all using only natural materials, so we didn’t need fire retardants. I kept fire retardants out of the hotel almost entirely.
Safia – How easy is it to not use fire retardants?
Geetie – It was an enormous fight, but I knew it was possible. I worked with Naturalmat, who make organic mattresses with no fire retardants on any of their products. So my thinking was that if they can build it into mattresses, I can build it into hotel rooms. Then I had to convince the fire officer. At first, they said it was not possible. So we looked at the legislation and found that if you're using natural cotton, natural fibres, horsehair, or anything pre-1970s, it’s pre-foam, pre-plastics, and so you can use those without fire retardants.
And then, for the walls, we used fire-resistant plasterboard and similar products where needed, rather than painting fire retardants onto surfaces. So there are no fire retardants; it's all natural. You could plonk one of my bedrooms in a field and it would almost entirely rot away, other than, obviously, the kettle, the bath, sink, and taps. But they're all of a quality that they're recyclable. They're all reusable. So one of the things you have to get the builders to start thinking about is, when you're installing a reusable item, what is its future use?
We buy high-quality, energy-efficient white goods, investing heavily in an extractor system to capture kitchen waste heat for hot water. We installed roof solar panels to heat upstairs water, despite regulations against it. We challenge these rules publicly and seek a debate about rooftop solar, but they won't engage.
Safia – Is it the same with the Pizza shop?
Geetie – When we were laying the marble in our kitchen at the Albatross, which is our pizza shop, we used reclaimed marble everywhere. To be sustainable, when you're laying that down, you have to think about how you’re gluing it, how thick it is, and how hard it is to lift and remove.
Safia – Your pioneering work has won you many awards – which are you most proud of and why?
Geetie – We’ve won “Town and Country House Sustainable Hotel of the Year” twice, which I’m proud of. There are many awards I can't remember all! I'm proud of all. It's been amazing, but always in the “sustainable' category. I want to also be in general categories and be sustainable. It's like getting awards for being a woman or brown, when I just want recognition as a great entrepreneur without labels. I'm most proud of the awards outside that 'sustainable' category.
Safia - You're saying you want to be judged on a great hospitality experience while changing mainstream practices. How do you do that? Where have you been effective in mainstreaming sustainable hospitality ways?
Geetie - It's been extraordinary. Allegra McKevedy from the restaurant chain Leon came to see me to get advice on ethical business. Thomasina Miers did as well from Wuhaka. I didn't really know who they were and didn't pay much attention to them when they came. It's later they've told me how important it was talking to me. And there are other people too.
I was very radical from the start; I had absolutely no interest in doing it any other way. And that radicalism extended to the smallest details. For example, you couldn't get a gin and tonic in my pub because I couldn't find ethical tonic water. There was no Coke, and not a single mainstream beer brand. There wasn't a single brand anyone knew in the pub!
Safia – I see notes in your hotel rooms educating and inspiring guests, which also promotes eco-living and reduces waste.
Geetie – Yes, there's a note saying there's a stain on your organic cotton towel, but it's not dirty. It's those kinds of brave steps.
Safia – I used to put the "do not disturb” on my hotel door to prevent the staff from changing my sheets during a three- or four-night stay. Now, not changing the bed sheets every night is becoming a wider practice?
Geetie – The energy crisis has changed how we operate enormously. So when I first opened The Duke of Cambridge in 1998, I used to go into the kitchen and say, "Stop wasting the gas; you're wasting energy”. And it just went over their heads. The only way I could get them to change was to tell them that they’re wasting my money; that was the only thing they'd relate to.
That's changed dramatically; everyone understands the energy issue, making it a straightforward topic. During the first major energy crisis years ago, restaurants and pubs were cold because people cut heating to save money. This conserves energy. When I started in restaurants, chefs would turn on all gas rings and ovens then sit to write the menu—that was normal practice.
Safia – How else can you affect a mainstream shift to sustainability in the hospitality sector?
Geetie – Phil, who runs the business for us and has been in hospitality all her life, put together a course.
It's level three accredited course and we've got funding for three years for people in Devon to attend the course for free. We have 12-16 people on each cohort, and they're full all the time. We're on our third cohort now.
Farmacy, London is hosting the course. We're very selective about who can host it. We need to be absolutely convinced that their values align with ours. This year, we'll train about 100 people in sustainable hospitality.
It is the only course in Britain that covers sustainable hospitality; it's the only course that addresses your triple bottom line (social, environmental and financial). It's the only course that takes you through proper procurement and the actual interrogation of certification.
Safia - It's like our Fashion Declares Carbon Literacy course for people working in fashion and retail.
Geetie - Yes, exactly like that. And it’s doing really well. At the same time in the pub we have what we call the nine Nobull rules to work by. Those are on display in the bar so that philosophy is there for people to see and understand.
The team get a lot of training. It's very complicated the story; we're management-heavy, possibly spending almost double on management compared to others. Despite this, we operate efficiently with a turnover of £1.8 million and 8% profit. Profit may decline next year due to the pizza shop's challenges, but I'm satisfied.
Safia – How is The Bull priced compared to other pubs in Totnes?
Geetie – We are very comparable in our prices. There is no excuse for hospitality to be unsustainable. Phil did a lovely deep dive into our supply chain and where we're spending our money. It was absolutely fascinating. The most significant figure is that we spend £400,000 directly with producers, growers, and harvesters within 15 miles of the pub. That's money going into the local economy. And that doesn't include Riverford, because we can't break down Riverford's supply chain. So it's an enormous impact on the local economy.
Safia – How will you continue to carry out your philosophy?
Geetie – At some point, we'll move towards some form of alternative ownership. We want to do radical, innovative things. We've got The Bull, a 13-bedroom hotel that is absolutely ethical to its core. There’s also the pizza shop, which is totally ethical and uses the existing fish-and-chip shop equipment. And we bought a staff house to provide affordable accommodation for the team.
Geetie and Indilisi are collaborating on a Home Textile project together. Watch this space!
Thank you, Geetie Singh-Watson, Phil and the amazing Team at The Bull Inn, Totnes
Geetie Singh-Watson looks fabulous in our Artist Jacket in Natural