
Have you ever tried to Google “How much does it cost to start a restaurant”? Information is pretty thin on the... View Article
Read moreJust to be super clear, we are not Quantity Surveyors or cost consultants – we are architects that design restaurants and are therefore heavily involved in cost based conversations around design feasibility. We offer this guidance based on our experience working with many different clients, shopfitters and landlords with the sincere hope that it is useful in giving you a basic, realistic framework. We would strongly advise that when building your business plan and, even more importantly, embarking on a new project, you consult with relevant experts to build a specific cost framework for what you are trying to do.
So, with all that in mind, let’s talk about the actual cost to start a restaurant.
There are a few different factors that you’ll need to consider when thinking about costs, and naturally, it starts with where it will be located and how big it needs to be.
Finding the right location is, frankly, a dark art as much as a science and clearly has an impact on your chances of success. It’s too big a subject to address in this post, but finding yourself a good property advisor is where you need to start.
When looking at the figures below, be aware that we have not allowed for any costs associated with rent, key money, overheads, staff costs, food costs, etc. It is simply based on the design and fit out.
This relates to the floors, walls, ceilings and shopfront. Strictly speaking, we might call this ‘builders work’ or ‘building fabric’ as normally most of the shell of a space is provided by the landlord and you are working within it. It includes structural work you might do, new windows or staircases you add, any partitions created to divide up the space, false ceilings and feature rafts, etc.
This really covers fitted and loose furniture. So, things like display cabinets, bars, maitre de stations, banquette seating, etc are joinery whilst loose furniture is pretty self-explanatory – tables, chairs, and stools for your eager customers to use.
This is an area often underestimated by new restaurateurs and the costs can be surprisingly high, particularly when going into a new building rather than taking over a site that has been previously used as a restaurant. MEP stands for mechanical (ventilation, air conditioning and kitchen extract), electrical and plumbing. If sprinklers are required, they would also fall under this category. One of the most important things to assess when looking at a new site for a restaurant is the feasibility and costs around kitchen extract and plant location – it can make or break the feasibility of the project. On the electrical side, a typical restaurant of this size would need 100-200 Amp, 3 phase power.
Naturally, you need a team to deliver your project although the extent of that team might depend on both your own level of experience and specific landlord requirements. You may need to allow for an Architect, Quantity Surveyor, Project Manager, MEP Engineer and Structural Engineer as part of your team. And don’t forget the Lawyers, which could account for £5-12k on their own.
In the military, there is a saying that no plan, no matter how detailed, survives beyond the first encounter with the enemy. Similarly, no design project in the history of civilisation has proceeded completely to plan. When starting a restaurant, there are going to be unexpected things that come up for all sorts of different reasons – discoveries on site not revealed in the survey, landlord demands, local authority approval conditions, sourcing issues, client brief changes, miscommunications and simple human error. Please save yourself part of the stress, by allowing a contingency fund. Projects can be stressful enough, without this burden.
So how much will it all add up to? Well, it can be between £325k and £1m…we appreciate that’s a pretty big range! The reason for this is that a big part of getting to the budget will be driven by the type of approach you take to deliver your vision. Let’s say you are doing your first restaurant and you are a passionate chef creating a neighbourhood restaurant and are taking over the lease of a previous restaurant, you are likely to take a ‘Startup’ approach to costs through simple necessity or to minimise your financial risk. Whereas a seasoned restaurateur wanting to create a high profile, fine dining restaurant in Mayfair with ambitions for a Michelin star will need to set a much more ‘Premium’ budget. And in between these 2 extremes is a more typical, middle way, that we might call ‘Professional.’
Unlike shopping centres, listed buildings won’t necessarily take a direct toll on your budget but they are likely to add considerable time to the project and you will need to engage a certain level of professional to undertake the work.
This post was written by David Chenery