EP Magazine

Much Ado

Much Ado

In recent months there has been quite a bit of noise surrounding the Swan’s high profile appointment of Mark Sargeant, previously of Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s
fame. Jennifer Miller met with new recruit Mark and Diccon Wright, co founder and owner of the Swan at West Malling and the Swan at the Globe, to find out more about the business and their plans for the future

Restaurateurs come in all shapes and sizes. Some have literally been born into the profession, others work their way up from the bottom, learning all the tricks of  the trade until one day they are ready to take the leap and build a business of their own.

Then there is Diccon Wright. Diccon walked into a restaurant as a coffee supplier one Saturday morning in ‘95 and during a conversation with the husband and wife owners, who had recently discovered irreconcilable differences, bought the place on the spot.

And the story gets better – the same day a stallion landed on top of him and broke his pelvis, something he was only to discover six weeks into his new venture, having worked every night.

Since this interesting introduction to the world of the restaurateur, Diccon and his business partner Peter Conwell have established the Swan at West Malling and, in 2007 won the tender for the restaurant, bar, venue space and theatre catering at the Globe Theatre on Bankside. A far cry from Diccon’s 40 cover restaurant in  Tunbridge Wells.

“It was great fun” grins Diccon, “I knew the chef before I bought the restaurant and it was a solid place, we had a great time. There were only 40 covers, we opened from Tuesday to Saturday and we offered a four course set menu and great wines. I had no idea when I bought it and simply approached it as if I was having 40 people around to my house every night for dinner. I was totally hands on and have never worked so hard for so little! I loved it.

“Pete had the Kings Arms in Meopham in Kent and we met in the jacuzzi in the local gym. After a while we got talking about linking our businesses in some way.

“With Kent being quite a commuter belt, people were travelling into London all the time eating out at Conran and the like so, we wanted to bring a bit of London to ‘the sticks’. We found a derelict hotel which we bought and closed in October ’98 and reopened on April Fools Day in 2000. We were officially the worst project  managers ever – budgeting £250k for a refurbishment that ended up costing over £1 million!

“But it was all worth it, after months of building works eagerly watched by the locals, on the first night we had over 500 people walk in. To start with it was a great pub, restaurant, lounge and bareverything to everyone. But then we really had to define it further, so we calmed the drinking side of it down, focussed on food and took the risk of turning 200-300 people away every weekend.”

Turning people away, it’s a problem most establishments would like to have, so what has been the secret?

“We are aiming for ‘friendly’, I’m not actually a huge fan of Michelin, sorry Mark,” explains Diccon, (an apologetic shrug to Mark, winner of a Michelin Star in 2002 at Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s). “It has a time and a place of course, but generally it’s not about putting food on a pedestal it has to be about the whole experience – the service, the environment, the ambience and the food. It’s also about being there, I had learned that from my first restaurant and so for the first two years  either Pete or I were on every single service.”

From West Malling to Shakespeare’s Globe…

“I’d been aware of the Globe Theatre project from a very early stage. I remember seeing plans on my aunt’s kitchen bench as my uncle, Theo Crosby, was the architect on the project and was intimately involved in making the Globe happen. We did talk about going for it at the time, but West Malling was taking up a lot of time and energy and we were not ready. Millburn’s were appointed and then bought out by Compass.

“It’s a complex relationship to manage – a public building with creative, educational and commercial priorities that need to constantly be juggled and are difficult to balance. There was a feeling that the full potential of the site had not been realised. We had been doing outside catering in various London locations and the  Trustees had seen us operating, so three and a half years ago it was put out to tender and we were asked to bid.

"I’m quite sure that that tender document was the worst one ever produced – that’s what you get from two chronic dyslexics! In fact they even offered to show us what a tender document should look like but we were not going to put £50k into a document before we even got the work, so we just told them that we would put our backs into it and we have. 

“It was brave of them to select a private operator and it was certainly an incredible challenge. We were awarded the contract in late November 2007 and took over on January 1 with a new season starting in April. We learned quickly about things like TUPE and inherited a workforce who immediately all went on holiday and then, finding that we operated differently, turned over quite quickly. So we came in with a £1.5 million contract, a management team, a high level of chaos and incredible hours!”

Three years in and the business has grown to £6.5 million, yet Diccon believes that there is more in the business and expects to realise £8-8.5 million in the coming years. Is Mark’s appointment part of this strategy? How did this come about?

“We had met 10 years ago when my mother was ill and Mark’s mother was caring for her. Then we met again when the Swan at West Malling was a finalist in
the F Word search for Britain’s Best Local Restaurant. Pete and I realised that to really move forward we can’t retain as much control and need to amass a team that
have the skills we need to move ahead.”

And what is the attraction for Mark? After 13 years as an integral part of the Gordon Ramsay stable what is it about this business that appeals?

“Well as Diccon says we had met previously, then I got to know Pete during the F Word and he invited me to lunch here at the Globe. I’m from Kent and the Swan at West Malling is very well known in the area, but when I walked in here my jaw hit the floor – it’s a hidden gem and I had no idea it was here!

“It’s a great business with exciting plans for the future, and not just ‘10 times the Swan at West Malling’ but fun, exciting and creative ideas. There are already two fantastic chefs at West Malling and the Globe, and I’m able to work alongside them, but also have the space and freedom to look at new projects. We are focusing on the events here at the Under Globe venue and other areas.

“At the moment I’m learning lots about the business and have a new lease on life. And in a business that, during the hell of the past 12 months, has had its most successful period ever, there is so much we can achieve.”

(Photo credit: Susannah Fields, Flashfields Photography)