Restaurant/Tea Room

How to use this interactive guide?

This checklist looks at some key factors and is designed to help you decide if opening a Restaurant or Tea Room is an opportunity for you and your farm or not.

Taken overall, if you answer ‘Yes’ to most of the questions posed and like the broad financials, then opening a Restaurant/Tearoom may well be feasible.

Your Farm

  • Located where you believe there is adequate potential trade from ‘locals’ as well as tourists?
  • Good access by road?   Safe site entrance?
  • Suitable rooms in house or farm building for conversion?
  • Space for car parking?
    (For weekend weddings you may need parking for up to 30 cars, dependent on the size of the function.)
  • Able to provide separate toilets for customers commensurate with size?
  • Customers not affected by undue farm noise, smells, mess?

You (and your family)

  • Able to deliver well presented, quality food, consistently?
  • Prepared for high level of customer contact?
  • Recognise and accept time commitment required (a restaurant is likely to be at its busiest every Friday/Saturday night and Sunday lunch-time, a tea room Saturday/Sunday afternoons in summer).   Taking into consideration the preparation time, you may find yourself working from 12 noon until 1a.m. when the last guest departs and you clear up.
  • Recognise diners will fluctuate with time of day, time of the year and even with the weather? This requires flexibility from you/staff.
  • Recognise need for staff or very high level of own/family time?
  • Recognise continuous operation implications? (all day/week/year)
  • Happy to have guests in your home/around the farm?
  • Family understand and support the idea?

Financials

  • Capital
    • Small Tea Room from £5,000 (tables, chairs, upgrade toilet facilities, equipment, signing etc).
    • Conversion of traditional barn to 60-80 seat restaurant £300,000-£400,000.
  • Turnover/Profit
    • Tea Room.   T/o up to £10,000.   Profit before finance up to £4,000 per year assuming wholly run by family members.
    • Licensed restaurant. Open lunch and dinner. T/o £3,000-£3,500 per cover per year. Profit before finance 20%-30%.
  • Loan interest/repayments. To repay £10,000 over 10 years @ 8% interest costs £1,500 p.a.

What is your initial conclusion?

Looking at the above questions under Your Farm and You (and your family) and the outline Financials  -  Is this an option you should be considering?  

Would you like to continue?

Bed and Breakfast - Self-catering - Static caravan site
Camping/Touring caravan site - Camping Barn/bunkhouse
Visitor Attraction - Restaurant/Tea Room

*This Guide has been produced by South West Tourism, working through MPA. It was originally developed with the assistance of DEFRA and EAGGF funding.