Bianchis Group say they need to raise prices or be forced to close

The owners of one of Bristol’s most successful restaurant groups have laid bare the current stark realities of the hospitality industry.

Ben Harvey and Dom Borel of Bianchis Group opened Pasta Loco on Cotham Hill in 2016 and have since gone on to open Pasta Ripiena and Cotto in the Old City, Bianchis in Montpelier, Pizza Bianchi on the Clifton Triangle, and Centrale in Easton.

In a statement, the pair said that they “were initially shielded from the reality of the brutally hard work of being owner-operators”.

During the pandemic, the group worked alongside Josh Eggleton, Shona Graham and Caring in Bristol in setting up the ‘Cheers Drive’ scheme, which provided hundreds of meals to the homeless.

They then set up Breaking Bread on the Downs, with the first year “a real achievement in the face of adversity” but the second year less successful with some large debts still being repaid.

Dom Borel preparing a meal for Caring in Bristol’s Cheers Drive initiative during the pandemic – photo: James Koch

“Reopening all of our sites was one of the hardest feats we had ever experienced, but it soon became clear that this new pasture was not to be as green and happy as we’d hoped for,” wrote Ben and Dom, explaining that keeping wages the same or higher “was the right thing to do” despite the financial hit.

“We trusted it would be beneficial in the long run. ‘The long run’ was, and is, much much longer and harder than we ever expected. Once it seemed to all that we were out of the woods, the price increases began.”

At Pasta Loco on Cotham Hill, their landlord originally demanded a 70 per cent rent increase that Ben and Dom fought down to 40 per cent.

At Bianchis in the former Bell’s Diner on York Road in Montpelier, energy bills have increased from £1,500 per month to £4,500.

Bianchis was opened in 2019 by the same team behind Pasta Loco – photo: Martin Booth

“The cost of our ingredients have increased drastically across the board, but we know the independent suppliers we use are facing the same hard times as us, so there is very little we can do.

“It takes a lot to produce a quality meal and serve it to customers, and those doing so are highly skilled people that have been working the job for many years to get to where they are now.

“Regrettably the skills inherent in our industry are neither valued or revered like other sectors, which generally revolve around monetary transactions and not meaningful human interactions.

“In real terms, if we were to use our actual costings to calculate menu prices, this would shock even the most loyal of our customers.

“We have recently completed our financial review of 2022 and although our turnover backs up the fact that we are one of the busiest restaurant groups in Bristol, our profit was less than one per cent.

“That profit margin means we are now operating in a high-risk zone, with an inadequate financial safety-net in a tumultuous financial environment.

“We want to continue, we love what we do and we believe we can survive this with radical action.

“We feel a huge sense of responsibility for all those we work with, staff and suppliers alike. And we believe our customer base needs to be informed about the crushing economic reality we are facing.

“So, in order to maintain our philosophy, our working practises and our survival as a business, we are raising our prices across our sites. You will be seeing a significant price increase across food and wine between now and the spring.

“We trust that you understand the predicament that we find ourselves in; we have no other option, it’s this or we shut our doors for good.”

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• ‘We need to declare a hospitality emergency’
• Wild Beer bar at Wapping Wharf repossessed
• Innovative cafe-laundrette to close
• The impact of the cost of living crisis in Bristol revealed

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