Creating and maintaining new venues helps to keep interest alive
IN this week’s SME Focus, two women who have developed a business out of their love of food provide first-hand evidence of the perils of the planning system. Name: Catherine Hardy, 38, and Jacqueline Fennessy, 47. What is your business called? Together we own and operate The Left Bank, The Two Figs and The Bungo bar and kitchen, explains Catherine.
Where is it based? Glasgow. What is its turnover? £2.5 million. What does it produce, and what services does it offer? Our restaurants serve seasonal food from our local suppliers such as roasted coffee from Matthew Algie, Lymekilns Cheesemongers, Maccallums fishmongers, Cairnhill Farm beef from Ayrshire, wines imported from around the world and cocktails. To whom does it sell? All sorts: lots of locals, mothers and wee ones in the morning, academics and staff from the nearby university for lunch, and plenty of tourists.
How many employees? 80. When was it formed? The Left Bank Ltd was formed in 2005, with the venue opening in 2006. Why did you take the plunge? I was working at Glasgow’s Oran Mor [restaurant, bar and entertainment venue] when Jacqueline and I decided to go into business together to open our first venue in 2005. Having worked in the industry for nearly 20 years it was just the right time to put our own ideas into practice.
Jacqueline and I think differently but we usually arrive at the same decision in the end; we have a good working relationship. We decided to go into business as we have different skill sets but the same objectives. We had worked together before, which made the partnership less daunting – both running the very successful Cul De Sac in Ashton Lane in Glasgow – so there was a good understanding of one another’s abilities.
Collaborating with local artists and designers and travelling the globe is also something we’re both passionate about. Our ethos is focused on sustainability and playing an active role in the local community. This is the reason behind our choice to use local suppliers rather than always looking for the cheapest option, recycling, organising events like the Gibson Street Gala – which we are on the board for – and incorporating the work of local artists into our venues.
Our menus are inspired by our travels and have choices that encourage healthy eating and a commitment to delivering options for vegans and coeliacs and our customers love that. What were you doing before you took the plunge? We were both doing the same thing for other people – running bars and restaurants in Glasgow.
I was part of the Radisson opening team, then worked for Ask Restaurants, opening Zizzi in Princes Square and was finally at Oran Mor, opening the Brasserie and Conservatory restaurants.
Jacqueline was working for Big Beat Group as an area manager looking after venues including the Cul De Sac and The Attic Bar, before they went into receivership in 2001.
This resulted in her doing consultancy work for the receiver – KPMG, which involved her looking after the day-to-day running of the business for a year whilst it was on the market for sale. After G1 group bought it out, Jacqueline decided to look for her first business while continuing to do consultancy work for KPMG, which led to her overseeing the sale of the 13th Note Club and Café, and she successfully took over as her own in May 2002.
Throughout our careers we have remained in touch. When deciding to look for a site to take on it was a great advantage to work with Jacqueline at the 13th Note, giving us the flexibility to develop our plans together.
We both got into hospitality as we loved the lifestyle, the social aspect of the role and the job itself, the mixture of foods and wine – something we try to develop in our venues.
I was cooking from an early age and I travelled through Europe every summer, camping with my parents and eating and drinking our way through Germany, Spain, France and Portugal, giving me a good basic knowledge of food, wine and cultures that has always stood me in good stead.
One of my favourite aspects of owning restaurants is the great excuse it makes for dining out in some amazing places. Jacqueline and I love to be hosts – be it at home or professionally, and we love eating out and discovering dishes. Recently we ate at Noma in Copenhagen, which has been voted the world’s best restaurant and is famous for foraged Scandinavian produce, where we had moss, live shrimp and other Nordic cuisine.
Hospitality was definitely the right career choice for me as I genuinely enjoy looking after people, welcoming them and sharing new dishes and wines and getting to know our customers in both the West End and Southside. Creating and maintaining new venues is another highlight for us both. How did you raise the start-up funding? We were both fortunate enough to have benefited from the property boom at the start of the decade, so this gave us a good start. We then raised the extra capital we needed from Scottish and Newcastle. What was your biggest break? Securing the Left Bank site on Gibson Street. It is close to both our homes so we are familiar with the community here. It was really a dream site for us. What was your worst moment? After months looking for opportunities in the Merchant City area in Glasgow city centre we settled on Cafe Mao on Brunswick Street. We had spent over £20,000 on planning, architects, drawings and structural surveys when we were told our scheme did not fit in with the new city centre planning strategy. It was really hard realising that after 10 months of intense research and What do you most enjoy about running your business? Investing in and developing our staff, taking on new projects and the whole design process but above all learning about great wines and eating what we think is outstanding food!
Picture: Mark Mainz considerable investment that we couldn’t go ahead with that site. We started looking again immediately but it took another year to find a location on Nithsdale Road and it was yet another year before we got all our permissions in place and could give the go ahead with the Bungo development. What do you least enjoy: Definitely the endless paperwork. We do our own accounting and payrolls, and it’s certainly the least glamorous side of the business. What are your ambitions? Our future plans are to open the basement at the Bungo to make it a thriving space for all sorts of local events. We may not have the downstairs open yet but we’ve got our first night planned – comedy with Bruce Morton and Andrew Learmont – on April Fool’s Day. What are your top priorities? Streamlining the three sites to run more efficiently– and ensuring that we have consistency and top quality across the board and building on our community involvement. What could the Westminster and/or Scottish Governments do that would help? An increase in the availability of vocational training as it is most needed. If we want to train our bar staff on their skills for example, currently we have to do this through our suppliers or attend seminars and hospitality expos. If the Government would consider training backed by the SQA it would not only improve the skills they have but standards throughout the industry.
Another aspect would be to look into speeding up and simplifying the licensing and planning bureaucracy to alleviate unnecessary start-up costs. What was the most valuable lesson that you learned? You can never stop working at what you do; the job is never done. Continue to improve what you do and invest in the people that work for you. How do you relax? Jacqueline and I both love exercising; I’m into yoga – all types – and cycling, where Jacqueline is an avid runner and car fanatic.