Work with Antony
Which site can’t you explain?
A day with your numbers, and I’ll show you which sites are working, which aren’t, what it’s costing you — and a plan to fix it.
I work with four groups at a time.
30
years in the restaurant industry.
- Five London restaurants.
- A three-site central London group: 15 years, up to £4m a year.
- Paesan: opened Exmouth Market in 2013 and Crouch End in 2018, both from the ground up.
- Sold Exmouth Market in 2024. I know how a sale works.
- Built Operyx, my own intelligence platform for multi-site owners. It reads every site overnight.
I still run Paesan Crouch End, so my advice is current. I’m dealing with the same costs, the same staffing and the same issues as you.
In 2024 my restaurant dropped 16%. It took six months, and my accountant, to tell me it wasn’t me.
Antony Brown, restaurateur
It was the market. By the time the numbers caught up, I’d already made the wrong calls. Seeing your numbers straight away, every day, is the difference. That’s what I bring to your business.
How it works.
Three steps, one at a time. Nothing is agreed until you’re ready for it.
We meet
Complimentary
In London I come to you; further afield, we talk on Zoom. You tell me about your group and the site you understand least, and I get a feel for the business before anything else. I’ll tell you honestly whether I can help.
The Read
One day, fixed fee
I go through that site’s trading history before we meet. Then we sit down and go through it in detail: what’s working, what’s leaking, what’s in your control and what isn’t. We agree what matters, and you leave with a plan — the three things worth acting on first. Keep working with me and The Read costs you nothing. Every pound comes off.
How I can help you grow
Scope, timing and price agreed up front
A full review of one site. Hands-on support at a site that’s struggling, timed around your season rather than against it. Or two days a month across the whole group. Every piece of work has a start, an end and a price before it begins.
A restaurant makes money in four places.
Everything we work on moves one of them, with a number on it.
Covers
The quiet days, bookings and walk-ins, what the room is really capable of, and what’s holding it back.
Spend per head
Menu mix and pricing, which dishes earn their place and which are just decoration, and what your team does at the table.
Cost of sales
Gross profit, suppliers, recipe costs, portions and waste — and the prices that crept up while nobody was looking.
Labour
Rotas built for the week that’s actually coming, labour per cover by weekday, and the structure behind it.
Also: getting ready for a second or third site, setting up a new opening so you know what normal looks like from night one, and making a business ready to sell.
How I work.
Your history, not an industry average.
Every finding is measured against your own site’s previous weeks and years. Your business isn’t the average of anything.
I check whether it worked.
Every recommendation is measured in pounds, against what the site was doing before.
Is it you, or is it the market?
Most owners blame themselves for a bad year. Some of it will be yours and some of it won’t. I’ll show you which is which, so you fix the right things.
Open about Operyx.
It’s the main tool I work with. I built it, and it keeps reading your numbers after I’ve gone. You don’t need it to work with me, and there’s no obligation to take it on.
Honest about the limits.
Licensing, employment law, leases and design go to specialists. I’ll tell you early, and introduce you to good ones.
Talk to Antony.
Tell me a little about the group. I’ll reply personally within a day.
Four groups at a time. When they’re full, you’ll be the next call.
Thank you.
I’ll reply personally within a day.
Not ready to talk? How well do you know your sites? Twelve questions, three minutes. Or: What's your break-even?