Feature: Inside Dining Out

From current business to future industry projections, these first-hand insights from eight restaurant operators offer a peek into all corners of the UK hospitality sector

If there’s one thing we can say for certain when it comes to hospitality, it’s that there’s never a dull day. Imagine, then, just how much can change in the space of a year.

Now, with the results of the general election set to shake up the UK’s political landscape as the ongoing staff recruitment crisis wreaks havoc on the restaurant workforce, the sector’s day-to-day certainly isn’t short of its fair share of trial and tribulation. And yet, the passion, joy and grit that has for so long been the lifeblood of the industry continues to weather the storm. Who better to provide an overview of the business than those serving on its frontline?

Grupo 44

Owen Morgan, founder and co-owner, Grupo 44

Name & job title: Owen Morgan, founder and co-owner

Number of employees: 130

Openings & expansion: Bar 44, Cowbridge – September 2002 (until 2020); Bar 44, Penarth – December 2012; Bar 44, Cardiff – June 2015; Asador 44, Cardiff – March 2017; Bar 44, Bristol – July 2018; Mercado 44 – April 2020; and Parador 44, Cardiff – July 2022

Business evolution: We have developed around the strong ‘44’ name and reputation for bringing the best of Spain to our UK region. Rather than build more units of the successful Bar 44 model (contemporary seasonal tapas and drinks), we looked to create different venues highlighting parts of Spanish culture and gastronomy that we’re particularly passionate about, and specifically not tapas. Asador 44 became the UK’s first dedicated Spanish Asador focusing on northern Spanish grilling techniques over fire, with an unrivalled Spanish wine list. Parador 44 is a take on the Parador hotels of Spain, repurposing interesting historic buildings.

Employee prospects: We have an enviable reputation for training and progressing people from within. NVQ opportunities, management courses, WSET levels and regular Spanish immersion trips with the founders are all standard for our group, as is enviable salary progression for an independent company focused on the high-end premium level of casual operating. Staff retention is exceptional, especially within the management structure, with many people having length of service toward the 10-year mark.

Chef spotlight: Thomas Maynard joined us in 2012. He has developed into an exceptional head chef over multiple sites, having proven particularly adept at building kitchen teams and creating a passion for seasonal cooking from scratch in young and junior chefs. For years, that was a rarity in this part of the world.

Tech focus: We have overhauled our EPOS systems over the last few years, investing a lot of time and money. It has been worthwhile for real-time data, stock, integrating with other parts of the business and, in the long run, saving staff time and effort on daily/weekly/monthly tasks.

Biggest trends of 2024: I would like to see a move away from the obsession with small plates, back to classic three-course menus and fewer sections, whether it be brasserie or bistro, neighbourhood joints, pubs, etc.

Tackling the challenges of 2024: There are a lot! I don’t know one operator without head in hands when looking at the obstacles.
Alcohol duty is at an all-time high, cost of sales likewise, labour costs are increasing nearly 10%, energy contracts are still unsustainable and there’s a general lack of labour from the EU now, along with a lack of skills from the Covid hangover, all of which makes for the most challenging market we have seen in our 22 years.
It’s my job to try, if at all possible, to take all this into account and create menus that we can achieve consistently, at a menu price point that won’t stretch the consumer too far despite the pressures on our side. There’s no magic formula, but it’s a difficult skill, and you must still provide value for money in all aspects.

Goals for the next 12 months: We are now actively looking for sites again in various places, to start organic growth after a period of consolidation.

Lahpet

Dan Anton, Co-founder, Lahpet

Name & job title: Daniel Anton, co-founder

Number of brands/venues: Three, with the third set to open this year.

Number of employees: 60

Openings & expansion: Lahpet Larder, launching in Bermondsey this summer.

Business evolution: Our main focus for the last 12 months has been finding the ideal location for our third Lahpet site. We’re pleased to be expanding into south London.

