Page 50 - April 2023
P. 50

WORK/LIFE

       My 9-to-5
                                                                                            you can spend your entire evening here. There’s   away instead of doing a seven year course. I like
                                                                                            pressure on us to make sure the customers   working with people and expressing myself.
       The founder of Edinburgh-based
                                                                                            have spent their money well. It’s a high-end
       restaurant Fhior, Scott Smith, shares                                                experience in a relaxed, homely environment.
       his daily life and career path.                                                                                           What’s the best piece of career advice
                                                                                                                                 you’ve been given?
                                                                                            My most memorable career moment is…  Be kind is the only great piece of advice – people
                                                                                            Before Fhior I had another restaurant in Leith   have a vision that a successful businessman is
       Where do you call home?                                                              called Norn and I won the Acorn Award which   ruthless and cutthroat but if you want to be
       Fhior is on Broughton Street in between the New                                      is given annually for the 30 stars of hospitality   successful and happy you should be good to
       Town and Broughton but I live in Clermiston.                                         in the UK under 30. I had big plans but I never   your staff.
       I used to live in Edinburgh city centre but I                                        pushed for accolades or put myself into the
       wanted to live somewhere with outdoor space                                          limelight so to be given an award was a surprise.
       so I moved here. St John’s Road is nearby which
       has amenities such as a big Tesco.                                                   After work I…                           About Broughton
                                                                                            On days off I do a lot of climbing and bouldering   Broughton  lies  on  the  edge  of  the  New
       My day starts with…                                                                  at Eden Rock or Alien Rock which are both   Town around one mile from the city centre
       My alarm is set for 7.30am but my three-year-                                        near the restaurant. I have a busy work life so   and borders Bellevue and Canonmills. The
       old wakes me up at 6.30am. The nursery drop                                          my mind is always racing but when you are   area is close to a variety of green spaces
       off is at 8am and then my working day begins.                                        climbing you are on the wall focusing on what’s   from Calton Hill, which has fantastic
                                                                                            in front of you.                        views over the city, to the Royal Botanic
                                            Any business is always a risk but what separates
       A typical working day usually involves…  it from gambling is it’s an educated risk – you                                     Gardens  and  Inverleith  Park.  Broughton
       An ideal day at the restaurant is catching up   do research and make a business plan. To   If I wasn’t the founder of Fhior, I’d have   enjoys all the benefits of city centre living
       on emails first thing in the morning and then I   minimise risk you have to be confident in your   been…                     with a wide variety of local shops, bistros
       have meetings with the head chef or restaurant   ability, vision and goals and you need to be   Anything creative. I wanted to be an artist at one   and  restaurants  in  the  New  Town  and
       manager and we discuss staff changes and   able to lead a team to make them confident to   point or an architect but I wanted to work right   Stockbridge.
       what dishes we are working on. I am in the   deliver your vision.
       kitchen at 11am to test the food and then we
       have a team meeting where we talk about any   There have been staff shortages in a lot of                                       £248,682  average selling price
       menu changes and things to improve on.   industries but for us reputation comes before
                                            profit so you attract the right calibre of people
       Lunch service is from 12pm-3pm. After that I   compared to what the industry is known for.                                         101.1% of Home Report
       go to more meetings or I catch up on emails.   Instead of long hours for low pay our team are                                        valuation attained
       Sometimes I meet suppliers away from the   well paid and work three days with three and
       restaurant. At 5pm I go back to the kitchen to   half  days  off.  You  shouldn’t  have  to  sacrifice
       check the preparation for dinner service. At   a personal or social life to do what you’re                                    The median time to under offer is
       6pm we have a briefing before we serve dinner.   passionate about.                                                                       25 days
       I head home at 11pm.
                                            The best part of my job is…
       I got my job…                        The reactions of customers. They are initially                                          *Figures are based on properties marketed and sold
       I have always been in hospitality since I was 15.   uncertain as they don’t see the menu until they                          through ESPC. Home Report valuations relate to
       It is all I’ve known. Opening a restaurant was   are at the table. People are stricter with how                              properties where the Home Report was available on
                                                                                                                                    espc.com.  Figures  relate  to  the  three-month  period
       the end goal when I got into hospitality as I love   they  spend  their  money  now.  It  is  difficult  to                  ending on 31/03/2023.
       the creative side of it. It’s hard to be creative   keep the menu value for money as costs are   You can find out more information about Fhior at fhior.com
       with someone else’s money.           going up. At Fhior you pay for a full experience –             or @fhiorrestaurant on Instagram.

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