He grew up in the West of Scotland in modest surroundings, his family involved with the restaurant trade. Four siblings would see him develop a strong sense of family value along with a competitive spirit, a trait that would carry through to the present day.

Startup Focus

In 2002, In search of improving the quality of life, a better work-life balance and new challenges would see him leave the UK with his wife and two children for Spain. At that time, the Southeast coast was appealing purely from the perspective of business opportunities.  It was this perfect alinement of his timelines that would see his family followed to Spain by a BBC film crew.

This would see him star in a 3 part BBC documentary series called; Living the dream that mapped his journey opening a business in Spain. Restaurant in the Sun featured a real snapshot in the challenges involved with opening a business surrounded in red tape.

After the opening of his brand; La Diva, he went on to run a successful business model that would lead to the beginning of a second site in a more commercial area on the coast. Following his families trials and tribulations over the first series, he was famed for introducing a unique international food cuisine concept meaning that he had a degree of carte blanche with groundbreaking recipes and innovative food presentation.

He had strived to obtain a solid reputation, a high level of attention for detail and a following for his creativity. Inspired by the Mediterranean and use of natural fresh ingredients would plant the seed of thought into developing a new sauce years later.

A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe.

– Thomas Keller

Naturally Sourced Ingredients

Neelam, his wife, would play a significant part in driving that idea from infancy to development.

In 2002, In search of improving the quality of life, a better work-life balance and new challenges would see him leave the UK with his wife and two children for Spain. At that time, the Southeast coast was appealing purely from the perspective of business opportunities.  It was this perfect alinement of his timelines that would see his family followed to Spain by a BBC film crew.

This would see him star in a 3 part BBC documentary series called; Living the dream which mapped his journey opening a business in Spain.  Restaurant in the Sun featured a real snapshot in the challenges involved with opening a business surrounded in red tape. After the opening of his brand; La Diva, he went on to run a successful business model that would lead to the beginning of a second site in a more commercial area on the coast.

Following his families trials and tribulations over the first series, he was famed for introducing a unique international food cuisine concept meaning that he had a degree of carte blanche with groundbreaking recipes and innovative food presentation. He had strived to obtain a solid reputation, a high level of attention for detail and a following for his creativity. 

Inspired by the Mediterranean and use of natural fresh ingredients would plant the seed of thought into developing a new sauce years later. Neelam, his wife, would play a significant part in driving that idea from infancy to development.

In recent years peoples change in habits have seen a demand for more naturally sourced ingredients; they are aware of the health benefits. Non-use of preservatives and no artificial colouring are now high on the list of priorities.

His story reads like a book, and it’s full of twists and turns that he says has prompted him to fulfil a life long ambition to create asauce. I wanted to harness his motivation and determination as to my mind it’s the stuff that mentors are made from. 

When your journey began, why did the BBC contact you?

I was researching going to Spain, and the BBC contacted me because they were doing a series of documentaries about families who were thinking about moving abroad. 

After contacting them, the team came to visit us for an interview and a few months past and during that time I went to Spain several times to source a suitable location that I thought would meet our families needs. I had to consider that moving a family would require some thought about schools, viability to open a business and a credible location that met our requirements for the long term.

There were so many businesses you could have opened, so why did you choose to be a restaurant owner? 

Following my father’s footsteps was a natural progressive move for me and in a sector that I was familiar with.  After opening two successful restaurants, we came across the idea that there was more to a home-made sauce that we were using which created a huge following in and out of a restaurant scenario.  After the children completed their education, it was just the two of us, we felt that it would make for a smoother transition back to the UK with a want and need to harness our sauce’s potential.

Tell me about this sauce?

It’s a natural product that doesn’t use preservatives, added sweeteners or sugar. It harnesses and locks in all the plant-based flavours and is Gluten-free, which is rapidly growing in demand.

Follow Pritpal’s story in the next edition of; The Networking Magazine.

Everything tastes better with Natural Sauce.

The post The Natural Sauce Company appeared first on The Networking Magazine.

A lack of concentration, a need for human interaction and non-creativity are just some of the factors that can influence productivity. Although some have become accustomed to the; work from home ideology, can sleeping, working, socialising and relaxing be encompassed into one environment?

Creativity needs a home.

Work Ethic

I managed to speak to Holly Farmer, the Community Relationship Manager for; Huddle. A breath of fresh, air is the only way to describe someone who I believe can make a difference to any business model. 

Huddle, a brand that offers;  private offices, coworking, virtual offices, meeting rooms and custom workspaces. What separates this brand from others in their sector is the want and need to provide a very high level of service. There is a focus on a very human side of a business; something that is lacking with the COVID 19 situation.

Holly explained that her team provide a dose of normality; I was intrigued to find out more. Facilitating a reason to be productive in a workspace which offers safety and flexibility can impact efficiency. Home distractions impair creativity, conference call technology has taken away that personal interaction that was once important. 

Safety

Huddle installed handsfree sanitisers, foot openers for doors, sticker placement to indicate which direction to walk once inside the building. All common areas limit the number of people at any one time. All guests must have their temperature taken as a precaution, which I feel is very important to protect any workspace. These are non-negotiable standards and contribute to the ambience of working away from home.

Internet Businesses

One type of business sector which has naturally increased during the last six months is Internet-based businesses. I think this is one area where having storage and the ability to add or subtract working space defines flexibility.

Startups

The lockdown has had an impact on a work-life balance.  To open a business was not a consideration for many up until that point. Fear ruled a culture of nine to five as a growing credit score dependency reigned over a nine to five work bubble, the very thought of owning a business never considered.

The trend towards a start-up culture has conflicted with the more traditional model of; long office hours. For many, this is still highly desired, with a growing minority favouring flexibility and adaptability in direct contrast to employment. I think its safe to say that the expansion and contraction of a workspace are more in line with the new now and is the main feature for business in 2020. Drawn towards their on-demand space offering; for that one crucial meeting complimented by; mail collection, a phone answering service and a mail forwarding service are far from the trappings of working from home. 

Bright and colourful decor sits well with playing towards the feel-good factor, very often overlooked but considered essential for productivity and efficiency. As our conversation drew to a close, I couldn’t help but think that business networking groups could only benefit from this type of service provider. 

The post Space, the final frontier appeared first on The Networking Magazine.