Employee prospects: Considering organic growth across the team always comes before we recruit. We’re lucky enough to have a low attrition rate and a solid, long-standing management team across both sites.
Our previous Shoreditch GM was promoted to look after our West End site in The Yards, Covent Garden, with her AGM taking over in Shoreditch. Now, a similar management reshuffle is taking place for the new Bermondsey site.
We’ve taken on around 20 Burmese employees in the last 18 months – it’s fantastic. Most of them join with little to no hospitality experience and, with the right training, are fully-fledged waiters or commis chefs within a couple of months.

Chef spotlight: Min Maung Maung is our Shoreditch head chef and group development chef. Shoreditch is our R&D kitchen during the week and Min is responsible for developing new dishes for our current menus and specials boards and also for our new sites.

Tech focus: We’ve just rolled out S4 Labour. Not only does it act as a complete HR suite and rota management tool, but it also pulls in sales data from our PoS to provide a performance dashboard on sales to labour at any one point. It’s really going to help us drive rota cost efficiencies across the business and also save me a lot of time on financial reporting.

Biggest trends of 2024: Demand for low- and no-alcohol beverages. It’s something we’ve had to develop for our menus and has been vital to keeping wet spend up.

Tackling the challenges of 2024: Like many hospitality businesses in the UK, we’ve seen a major slowdown in niche casual dining in Q1.
We’ve found that tourist footfall is stronger than ever, but Londoners are certainly cutting back on more casual meals, choosing instead to splash out on special occasions. We have had to implement operational changes to the business, including cuts to our rotas, but we continue to be agile in this changing market.

Goals for the next 12 months: Get the new site up and running smoothly and profitably – and then look for the next!

La Petite Maison

Nicolas Budzynski, CEO, La Petite Maison

Name & job title: Nicolas Budzynski, CEO

Number of brands/venues: One brand (La Petite Maison) with nine venues (soon to be 10 with the launch of Mykonos).

Number of employees: circa 850

Openings & expansion: We are excited to be opening our 10th location in Mykonos this summer. It’s a special site – set upon a hill in Mykonos town, offering breathtaking panoramic views over the Aegean Sea from the fully alfresco dining space.

Business evolution: Having established five new venues in the last three years, our main focus has been growth.

Employee prospects: We’re very focused on employee development with training material and technology, as well as mobility opportunities.
The new generation of employees want to see growth opportunities quite quickly and remain loyal and reliable should we propose a plan.
We also put a lot of emphasis on onboarding, which we see as key to the success and stability of new team members.

Chef spotlight: We created a Culinary Committee with two of our regional executive chefs, along with our group training and development chef. The three of them and I discuss the trends and development requirements for the company. We also work on recipe development, new concepts, kitchen design, employee development, marketing requirements and planning, all while keeping an eye on the financial performance of the culinary teams for each location.

Tech focus: Pocket Trainer is probably our best technology and focuses on training and communication for all team members.
In the short-term future, we will implement a HRMS (HR platform) which will remove all paper and Excel document use, and we are in the process of implementing Power BI to enable faster reporting on KPIs, allowing us to keep an eye on trends and make decisions faster, while empowering senior management in every location.

Biggest trends of 2024: Mergers and acquisitions in premium dining with fast development plans. It seems that premium dining is also splitting into two main categories, with ‘entertainment and vibrant’ focusing on lifestyle (less on food and beverages), and ‘quiet luxury’ focusing on quality (food and service). Interest in cocktails (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) also keeps improving.

Tackling the challenges of 2024: The main challenge for us is the transition from a small company to a global restaurant brand with a clear goal to develop more sites. We aim to maintain and improve our product while ensuring we have the right tools to support growth. It’s not an easy task, but it keeps us busy.
People and recruitment are big challenges in the F&B industry in general, so we must be agile and creative to suit the needs of today and tomorrow.

Goals for the next 12 months: To keep improving our systems and expand into exciting new destinations that will boost the brand positioning of La Petite Maison internationally, while also growing as an employer. For our teams, our main focus in 2025 will be to ‘create memories’.

Rare Restaurants

Martin Williams, CEO, Rare Restaurants

Name & job title: Martin Williams, CEO

Number of brands/venues: Two brands – M (x 1) and Gaucho (x 20).

