From the Kitchen Up On passion, people and staying profitable as hospitality faces its toughest test.

Jonathan MacDonald has spent his career immersed in the energy of restaurants. From his first kitchen job at 16 to co-founding Glasgow based Scoop Restaurant Group, his love of food, people, and hospitality has shaped a business built on consistency, strong teams, and constant improvement. Here, he shares what inspired him to start out, the realities of running restaurants today, and the lessons he's learned along the way.

What inspired you to start your business?
Primarily it was just a love of food and restaurants. I can remember being obsessed with food from a young age, I loved helping my mum in the kitchen at home and I was always curious about finding new flavours. Anytime we got taken out for a meal as treat I was always buzzing with excitement, as well as the food I loved the energy and atmosphere of any kind of restaurant. The obsession was really cemented when I got a job in a restaurant kitchen aged 16, the buzz and the intensity just grabbed me. I think that I knew that I wanted to open my own place early on too. There's so much involved in designing, creating and opening a new place from scratch, considering every detail, and building a team who are passionate about looking after guests every day, but I think the all-consuming nature of restaurants really suits my personality.

What was your biggest challenge and how did you overcome it?
Right now feels like the most challenging time I can remember for our industry in general. We have real pressure on margin from price increases of food and drink, gas and electricity etc. Last year's hike on employers NI had a massive impact on us. The Non-Domestic Rates system unfairly penalises licensed hospitality and how accessors arrive at those ratable values really needs to be looked at. VAT most food shopping in 0%, yet it's 20% in restaurants, of course food shopping is a necessity and restaurant dining is a luxury, but lots of comparable European economies support hospitality with a 10% - 12% VAT rate on food.

The only way to overcome these challenges is by keeping a close eye on the KPIs, buying smart, wasting nothing, being nimble and reactive and continuing to offer guests a great experience and value for money. We're more fortunate than many restaurant businesses in that we remain profitable with solid foundations. However, it does feel like the industry is at a bit of a tipping point where the number of good quality independent restaurants will retract because the return on capital employed is harder to justify.

How do you handle failure or setbacks?
Some parts of Scoop have been busy and profitable for over a decade, and there are other parts which haven't turned out to be a success, I imagine that will happen with aspects in most businesses. If something isn't working, I'll always just analyse and try to understand why, then work out whether we can fix it, or if it's time to wind that element down, learn from it and focus that energy on the successful parts of the business. Years of working in hospitality is good grounding for it, it's a fast-paced business and we need to deal with challenges with a calm head daily.

What advice would you give to someone starting their own business?
Ideally do something that excites you and which you feel passionate about. I know I'm very lucky in that respect. There will always be a few monotonous aspects, but running our restaurant businesses never really feels like work. I get a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction from it.

How do you stay motivated during tough times?
Our team really motivates me, so many of them have grown with the company and they has been the major factor in our expansion. I can come up with ideas and create spaces, but that's useless without a great team of motivated people who all play their part in delivering great guest experiences, day in and day out. There are over 200 of us now, so it's a motivation and a big responsibility!

What are your tips for achieving success?
I think being consistent is important, if you chop and change your approach too often or try to do too much you can end up with a lot of confusing noise. Giving individuals space to perform to their potential is so valuable, I always try to recognise people's strengths, and remember that whatever the task there is probably someone within our diverse and talented team that can do it better than me. Something simple that one of my old bosses used to say is "look for wee improvements every day, there's no such thing as standing still, if we're not moving forwards we're sliding backwards" that has always really stuck with me.