THE MALLEN GROUP

transforming multi-site hospitality brands

background

The Mallen Group is a collection of hospitality venues operating across London and the South East, each with distinct identities, audiences and trading patterns.

DVO Group, led by Jackie Clode-Dickens, was brought in at senior level to drive growth across key sites—embedding strategic marketing, commercial thinking and operational alignment directly into the business.

ChallEnge

The group faced a familiar but complex growth ceiling:

Multiple venues with diverse propositions and audiences
Over-reliance on footfall rather than destination marketing
Lack of clear, differentiated brand positioning per site
Inconsistent execution across marketing, customer experience and operations

The ambition wasn’t just incremental growth—it was to elevate flagship venues into high-performing, scalable and ultimately saleable assets.

The APPROACH

Embedded leadership, not external consultancy

Jackie Clode-Dickens operated within the senior membership team, working directly alongside the owner/operator and leadership team. This was not a top-line advisory role—it was hands-on, in-house strategic leadership influencing every layer of the business.

With over 25 years’ experience in marketing and hospitality strategy, Jackie brought a uniquely integrated approach—aligning brand, marketing, operations and commercial performance into one cohesive growth engine.

A multi-site, multi-discipline strategy

Across three core Mallen Group venues, Jackie led:

Full marketing and business development strategy
Brand positioning and storytelling tailored to each venue
End-to-end customer journey and experience design
Social, digital and PR ecosystems
Event programming and revenue-driving activations
Corporate bookings and group sales strategy
Development of brand partnerships and collaborations
Integration of new systems and technical platforms

Building distinct, scalable brands

Rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach, Jackie:

Defined clear USPs for each venue
Created content pillars and messaging frameworks
Built multi-channel campaigns aligned to trading patterns
Ensured consistency from marketing through to in-venue experience

Working across front-of-house, back-of-house, suppliers and agencies, she ensured that brand strategy translated into real-world execution—a key differentiator in hospitality growth.

The Impact:

Record-breaking commercial performance

Under Jackie’s leadership, every site exceeded expectations:

Each venue achieved its highest-ever trading figures
Significant uplift in revenue, bookings and brand visibility

From growth to exit

Crucially, the work went beyond marketing performance:

Three venues progressed to successful exit events
Sold at optimal value, reflecting strengthened brand equity and commercial performance

Long-term strategic partnership

The impact led to continued engagement:

Ongoing consultancy across new Mallen Group projects
Trusted role at senior decision-making level
Continued influence across brand, growth and commercial strategy

The Difference

This project demonstrates Jackie Clode-Dickens’ ability to operate far beyond traditional marketing:

Board-level thinking with hands-on execution
Deep understanding of hospitality operations and revenue drivers
Ability to align teams, brand and business strategy
Proven track record in scaling venues and preparing them for exit

Her influence across the Mallen Group was not just visible in campaigns—but in culture, performance and long-term asset value.

Key Results

Record-breaking revenue across all consulted venues
Three successful, high-value business exits
Stronger, clearly defined brand identities per site
Increased repeat business and destination appeal
Ongoing retained partnership with the group

Client feedback

“Having Jackie as our full-time Head of Marketing was transformational for me. Her knowledge and understanding of the industry made us stand out in a very competitive crowd and helped us grow exponentially”

Dan Conchie

Owner/Operator – The Mallen Group