Number of employees: 1,500

Openings & expansion: We have enjoyed five new openings in the past two years. In terms of further new launches, for Gaucho, we are still exploring sites for expansion and have been looking at various locations in London and across the UK. We have two new locations currently in legal…
We are also designing exciting flagship refurbishments in Tower Bridge and Piccadilly. We have 30 target locations which will broaden the brand’s footprint and tap into new markets.

Business evolution: We already boast the leanest premium restaurant margins in the UK, in part due to the 26% like-for-like growth we experienced post-pandemic. The business continues to review and refine its operational strategies to enhance efficiency and keep the customer experience best in class. This includes our revised training lab updates to service standards, and enhanced menu offerings to align with current dining trends and customer preferences – our new cocktail menu is to die for.
Both Gaucho and M have seen updates to their menus, with an emphasis on innovative dishes and sustainability. This is part of a broader initiative to keep the dining experience fresh and appealing.

Employee prospects: We have implemented enhancements in training programmes and career opportunities for staff, reinforcing our commitment to employee growth and retention.

Chef spotlight: Chefs at Gaucho are provided with competitive salaries, excellent development prospects and training opportunities.
Their responsibilities include menu creation, maintaining high culinary standards and overseeing kitchen operations.

Tech focus: Plans for future tech integration are led by our business development initiatives, maximising our data to adopt advanced technologies to improve loyalty, guest experience and operational efficiency, while enhancing the customer journey by streamlining reservations and ordering processes.

Biggest trends of 2024: Sustainable dining and tech integration.

Tackling the challenges of 2024: We’ll overcome challenges facing the industry this year by investing in our staff and increasing our brand awareness through external events and restaurant marketing activations, all while enhancing the guest experience so that we remain great value.

Goals for the next 12 months: Continuing to broaden our appeal, refurbishing our hero venues with a new, evolved look and feel, continuing to grow and enhance our brand presence, all while innovating our culinary offerings and customer experience through having the most intelligent and ambitious team in the sector.

San Carlo Flying Pizza

Daniele Atzori, GM, San Carlo Flying Pizza

Name & job title: Daniele Atzori, general manager

Number of brands/venues: San Carlo has 25 Italian restaurants across the UK, including Flying Pizza in Leeds.

Number of employees: Flying Pizza currently employs 48 dedicated staff members.

Openings & expansion: The restaurant reopened in May this year, with a £2m investment supporting the venue’s complete refurbishment.
This year also marks our 50th anniversary, a significant milestone for us.

Business evolution: Each year presents its unique set of challenges, with the escalating prices of goods and other factors requiring adjustments to maintain a prosperous business. Being proactive about these impending changes is crucial for timely and effective responses.

Employee prospects: The recently renovated Flying Pizza has been a resounding success, attracting many potential new employees. We have a strong emphasis on viewing our team as a close-knit family so it’s incredibly rewarding to see our talented staff advance in their careers.
We believe that this success reflects positively on our management and underscores our commitment to fostering a supportive work environment.

Chef spotlight: We’re incredibly fortunate to have Antonio Stincheddu leading our team as head chef. His expertise in food, safety and kitchen management surpasses that of any previous individual in this vital role. Stincheddu mentors and develops each chef under his supervision, ensuring they meet our company’s rigorous standards. The kitchen is the heart of any restaurant, and we are grateful to have such a robust and vibrant team led by him.

Tech focus: In my 30 years of experience, I have seen many technological advancements within hospitality and collaborated with numerous organisations to enhance our service efficiency and accuracy – for instance, implementing iPads to take orders instead of traditional pen and paper, and using earplugs and microphones for communication across different areas of the workplace (such as second floors or distant kitchens), has proven effective. Smooth inter-departmental communication is crucial in a bustling environment and results in significant time savings – all allowing us to provide a better service to our customers.

Biggest trends of 2024: The new age of convenience in eating. Technology is set to revolutionise meal planning, shopping and cooking, making the experience more streamlined.
As an authentic Italian restaurant that relies on fresh, high-quality produce often sourced from Italy, we must ensure that we’re constantly ahead of the curve in order to remain competitive against those following this trend.

