Tony McDonough meets MARK FRIEND,MD of Bistro Qui?

WHEN Mark Friend was a young boy growing up in Liverpool, his father would treat the family to a meal out twice a year.

“I was mesmerised by being in a restaurant,” he said.

Now aged 43, that youthful enthusiasm for the restaurant trade remains and is a key driver in the success of his business – Bistro Qui?

Bistro Qui? is jointly owned by Friend and his business partner and brother-in-law, Stephen Slater.

Eight years ago, the pair took over an existing French-themed eaterie in Liverpool city centre – Bistro Pierre.

Like true entrepreneurs, they remortgaged homes and put every penny they had into the venture.

The gamble paid off and now Bistro Qui? operates four outlets in Liverpool with a fifth soon to open in Shrewsbury.

Bistro Pierre is located in Button Street, a small thoroughfare between Mathew Street and Lord Street.

It could be described as a hidden gem, but its location did initially worry Friend.

“My biggest fear when we started out was that it was a little bit too tucked away,” he said.

“Before we bought it, we would sit on the step of a nearby building and watch how many people were going into the restaurant.

“It was not quite enough, but we could see the potential was there, so we took the plunge.

“We believed we could have them coming in in droves. It has proved to be very good for us.

“We took a chance because we took it over in November and had to work day and night to refurbish and reopen for the first Christmas bookings in early December.

“When the first parties came in, it was literally ‘watch the wet paint’.”

Bistro Pierre really does have that rustic, French ambience. The building was formerly a corn warehouse.

The success of the outlet enabled Friend and Slater to open a second French outlet four years later – Bistro Jacques, in Hardman Street.

This was followed by Bistro Franc, in Hanover Street, and a gastro pub called the Hub Alehouse & Kitchen, in the nearby Casartelli Building.

The duo want to open 10 outlets across the North West, with a French outlet in Shrewsbury opening soon.

The recession has actually turned out to be advantageous for the business, with its offer-driven approach. Offering two or three courses for set prices has proved a hit with diners looking for value.

Friend added: “I almost feel guilty saying the recession has done us a favour, but it is true.

“Our mission statement – making good times taste great – sums up our approach.

“Each one of our restaurants is warm and inviting and we change the menu every day, offering meals cooked with fresh ingredients.

“We have a loyalty scheme but we don’t do discounts as we are already very offer-driven.

“We have a lot of loyalty from customers. People who came to Bistro Pierre eight years ago are still coming back now.

“The friendly feel they get in the restaurants is very real because we are a very family-oriented business.

“We have couples working for us, as well as girls and their mothers. All our staff are rigorously trained and we are proud that this is a homegrown chain of Liverpool restaurants.”

The entrepreneurial spirit was evident in Friend, who spent most of his childhood in Childwall, from a young age.

“I always had ambitions to run my own business,” he said.

“I remember going to fabric shops near London Road and buying leather.

“Mum would make pencil cases out of them and I would take them into school and sell them.

“I was entrepreneurial from a very young age and I liked the idea of paying my own way.”

After doing his A-Levels, Friend studied history and sociology at the University of Surrey and after graduating, settled in London. He got a job selling computers, which he hated, and also worked part-time in the branch of a restaurant chain called Mongolian Barbeque.

He said: “I worked part-time on the griddle and liked it so much I gave up the computers job to work there full-time.”

Then Friend and his girlfriend (now his wife) took a year out to travel the world.

He said: “It was great, but as time went by I started to worry about what it is I would do when I got back to Britain.

“To pay our way on the trip, we would often work in restaurants and I ended up learning a lot about the business.

“But it wasn’t until we got back that I realised that actually, that is the business I want to be in.”

After travelling, Friend came back to Liverpool but shortly afterwards he got a call from the managing director of Mongolian Barbeque, a man he describes as a mentor, offering him a management position back in London.

He spent several years in London working in various restaurants and often discussed the possibility of setting up a business with Slater.

Following the birth of his first child, Friend felt the urge to be back near his family and relocated back to Merseyside.

He ran and then sold a cafe in Chester, and it was then that he and Slater decided to turn their ambitions into reality.

Bistro Qui? now employs 140 staff but early on it was all hands to the pump and they would do everything but the cooking. These days, each restaurant now has a general manager and Friend and Slater have been able to step back from the frontline and concentrate more on the overall strategy of the business.

“In the early days, we worked some very long hours,” said Friend.

“Nowadays, we still put the hours in but in a different way.

“We both have families and we want to balance having a successful business with having a healthy family life.

“We can now concentrate on the concept, and the business is more structured, so we are interfering a lot less than we used to.

“You have to trust people to get on with the job.

“But every day Stephen and I will still be in talking to customers.”

The pair have family and friends in Shrewsbury – hence it being chosen for the next phase of expansion.

Friend would also like to open a restaurant in Manchester.

The business is currently embarking on a “freshening up” of the branding on the restaurants, but says the “fresh food at competitive prices” policy will not change.

He said: “We might change the logos, but the offers and the prices remain the same.

“We want to expand across the North West with the bistro brand and we will also look at alternative concepts like the gastro pub, which has been a great success.

“If you have the cash, there are lots of sites available, and some great deals to be done.

“We have a great belief in the concept and we have the confidence now to open up anywhere.”