Three best friends who combined their life savings to start a business venture at the height of lockdown are celebrating their first £1million milestone.
Former marketing consultant Jack Shaw, 32, said he was inspired to open his own restaurant after seeing a second-hand double decker bus on the market for £4,000.
He said it was a “difficult time” when the idea emerged as work had dried up and he had no focus.
It was an investment that paid off after Jack put the idea to friends, Neil Austin, 37, a gas engineer and professional boxer Josh Kelly, 26.
Together, they combined their savings of £90,000 to start restaurant business Burgers, Wings and Ribs – including £46,000 to transform the run-down bus into their first lockdown takeaway on the streets of Colchester, Essex.
“The business was built out of our personal savings," Jack told The Mirror. “We joined forces to take it off the ground.
“The business gave us drive and passion again. All three of us had something to focus on and put all our efforts into. But it's been challenging with endless sleepless nights.”
The company is celebrating its first anniversary this weekend, and now has plans to open its fourth branch in Shoreditch, London, in the coming weeks.
They even have a celebrity fanbase, with Gemma Collins, Olvia Bowen, Alex Bowen and Tyson Fury among their clientele.
But the biggest highlight has been being shortlisted for the National Takeaway Awards – the first chain to make the finals after just one year of trading.
“At the start of lockdown in April 2020, I was searching the internet for different ideas and saw a double decker bus was up for sale just up the road in Clacton, Essex,” Jack told The Mirror.
“Neil and I had discussed different opportunities of working together in a start-up business before, and with work drying up due to lockdown, we decided to give it a go.
“After a few head scratching moments looking at a battered old double decker bus, we came up with the idea of turning it into a roadside burger bar,” he said.
“Over the next six weeks we worked hard with the help of Marcus Smith, a project manager from JMS Electrical, to turn the double decker bus into a commercial kitchen.
“We started marketing the idea on social media across Facebook and Instagram.”
Jack said interest very quickly exploded and on the company’s opening weekend of June 12-14, 2020, they “sold out a week in advance”.
“From there, the idea became a reality.”
“We’re now in four locations.
“We have three walk in restaurants, one in Colchester, one in Chelmsford at The Garrison and one in Ipswich at The Duke.
“We’re also about to expand further into Shoreditch and Wembley.”
In just 51 weeks, the trio say their business has gone from zero to a £1,032,000 turnover and now they have high hopes to take on Central London.
“We expect to hit an annual turnover of £1,622,000 this year,” Jack said.
But despite exceeding the £1million turnover mark, the trio have re-invested everything back into the business to expand further.
“It’s not all been plain sailing.
“Overnight, I quickly went from managing another business within marketing to working 70 hours a week within B.W.R,” Jack said, recalling the early days.
Gas engineer Neil continues to work his full time job around the business while Josh also fits the food chain in around his sports schedule.
“We all continue to muck in – we don’t have specific job titles yet. One day we could be helping to cook the next day doing a bin run,” Jack said.
Jack says competition is one of the biggest challenges.
“As we grew, we had constant competition popping up.
“Ironically one did not last very long. We recently took their shop over and converted it into our first retail store in Colchester town centre.”
He said food delivery businesses are a particular threat to the high street.
“Delivering food is hard, especially with the demand we have.
“Third party apps like Just Eat and Deliveroo prioritise McDonalds, KFC, Nando’s etc. Finding a solution for this and the management of it is something I wish we had planned better for.”
Their next goal is to open a branch in Central London and create their own B.W.R restaurant with a micro-brewery.
“Our food is unique in the locations we are in. We sell genuine American dirty food,” Jack said.
“We are trying to be part of the food movement in the UK that shows independent takeaways have a place over the likes of Five Guys and other grouped takeaways.”
He says the chain’s success wouldn’t exist without their incredible 70-strong team.
“They work so hard for one another and without them, we would be nowhere near where we are today.”
The restaurant business recently acquired a head office where its admin and accountancy team are based.
“Opening four locations in 11 months in a global pandemic with no bank support is still a pinch me moment.
“I never imagined I’d be cooking burgers on a double decker bus a couple of years ago.
“It gave me something to focus on in lockdown which if I had not had, my mental health could have really suffered.
“It just goes to show hard work and determination pays off.”