Tackling the challenges of 2024: Our biggest challenge in 2024 revolved around celebrating the iconic Flying Pizza’s 50th Birthday. To mark this occasion, we rewarded the local community with a magnificent gift: a brand-new, beautiful restaurant. Our marketing strategy, conceived by CEO Marcello Distefano, involved reviving the historical signage and the original logo from our legendary previous owner Adriano and his era in the 80s and 90s.
Closing the doors for six months and investing heavily in the refurbishment during a challenging economic climate presented some interesting challenges as a team, but the overwhelmingly positive response since reopening has made it all worthwhile!

Goals for the next 12 months: Our goal is to be known as the best Italian restaurant in the area. We are proud to say we are well on track to achieve this ambition.

Sushi Revolution

Aidan Bryan, director of operations, Sushi Revolution

Name & job title: Aidan Bryan, director of operations

Number of brands/venues: Sushi Revolution has a venue in London’s Brixton and another in Shoreditch.

Number of employees: 20

Openings & expansion: Our second site launched in Shoreditch in May. We also have plans to launch a third in Stratford in Q4.

Business evolution: Having established our second site, consistency is key!
Regarding the actual business model and our core vision, we haven’t changed much – we just ensure that every decision we make is looked at with that focus in mind. If it doesn’t fit our goal, we don’t do it. With the second site, we have taken everything we implemented with the first and rethought and refined it to continually improve the working environment for the team.

Employee prospects: We recently promoted our original sous chef Peter (previously a head chef), who has been with us since day one, to group head chef to ensure standards across the two restaurants are consistent.
Most of our team started in one role but have been trained and promoted to do more, so everyone can help everyone. We pay competitive salaries but feel the environment our staff work in is just as, if not more, important. We strive to create the best work-life balance possible; if our team are not in the restaurant working, we simply do not bother them. No emails, no messages – their personal time is their time.

Chef spotlight: We have some amazing chefs working for us, and a core group we call our ‘captains’. They run the service in each restaurant day-to-day and maintain our quality and standards. We pay our chefs extra when they work a captain shift, so they are rewarded for the extra effort and responsibility.

Tech focus: Tech is vital to our business. We look for the best solutions we can find and then try to ensure they all integrate where possible.
Lightspeed and Deliverect form the backbone of our day-to-day operation and the way they work together really helps the team use their time efficiently. Harri also ensures all HR and recruitment is streamlined and easy for the team to use, with nothing missed when a new person joins.

Biggest trends of 2024: Offering quality food at a reasonable price.

Tackling the challenges of 2024: No one can deny that the cost of living crisis and inflation levels are affecting the hospitality industry. £9 pints are now common in London, which probably, as consumers, we haven’t come to terms with yet!
We have always tried to keep our prices as low as we can (we don’t think fresh sushi should ever be cheap), but it’s a struggle. When McDonald’s raises the price of a cheeseburger by 20%, it’s an unfortunate trend that prices have to go up. Hopefully we can deliver good food at a good price so our guests keep coming back.

Goals for the next 12 months: To successfully open site three and keep our eyes open for further expansion possibilities.

The Rick Stein Group

Charlie Stein, executive shareholder director, Rick Stein Restaurants (Image: James Ram)

Name & job title: Charlie Stein, executive shareholder director

Number of brands/venues: 10 restaurants, some of which have rooms (such as The Seafood Restaurant and St Petroc’s Bistro), Rick Stein’s Cookery School in Cornwall, along with the deli in Padstow, plus an online shop and fishmongers.

Number of employees: 622

Openings & expansion: We’re always exploring opportunities that feel right for the brand, but don’t have anything set in stone yet.

Business evolution: Being a family business, creating an environment where our teams feel valued and engaged is key at Stein’s. We have worked incredibly hard to create a positive culture among our teams and develop a new, actionable set of values, as well as recognition for long service, since retaining staff is something we’re proud of.
We have also made a number of new hires within senior management, strengthening our leadership team by taking on a head of people and a new head of food, as well as promoting our previous head of finance to financial director.

