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You and Yours: You and Yours: Gap Finders - Gary Usher

07/04/2022

You and Yours: Gap Finders - Gary Usher

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, You and Yours: Gap Finders - Gary Usher

Gap Finders: How chef Gary Usher found the funding gap in the restaurant business.

Gap Finders:  We explore how chef and restaurateur Gary Usher found the gap in the restaurant business by raising enough money through crowdfunding.

Today's guest is the chef and restaurateur - Gary Usher. 
Gary has worked with top chefs across the industry and has become known for his unusual was of financing his restaurants. 
Following time at some of the UK’s top restaurants, Gary opened his first place - the Sticky Walnut in Hoole, Chester, in 2011 on a budget that meant he had to famously choose between a combi-oven or new tables and chairs. He chose the oven...

After a few very successful years and a couple of awards, he opened his second, Burnt Truffle, in the Wirral. What's surprising is he did this without any support from the banks - but raised the money through a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. 
Thanks to 891 backers, Burnt Truffle, the name which was decided by Twitter, opened in July 2015.

Following Burnt’s success Gary opened a number of other restaurants with no or very little help from the banks but through crowdfunding. He now owns and runs 6 restaurants across the North West of England. Through strategically placing some of his restaurants, in deprived or out of the way areas, and through his unusual way of financing his ventures - we explore how Gary Usher found the funding gap in the restaurant business.

Photo: Gary Usher for Channel 4, credit Lee Brown

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