Robert Thompson’s definitely taking orders – but only from diners at his new restaurant. He’s his own boss now, having previously worked at the Hambrough in Ventnor and The George in Yarmouth. He won the Isle of Wight its only Michelin star in 2008 and last year he went from chef to restaurant owner, buying premises in Newport and opening Thompson’s restaurant. Tom Stroud finds out how life has changed for the Island food ambassador.
How was 2015? You went from being employed to being a restaurant owner…
It was very scary! I was flying by the seat of my pants. Even now I walk out at the end of the day and sometimes wonder “what have I done?”… I own the building, employing 13 staff and it’s my first business so I do feel a bit out on a limb sometimes. It’s a 50 cover restaurant so it’s very staff heavy. It’s all good though.
It’s been a big investment, in time as well as money.
Of course. Luckily I had a couple of customers and my family who have lent me money. I didn’t have to go down the backer route and I now own the building outright. I can’t remember the budget I started out with but it grew to two and a half times what I’d originally imagined, but it all worked out. I invested well over a hundred thousand pound in the refitting of the building and that’s without doing any actual building work. The building has been a really good investment and the business is working. These things aren’t money makers but it is paying its way.
Why Newport – in fact why the Isle of Wight? You could have gone anywhere presumably.
I invested a lot of time and energy here and I believe I’ve got a good following. I also love the Isle of Wight and I love living here. For business – and personally – I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else. Business wise it wouldn’t have made sense to have to go and establish a reputation again somewhere else. I was looking for freehold properties on the Island and nearly everything was lease. I was originally was looking for a pub. I got quite far with a place in Bembridge and that fell through. As soon as I came to this place (on Town Lane in Newport) I could imagine it as a restaurant. An architect friend of mine looked at it and told me I could do everything that I wanted. There was a heart in mouth moment when the buildings inspector told me that I couldn’t quite do everything, after I’d bought the building, but with some clever engineering we solved it.
How has it been making the transition from chef to business owner? What have you learned?
To be honest, ever since I came to the Island, at the George and especially at the Hambrough, I treated it like it was my own business. I didn’t just focus on the cooking and I was always looking to make money. I looked at the business as a whole. That put me in good stead for running my own business. The biggest thing is treating staff properly. At every place that I’ve worked, the team has been the most important asset. They work hard but being able to speak to them as friends and have a laugh is really important. When we have a “staff do” I go for it at full tilt, which I haven’t been able to do until now. I want to show the team that it’s a family atmosphere and it’s not about working 90 hours a week and then going home.
Maybe not everyone is cut out to run a place. You definitely have to learn your craft. I’m the first to admit that I’m not the best chef in the world and I look to my team for ideas and inspiration. Maybe my real quality lies in bringing people together and then backing off to allow a team to improve over time. Everyone needs the opportunity to grown and learn. I’ve learnt how to run a business by working from the bottom up, as an apprentice on £7,000 a year. I’ve seen staff treated badly and that’s a real shame. It comes back on the owner too when they eventually lose their team. If you don’t put the hours in you can’t learn to run your own place and teach others.
Do you feel part of the business community?
Yes. It’s great to be back! I felt a bit out of the loop and under the radar while I was doing this place up. I’ve always tried to contribute to the Island dining scene, whether that’s at food shows or using the Isle of Wight hashtag on social media. I’m proud to be an ambassador for where I work and live. Now that I’m in Newport I see people all day and it’s really busy. It’s great for my chefs to look out from an open kitchen. In the past I’d been in a bit of a box, cut off from the world. I never really came to Newport a great deal before because I was always working in the kitchen somewhere else! It’s definitely a nice place to be. I like to be able to help push the Island forward with food but I think lots of other places also do that too. I do what I do and I hope people like it. Hopefully in time I’ll be able to use even more Island produce.
From the outset I tried to make Thompson’s open to everyone and I think I pitched it right. It’s always going to be more expensive than nearly every other place but that’s what I do. I have a big team and we make everything that we serve up. It’s not going to be at everyone’s price point but I want Thompson’s to feel approachable. It’s a vibrant, lively environment and I like that. We have a small lunch menu and that’s worked well. Lunch trade is getting busier and busier too, more so than at any other place that I’ve worked.
How do you grow the business in the future? Might we see another Thompson’s on the Island – or even on the mainland?
I’ve always said “stick to your guns” and stick to what you’re good at and what you believe in. I don’t think I can really expand this place and I want it to stay popular and current. It’s quite a small restaurant and we’re here every night. I want to grow in quality, and then the business will grow, until we’re fully booked every week. In terms of expansion there’s quite a few things that excite me about the future but nothing that will draw me away from the focus of this place.
“Everyone needs the opportunity to grown and learn. I’ve learnt how to run a business by working from the bottom up, as an apprentice on £7,000 a year. I’ve seen staff treated badly and that’s a real shame. It comes back on the owner too when they eventually lose their team. If you don’t put the hours in you can’t learn to run your own place and teach others.”
First published in the April 2016 issue of Island Business Magazine.
