Couple behind Midland tapas bar brand open a new restaurant
THE couple behind the Midland Tapas and Wine Bar brand have opened a new restaurant.
David Owen and Emma Brown opened their first Midland site in Beaumaris in the summer of 2016 – and enjoyed celebrity visitors and rave reviews.
This was followed by a second site in Conwy in 2018 and last year they opened Mercado by the Midland – a Mediterranean style deli in Beaumaris.
While the coronavirus pandemic has caused national chains to close restaurants – and Midland’s turnover has been hit – the couple have faith in the long term future of the sector.
This saw them take on a new opportunity in Menai Bridge – opening the Libertine tapas restaurant in August.
David said: “This has not been part of any plan but when we found out the owners of the Tapestri in Menai Bridge were looking to leave the site we took the opportunity.
“We have found that while we have had to reduce capacity at our restaurants due to Covid the demand has not changed.
“So this now gives us another place to send people.
“Although the name is different it is a similar offer to the Midland and it has done very well since opening.
“Our restaurants source from Mercado too so it all helps that side of the business as well.”
Staff numbers at the company have actually risen during the pandemic thanks to the expansion – with the team now up to 45.
Despite the positive move, David added: “It has still been difficult, like with other restaurants turnover is down and we have had to use furlough as the restaurants were closed for months.
“We were lucky we had Mercado, we keep an income stream and since reopening the restaurants we have been busy.”
The local lockdowns has now seen their Conwy site close on weekdays but they still have faith in the long term.
David said: “We have confidence in the long term for restaurants. We believe in our offer.”
He added: “We want to thank our customers for their support through this difficult period and also the staff, we have all had to pull together.”