Employee prospects: Growing talent within the business is something we strive for. We have recently launched a HR department as our ‘People Team’, implementing a new performance review process, which provides all colleagues with opportunities to further their careers and contribute to the success of the business.

Chef spotlight: We have recently employed a fantastic new head of food, Jason Wass, to work alongside chef-director Jack Stein (and, of course, our Dad, Rick), creating our restaurant menus, training our teams and working on additional commercial drivers.

Tech focus: With so many different elements to the business, from bookings to room reservations and online orders to dispatch, tech is an integral part of what we do. We’ve brought on a systems and process manager to help rationalise and integrate the various programs we use, as well as improve our data integrity. This helps us provide our management team with accurate and informative insights to support business decisions and drive success. Improvements are always being made to our booking systems, email marketing and CRM.

Biggest trends of 2024: I think, product-wise, we’re seeing more and more no- and low-alcohol drinks on the market as demand continues to grow. It’s something I think will continue to gain popularity and become more of a standard part of a venue’s offering in future.

Tackling the challenges of 2024: The biggest challenges for us are around utilities. We have a project team in place to help incentivise reduced energy consumption.

Goals for the next 12 months: Next year, we’ll be celebrating the business’s 50th anniversary, marking five decades since my parents Rick and Jill opened The Seafood Restaurant (our first) in Padstow. It’s a huge milestone for us, and we’re planning some amazing collaborations, events, VIP parties and hope to welcome back to our kitchens some of our great chefs of the past. We might even bring back the 70s disco (The Purple Tiger) my parents ran for one night…

Vetch

Dan McGeorge, chef-owner, Vetch (Image: Optomen Television)

Name & job title: Daniel McGeorge, chef-owner

Number of brands/venues: One – Vetch – located at 29A Hope Street, Liverpool.

Number of employees: Seven team members.

Openings & expansion: Nothing right now as I’ve just opened my debut restaurant in the middle of Liverpool. In the meantime, we plan to be the best we can be – and then, who knows? We might be looking for future opportunities in a year or so.

Business evolution: Since we’ve only just opened, everything is very new – but we don’t like to keep things the same for too long. We are always looking to improve, whether that’s with our food and drink offerings or how we enhance the overall guest experience, making it that little bit better.

Employee prospects: We aim to offer structured face-to-face, fully accredited training to all employees, covering the full range of business-related functions. The idea is to help improve their overall knowledge and skills and, ultimately, their individual prospects, which will help them progress to the fullest of their abilities in their chosen career.
Investing in our team will only make us stronger as a whole and improve what we can deliver in terms of the overall experience, so it makes sense to be proactive from the get-go.

Chef spotlight: Chefs who join us are fully involved with every aspect of the kitchen. I’m a big believer that you need to be proficient in every section to be able to progress to head chef level. So, every chef who joins us spends time in each section to ensure they become proficient, especially when it comes to pastry.
Menu development is frequently talked about collectively. Everyone has a valid input, so it’s worthwhile getting everyone involved because you never know what someone will produce.

Tech focus: We’re not currently in a position to look at tech solutions for the restaurant, but I’m sure that, in the fullness of time, we’ll look at ways of making service more efficient by utilising hand-held devices in relation to menus, drinks lists and to help longer term with order streamlining etc.

Biggest trends of 2024: Asian influences have been big over the last couple of years, and I think that this year will be no different.

Tackling the challenges of 2024: Launching Vetch was a massive hurdle to tackle in itself. With a new opening, there are so many variables that you just can’t quantify and you have to tentatively learn how the business works as you go along so you can implement plans and strategies.
But so far, we’ve dealt with the entire thing by simply learning on the job and getting stuck into it. To be perfectly honest, there wasn’t really any other option.

Goals for the next 12 months: To consistently improve what we do and then apply that to effectively move forward and increase our customer base. We must do all this while ensuring we consistently deliver the same high standards for each and every service.

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