Alistair Houghton meets GEMMA HINDLEY, managing director of the Isla Gladstone Conservatory, in Stanley Park, Liverpool

GEMMA HINDLEY loves her business so much, she’s getting married in it.

Last year, Hindley reopened the Isla Gladstone Conservatory, in Stanley Park, a glass landmark transformed from a derelict eyesore into a glamorous venue.

Now enthusiastic 32-year-old Hindley, who also owns popular Anfield pub The Sandon, has chosen to hold her own New Year’s Eve wedding at the renovated conservatory.

Hindley successfully juggles running several businesses with being a mother to four-year-old Cameron.

It may be tough balancing her business responsibilities with life as a young mother, but Hindley insists she works best when she’s busy.

“I enjoy the hustle and bustle of setting things up,” she said. “It’s not about having loads of money in the bank – it’s about loving what you do.

“As long as there’s something exciting going on, I’m happy.

“The day I’ve got all my managers in place and I’m sat around doing nothing, it’s time to find something else to do.”

Hindley also owns the Sandon pub – a popular pre-match meeting place for LIverpool fans – the Sandon’s function suites and the neighbouring Dodds Bar.

She and her fiance Gary McGowan set up beer wholesale business Sylvan in 2008. Together, her businesses turn over more than £3m.

Dodds was founded by Hindley’s father, George, in 1989.

Gemma, from West Derby, was all set to go to Liverpool University in 1996 to study English when her father offered her a summer job at Dodds.

“I answered the phone and did everything nobody else wanted to do,” she said.

“Then the Sandon, which had been closed for a few years, came up for sale. My dad, a builder by trade, was interested in it. He said ‘do you fancy going for a licence?’

“I was just two weeks past my 18th birthday. I was the youngest person in Britain at that time to get a licence.”

As well as the pub itself, the Hindleys bought up the properties between it and Dodds bar and converted them into six function rooms.

The family funded the work itself because the banks at that time were reluctant to lend to the industry – a situation all too familiar nowadays.

“We’d do one function room, we’d get it trading, and then we’d do the next one,” said Hindley.

In 2003, George retired, and Hindley raised bank funding to buy him out.

“It seemed to be a natural progression for me,” she said.

“I was enjoying what I was doing. It was something I thought I excelled at, and the potential was there.

“I enjoy dealing with problems, which most people don’t.

“A lot of people end up working for other people because they don’t want to have these problems, but it’s the part of work I enjoy.”

The Sandon’s matchday popularity keeps the money rolling in, but the function rooms keep the venue busy all week.

Hindley calls the pub “the birthplace of Liverpool FC”. It was owned by John Houlding, the brewer and later Lord Mayor of Liverpool who founded Liverpool FC in 1892 after splitting from Everton FC.

The pub was used as a dressing room by both Everton and Liverpool players and was the headquarters for both clubs.

Today it is a popular place for Liverpool fans to gather, both before and after the match.

“I can go into the Sandon on matchdays blindfold and I’d know who’s in there,” said Hindley. “Certain people always stand in certain places.”

Liverpool’s new stadium – if it ever gets built – will also boost her business.

“It can only be for the better,” she said.

“It will attract more people to the area on match days. It’s better for the whole area.”

As a girl, Hindley used to play in Stanley Park, and had fond memories of the conservatory’s faded grandeur.

She first inquired about the potential of the site seven years ago, but in May, 2008, spotted the advert that would change her life.

As part of Liverpool City Council’s £14m revamp of Stanley Park, the conservatory was to be dismantled and rebuilt – and then the council would need someone to operate it as a venue and a cafe.

“I was flicking through the Echo one day and spotted the opportunity on the tender page,” she said.

“I sent off for the paperwork, which was about 10 inches thick. I’d never done a tender before.

“But I could never have driven past this place again knowing that someone else was operating it.”

Hindley was so determined to create a successful bid that she enlisted the support of Isla Gladstone’s descendents from Philadelphia, whom she tracked down online.

Her persistence paid off as she won the tender, despite competition from national catering companies.

The newly-expanded ground floor cafe is open to the public, while the first floor space is a large function room used for functions from charity dinners to corporate events.

The refurbished venue has proved popular with local residents of all ages.

With a smile, Hindley said: “Three lads came in, in the typical Liverpool uniform of hoodies with the hoods up. I thought they’d say ‘this isn’t the place for us.’ But they ordered two cappuccinos, a cup of tea and three scones.”

There have already been 50 weddings in the conservatory, and Hindley is proud that she will also tie the knot there.

“We’ve been engaged for five years,” she said. “I’d been looking for a venue, but because of the industry I’m in, I’m so picky about venues in case something’s not right.

“I was talking to the girls in the office about it, and they said ‘why don’t you have it here?’ They’re right – it’s the best venue I’ve ever been to.”

Hindley already has a lot on her plate, but she has several more ambitious plans.

She is setting up a social enterprise to train young people looking to enter the hospitality industry, working alongside local schools and colleges. Young people, she says, often struggle to find on-the-job experience in real kitchens – as shown by an encounter in the Isla Gladstone car park.

“There were some lads in the top car park playing football, and we asked them to move,” she said.

“One of them said to our chef ‘I’m training to be a chef, but I can’t find anywhere to train’. So we brought him in here for his training, and he’s doing really well.”

She is also looking to start an outside catering business. But her long-term ambition is to open up a boutique hotel.

As if all that wasn’t enough, Hindley and her fiance are currently rebuilding the home in Aughton they share with their son Cameron.

But nothing, it seems, can slow her down. She was a runner-up at this year’s Daily Post Regional Business Awards and is a finalist in the paper’s Merseyside Woman of the Year competition.

When Hindley won her first licence as a teenager, it was tough for her to win the respect of her peers. But today, her track record speaks for itself.

“When I was 18, getting respect from anyone was difficult,” she said. “People would always come in and say to me ‘I’d like to see the boss’, and I’d have to say ‘that’s me’.

“One, I was female and two, I’m under 40.

“But now I’ve stood my ground with people, they’ve realised I’m no pushover. It’s becoming a lot easier for me.”