Chip off the old block
Ron Clydesdale is one of the UK's longest serving chef-proprietors. In the 25 years since he opened the Ubiquitous Chip in an unpromising back alley in Glasgow's West End, he has become a consummate chef and restaurateur and heads a mini-empire of five businesses - the Ubiquitous Chip, the Chip Upstairs, Stravaigin, Back Alley and the Ubiquitous Chip Off-Licence.
All this has been achieved without formal training, but with an innate understanding of good food, sensitive management and acute business acumen - and by having the courage of his convictions.
Ron came to the business as an amateur, having spent his previous working life in the Scotch whisky industry. It was in the 1970s that the attraction of running his own restaurant surfaced. "Most of the restaurants at that time were run by Italians doing French food," he says. "Scotland has wonderful raw materials and a good cooking tradition that was all in the home, so I thought ‘let's do it in a restaurant'. It was an idea whose time had come. Ten years before it would not have worked."
He found the 48-seat premises in Ruthven Lane in Glasgow's West End - an area with a reputation for being adventurous. The BBC centre and Glasgow University were nearby and their staff made up a big chunk of his original clientele. "I could put on things that were radical for the times, such as deep-fried squid," he says.
From the outset, Ron decided to identify where ingredients came from, so the menu read "Oban squid" - "but I won't invent fake Scottish dishes such as a steak Bonnie Prince Charlie," he adds. He did, however, search out authentic family recipes from his parents and grandparents, and these still form the basis of his menu.
He opened "very undercapitalised" in January 1971 on a short lease. Fortunately, the Ubiquitous Chip was an immediate success, making a profit within months. But because of its popularity, the landlord kept raising the rent so within two years Ron moved to the present, larger premises in Ashton Lane.
"Friends said I was mad to move there. The term ‘urban dereliction' kept coming up," says Ron. The site was a former stable scheduled for demolition. Today, Ashton Lane is Glasgow's restaurant row and packed with prosperous businesses.
As well as building up a clientele, Ron had to create a supplier network. At that time, courgettes, aubergines and avocados were known in the Glasgow market as "exotics". Ron's persistence in asking for them prompted suppliers to expand their ranges: one even sent his son to work in Covent Garden market to learn about new produce.
From the outset, the best quality ingredients were used. "Salt had to be sea salt and olive oil had to be extra virgin. Maybe only one in 10 people knew the difference, but I felt they would convince the other nine," he says.
His formula for business has paid off. Staff retention at all five restaurants is high. Many staff have been with Ron for 10-20 years and his three key managers (Elaine Knox at the Ubiquitous Chip; Carol Wright at Stravaigin; and Susan Wilson at Back Alley) for at least 14 years.
The front of house and management team are all women and they run an efficient operation with a relaxed, unpretentious atmosphere. Many of the waitresses have returned to the Ubiquitous Chip after their children have started school; some even have daughters working at the restaurant.
"I wouldn't ask anyone to do something I can't do myself. We try to have a reasonably democratic place, although I make the final decisions," he says.
There are no split shifts and staff work either 9:30am-5pm or 5pm-midnight; most work five shifts over five days. A working day never ends without a post-mortem. "If anyone loses their temper with someone in front of the whole kitchen brigade, they should make up and apologise in front of the brigade."
Each month, every staff member has a free meal in the restaurant. "It breaks down the front-back divide and reminds everyone what we're all about," Ron says.
Another part of Ron's staff training is sponsorship for every permanent employee to take the Wine and Spirit Education Trust's Higher Certificate.
The Ubiquitous Chip's wine list spans several hundred bins. Unlicensed for its first seven years, the policy was changed when Scotland liberalised its drinking laws. But as customers had been used to bringing their own wine, Ron realised he couldn't then sell his wine at a full mark-up. To make it profitable, he began importing directly.
The Ubiquitous Chip Off-Licence opened in 1984. "The sort of wines we have on our list are not available elsewhere in Glasgow, so the shop was a natural step." Ron is quick to point out that it is not a real money-maker, but it increases buying power and promotes wines on the restaurant's list. It also supplies his other restaurants.
More than seven years ago, the Chip Upstairs was added to the group. It serves cheaper, bistro-style food in the more informal upstairs of the Ubiquitous Chip.
The Clydesdale empire expanded again two years ago when Ron bought the premises of Back Alley and Stravaigin "as an opportunity for long-time colleagues who were looking for a challenge". One of these was his son, Colin, who has inherited his father's passion for the restaurant business and spent a 15-year apprenticeship at the Ubiquitous Chip.
The menu at Back Alley was straightforward burgers and pizzas. After the purchase, Colin took over the kitchen for several months to improve the food quality, and one year on the results are plain to see: turnover is up 30%, from £220,000 to £300,000 a year.
Stravaigin (Glaswegian slang for wandering aimlessly with a purpose) was another story. Originally serving pizzas, its oversized prep kitchen was turned into a bar for drinks and casual snacks, at a cost of £30,000. "By Christmas 1994," says Colin, "the place was a disaster."
Colin took over and the menu of the 76-seat restaurant now reflects his wide travelling experience. It includes Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Italian, Mexican and South American dishes.
Trade was patchy at the start, however. Although covers were up to an average of 50-a-night by March, a target spend of £15 had not been achieved. So Colin began running promotions, starting off with a Burns Night celebration. "I realised we could get in 120 a night, so we did Valentine's Night and special Mexican, Thai and Vietnamese nights."
Six months' advertising in the Glasgow underground, costing £600 a month, was successful enough to renew. Adverts were also placed in a tourist map of Glasgow. "We could tell people used it because they walked in with the map in their hands," Simon says.
By last October, the £15 per head target at Stravaigin was being achieved regularly at weekends. By mid-November, Colin was turning away up to 30 weekend customers and turnover for December 1995 was £43,000: up 33% on 1994.
