Celebrity chef Mitch Tonks’ chain of South Coast restaurants has been secured with a loan of more than £1million after losing all revenue during the coronavirus lockdown.
The Exeter-headquartered Rockfish Group, which has nine seafood restaurants in total and even counts Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a patron, has earned no income at a time when it normally starts to generate cash after a quiet winter period.
It means it was facing a struggle until it secured a “seven-figure” finance package from HSBC under the Government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).
The Rockfish Group, which is owned by Mr Tonks, has used the funding as working capital, enabling changes to be made to the restaurants to adhere to new Government guidelines, employing additional members of staff for dedicated anti-coronavirus roles and to support the business through a lower period of revenue.
HSBC said the package would “safeguard the future of the business amid the coronavirus”. The company’s nine seafood restaurants will now open in a “staggered approach”, with its Plymouth restaurant already open in line with Government guidelines.
Part of the funding will also be used to introduce a new social distancing system which is being trialled in the Plymouth restaurant.
The eatery, at Sutton Harbour, reopened on “Super Saturday”, July 4, after more than three months in lockdown.
Its new system will include separate doors for entry and exit, a dedicated “COVID monitor” who will look after all customer questions and ensure the restaurant is regularly sanitised and that tables are kept up to 2m apart. There is also a new menu and new ordering system.
The Rockfish Group will reopen its Seahorse restaurant in Dartmouth on July 10. Other restaurants, including those in Exeter, Exmouth and Poole, will open soon after once “all feedback and processes are considered”. Its flagship site in Brixham will open once a refurbishment project, which will include a fishmongers, has been completed.
Rockfish has eight restaurants with three takeaways and also has the award-winning Seahorse restaurant in its portfolio.
Directors took early pay reductions, the group made the decision to close before it was mandated. It has retained all jobs and kept in touch with furloughed staff throughout the shutdown via “a number of channels available to help them”, and the directors have communicated with staff daily since lockdown began on handling the crisis and reopening measures needed.
Mr Tonks, famous as a “celebrity chef” and for appearing on TV, said: ““The past three months have been a challenging time for the food and drinks sector but HSBC UK has done a fantastic job of understanding and accommodating our finance requirements and putting a package in place that has helped safeguard the future of our business.
“Our relationship director, Steven Crouch, acted with speed and professionalism and I couldn’t have asked for anymore from him and his team. We look forward to opening again very soon.”
He added: “We’re opening our restaurants up one at a time and making sure all the changes and measures we’re introducing absolutely work for our customers and our teams.
“It will be a little bit different, with a changed menu and ordering process for instance, but we’re retaining all the Rockfish magic that customers have come to love.
“Plymouth is opening first, it is a great big spaced-out restaurant overlooking the boats and water, it has loads of outdoor space, different entry and exit doors and so on, it’s the perfect place to reopen first. The marine aquarium next door to us are also opening, feels good to be back.”
He added: “We were performing strongly before lockdown and on track for our best year yet. Lockdown has put incredible pressures on hospitality but we are confident and optimistic about the future.
“We’ve been helped by our bank, by Government loans and we’ve used the time wisely to develop great ideas we’ve had on the back burner for a while and come out of this with a modern, fresh business. I believe we will emerge from this as one of the strongest restaurant businesses in the South West.
“We’ve updated everything, in line with all the Government guidelines and have produced support documentation and training programmes for all staff, which start this week - it’s a big operation but it is also an exciting one, a chance to reboot.
“Our mission has always been to change the way people experience seafood in the UK and we will continue with that. Prior to lockdown our focus was on further openings of our Rockfish restaurant group along the coast so plans to expand sites will be put on hold temporarily as we consolidate and deal with the new world.
How to contact William Telford and Business Live
Business Live's South West Business Reporter is William Telford. William has more than a decade's experience reporting on the business scene in Plymouth and the South West. He is based in Plymouth but covers the entire region.
To contact William: Email: william.telford@reachplc.com - Phone: 01752 293116 - Mob: 07584 594052 - Twitter: @WTelfordHerald - LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com - Facebook: www.facebook.com/william.telford.5473
Stay in touch: BusinessLive newsletters have been re-designed to make them even better. We send morning bulletins straight to your inbox on the latest news, views and opinion in the South West. Get our breaking news alerts and weekly sector reviews too. Sign up now - it's free and it only takes a minute. To sign up for Business Live's daily newsletters click here.
And visit the Business Live South West LinkedIn page here
“We have put into place exciting plans we have long wanted to do going back to our roots, to broaden the offering with retail fish from our flagship Brixham (restaurant) and later home delivery of seafood nationwide.
“This is something I’ve always wanted to return to but new restaurant openings were the priority before. We have used this time and space to build that vision.”
The HSBC UK funding for Rockfish in addition to “business as usual” finance facilities already in place with the bank.
James Jordan, head of corporate banking, Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, HSBC UK, said: “Rockfish is a well-known and much-loved brand which relies on spring and summer trading to keep its finances steady, so it was a huge blow to have to remain closed after the winter period when its cash reserves are depleted.
“This latest round of funding from HSBC UK has meant the restaurants can re-open in a well-thought out but timely manner, just in time for the summer tourism season.”
