'Don't write Liverpool off' as popular restaurant to undergo £1m transformation

The director of a popular restaurant brand which has two sites in Merseyside has said not to "write Liverpool off" when it comes to a potential new opening. Hickory's Smokehouse began in Cheshire in 2010 before opening its second location in West Kirby and currently boasting 23 sites nationwide, with more to come.

Its original Cheshire restaurant is about to get a major face-lift in the new year, which Managing Director John Welsh said will cost "around £1 million". Ahead of the refurbishment, John told the ECHO about Hickory's journey from neighbourhood Cheshire eatery to nationally recognised brand.

The 45-year-old, who was born and raised in Chester before going on to work in prestigious hotels all over the world, decided it was time to come back home when Hickory's Smokehouse founder Neil McDonnell poached him.

He said: "Back in 2010, we obtained a site on the riverfront in Chester. Myself and Neil weren’t too sure what to do with it. He was going off on holiday with his family to the southern States of America.

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"He said that when he came back from his holiday we’d decide what to do with the building. When he came back, he said: ‘Right, I know what we’re doing - we’re going to have a barbecue restaurant. We all thought: ‘What? Burnt bangers and beef burgers out of a back garden?’ But he said: ‘No, we’re going to do American barbecue.’

"So we had to quickly understand what he’d seen out in the southern States with his family and then somehow start to replicate it but for a British palate. A few of us went on a trip out there ourselves to understand how we could create it."

He continued: "Over there, American barbecue is deeply embedded in their culture - it’s sort of like their fish and chips. But we were very keen to do it in a slightly different way.

"Back in 2010, we’d just come out of a recession and the world had changed a little bit. We were very conscious that we wanted to give an offering that was a bit more generous in terms of portions and in terms of added value. So whereas, pre-recession, everyone was trying to squeeze every possible penny out of guests, we went the other way and tried to be generous from the beginning.

"When guests sat down, we would immediately give them a bottle of tap water, as opposed to asking if they wanted still or sparkling and making everyone feel awkward; we’d give everyone a free bag of popcorn straight away, instead of charging people for olives or bread; we had a cinema in the very first restaurant so that kids could go and watch Disney or whatever it was showing at the time - and that was also a complimentary addition.

"We also made sure we had Sky Sports on - not that we’re a sports bar but if people wanted to watch in the background, they could do that. The service and style is a little different to what you’d get in America but the actual smoked meats, and the smoking of meats in house, is exactly as you’d see it in the US."

After a successful first year of business at Hickory's Chester, the team decided to expand. John said: "We only really intended to open the one Hickory’s, in Chester. But we had a really good first year - we made a few mistakes - but we learnt how to make the brand better and tweak it.

"We thought that on the back of our first year, we definitely had potential. We’d seen the site in West Kirby, the Moby Dick, we’d known it for many years, we looked at it and we thought we could probably make this place into a Hickory’s as well and really embed ourselves in that community. So that was our second location and it’s still going strong to this day."

He added: "Over the past 14-15 years, we’ve grown to 23 sites. The furthest north we currently are is Leeds and the furthest south is Gloucester. We’ve grown very slowly but always made sure there’s 30 to 40 minutes between each of the restaurants so we can support them.

"We always try to open restaurants in suburban areas which are real communities, like West Kirby. We build these restaurants with a view to them being generational investments, we want them to be in their respective communities for many years to come. City centres are not for us.

"We’ve looked at a few areas in Liverpool a number of times, but trying to find the right site is difficult. However, definitely don’t write Liverpool off, it just won’t be in the city centre.

"Our ambition is to become a nationally recognised brand - not a chain though, we try to avoid being seen as a chain because we still see ourselves as being a highly independent, small and almost family-based business.

"We have investors in the background but we like to keep a distance from them and we still have an independent-minded view on how we run the business. For a lot of us, it’s taken up most of our working careers. We’re keen to bring what we see as authentic barbecue to as many people as possible."

Speaking about the Chester refurbishment, John said: "Our first born is finally going to get a bit of love and it definitely deserves it. Chester was our first restaurant and has always been our busiest restaurant so it’s therefore had a battering over the years.

"Our plan is, in January, to close the site for a good four, five or six weeks and spend about £1 million to give it a well-earned face-lift, do some really exciting stuff and introduce a big garden room with a retractable roof."

Hickory's Smokehouse has two Merseyside locations: Southport and West Kirby. For more information visit hickorys.co.uk.