Bar-bistro’s big league dreams
AS the key Christmas season approaches we hear from the owners of a young food and drink business who enjoy operating in a part of the country where competition is particularly intense.
Name: Phillip Reilly.
Age: 32.
What is your business called?
Grillphace Ltd trading as Loks Bar & Kitchen.
Where is it based?
Shawlands, Glasgow.
What services does it offer?
We run a family owned bar, restaurant and function suite. The restaurant sells bistrostyle food, including steaks, burgers and pastas. The bar is open to non-diners and we attract a lot of people who live nearby. We also have a function suite which can accommodate events for up to 180 people in which we host events such as weddings and themed evenings featuring tribute acts.
During the day we tend to serve young mothers and senior citizens while in the evenings it is mainly young couples and professionals.
What is its turnover? Just over £1m.
How many employees? 30.
When was it formed?
November 14, 2014. We bought the land from the local junior football club, Pollok FC, whose Newlandsfield stadium is next door. We sponsor the club and host a lot of its events in our function room, The Newlandsfield Suite.
Why did you take the plunge?
My wife Grace and I worked in the hospitality industry for 15 years and our goal was always to start a place of our own. We lived in the area and we always felt that the site on which Loks now stands was ideal for a bar/restaurant. We were starting a family and we felt it was important to build a future for ourselves and our children and the best way to do that was by working for ourselves.
What were you doing before you took the plunge?
I was head chef at the Crutherland House Hotel in East Kilbride and Grace was operations manager at the Houston House Hotel. We met while working together at the Millennium Hotel in Glasgow’s George Square. Grace had come to Scotland from her native Northern Ireland and she’d amassed a wealth of experience in the catering industry. This included working in the royal kitchens at Buckingham Palace. At the royal staff ball she had the privilege of holding the Queen’s hand for the first dance!
How did you raise the start-up funding?
My parents run a successful pub group, which includes the Alison Arms, Beechings, the Quarter Gill and Lea Rig among others. A combination of financial support from their company and a bank loan gave us the start-up funds required.
What was your biggest break?
Failing my first year civil engineering exams at Glasgow University and deciding it was probably best that I found an alternative career path! I signed up for a professional cookery course at Glasgow College of Food and had a couple of great years studying and learning a new craft.
What do you most enjoy about running the business?
I thrive on the challenge of working in a highly competitive industry. There are a lot of restaurants in the south side of Glasgow, all of which are constantly looking to improve and the trading conditions get tougher all the time.
It means you have to be constantly on the lookout for new or better ways of doing things. I live on my nerves but it makes for an interesting and challenging job and one that I enjoy hugely.
What do you least enjoy?
Having to deal with external factors I can’t control, such as rising business costs and legislative changes.
Shortly after we opened, the drink driving laws changed, introducing zero tolerance overnight. Suddenly, people’s perception of a night out changed because they knew that, if they were driving, they couldn’t have even a small glass of wine with their meal. This had a big impact on the industry.
What are your ambitions for the firm?
To grow the business to incorporate another two restaurants to give us a firm that is big enough to meet our ambitions but still manageable enough to remain in family hands.
What could the Westminster and/or Scottish governments do that would help?
It would not be unreasonable for them to come up with a fairer method of calculating the rateable value of businesses.
On the back of some fairly hefty increases across the hospitality sector, it seems crazy that rateable values are based entirely on top-line turnover and they don’t take account of profitability.
How do you relax?
With two young kids and a third on the way family time is very important and also quite relaxing. Kids demand all your attention when you’re around so I can honestly say that is the only time I can truly switch off and relax!
I thrive on the challenge of working in a highly competitive industry