Conrad Gallagher, what kind of a entrepreneur is he?

HellFireClub

You'd have to wonder why it keeps going wrong for this guy?!? I don't know whether to admire him as an entrepreneur and as someone who seems to keep getting knocked down only to get back up again, or how to see him really?!? A bit of me wonders how he can't seem to be able to stay on top of his bills, you'd have thought he would know how it works by now, having been around the blocks a few times at this stage???

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/conrad-gallagher-restaurants-face-winding-up-order-2829514.html

maxer68

His ego is far too big to be an entrepreneur. He should have learnt the lessons of his string of previous failures, yet be makes the same errors again.

Get rid of the ego and get did of the stubborness and he'd be a great chef - but he's no enttenpreneur.

HellFireClub

maxer68 wrote: »

His ego is far too big to be an entrepreneur. He should have learnt the lessons of his string of previous failures, yet be makes the same errors again.

Get rid of the ego and get did of the stubborness and he'd be a great chef - but he's no enttenpreneur.

I soooo hear ya! But you have enterpreneurs who have normal enough ego's or who even might have ego's that are greater than a normal ego, but it doesn't stop getting it right eventually???

It begs the question, what is going wrong here??? Big kitchen, big personality, big attitude, loads of publicity, but how is it that he keeps running out of road???

My theory is that he cannot adjust and market his business in 2011, and he is probably still trying to market a Celtic Tiger business model, and is trying to extract Celtic Tiger prices from the Sandyford/D4 brigade, (who are as broke if not more broke than the rest of us, but who yet are in complete denial), but yet they haven't copped it yet.

He clearly is a gifted and hugely talanted chef. It seems to me that his problems are his customers...

maxer68

I think its the same error he keeps making. Spreading himself too thinly.

He's not a businessman - that's quite obvious and I don't see an entrenpreurial streak in him either. He is a superb chef though and as in many forms chefs, don't necessarily make good resturanteurs the same way a great footbally player doesn't always make a good manager.

If if accepts this and does nothing but cook, he'll do well.

CatFromHue

could it be that he has a public personae that the public don't like and so wont go to his restaurants

e.g. a group of my friends and i were out in sligo looking for dinner. we passed his restaurant and i said shall we go in here it looks nice. the response was along the lines of that's so and so's restaurant so i think i'll skip it.

Kinetic^

CatFromHue wrote: »

could it be that he has a public personae that the public don't like and so wont go to his restaurants

e.g. a group of my friends and i were out in sligo looking for dinner. we passed his restaurant and i said shall we go in here it looks nice. the response was along the lines of that's so and so's restaurant so i think i'll skip it.

That doesn't account for his failures abroad.

maxer68

CatFromHue wrote: »

could it be that he has a public personae that the public don't like and so wont go to his restaurants

e.g. a group of my friends and i were out in sligo looking for dinner. we passed his restaurant and i said shall we go in here it looks nice. the response was along the lines of that's so and so's restaurant so i think i'll skip it.

I think there are enough foodies that like his cooking to support any restaurant he is in. The problem is when you have 3 restaurants you simply can't be in all 3 at the same time and therefore you're no longer a chef, but a restauranteur and he simply is not up to the business task. - Too little capital, too quick expanding - same error yet again.

CatFromHue

maxer68 wrote: »

I think there are enough foodies that like his cooking to support any restaurant he is in.

his restaurant was empty. granted it was a sunday evening but were we did go to in the end, while not full, wasnt empty.

Lumbo

Great chef. Terrible businessman. Feel sorry for all the people he's ripped off over the years. That's the reason I wouldn't eat in his restaurants anymore.

HellFireClub

Lumbo wrote: »

Great chef. Terrible businessman. Feel sorry for all the people he's ripped off over the years. That's the reason I wouldn't eat in his restaurants anymore.

Has anyone ever been to one of his restaurants? Maybe someone could fill us in on the experience, especially what prices were like?

blue4ever

Don't start me! How the hell is he still allowed trade in this country, I'm open to correction, but was he not barred for being a director of a company?

He leaves a trail of destruction wherever he opens. He seems to have no issues in defaulting on his suppliers.

MrFrisp

I totally agree with Blue4Ever....What a shambles this guy is..

As to another post...His "problems" cannot be his Customers..

All customers do in this day and age is vote with their feet. So clearly they are not happy with something that this guy is doing..I.E. Food,or the prices.

And,,if they guy can't see that customers are not coming in anymore,and he's not doing anything about it,or making adjustments for it,then that would explain a lot.

How the guy still operates,and worse again,get's a tv show from it is just beyond Me..

Only in Ireland.

tfitzgerald

Lumbo wrote: »

Great chef. Terrible businessman. Feel sorry for all the people he's ripped off over the years. That's the reason I wouldn't eat in his restaurants anymore.

This poster has nailed the problem on the head also I think a lot of people won't get involved with him in case they get ripped off

YellowSheep

I worked with CG for a couple of days. All I can say is ignorance on steroids.

Bandara

He's not a great chef, he was in the mid nineties but the trade has passed him by.

He's now just a good chef who does the bare minimum.

RATM

Agree with comments of spreading himself too thinly - what he is selling here is 'Brand Conrad'.

If people know he has three restaurants in three locations they'll think they're not going to be cooked for by him personally and that goes against the fine dining experience people are paying for.

If he just ran one restaurant with top class food, great service and value and with him cooking in an open kitchen in full view of patrons 7 nights a week then he could do well I'm sure.

But opening 3 restaurants so quickly together in a recession is pure madness.

HellFireClub

The thing is, there are thousands of people running restaurants up and down this country who can run them sucessfully, without any of the "celebrity" bullsh*t going on around them and the "I cater for the media type" and having to be seen with the high flying social circle who frequent Crystal and Lillies and all of that pretensious crap.

But with Conrad Gallagher, the only time he seems to be getting mentioned these days in the media, is when another one of his businesses has closed or is in serious trouble.

I happen to know one of the "media" type arseholes who used to hang out of him and his restaurants back in the days of the Celtic Tiger and if this person was in any way representative of his typical client, I'm not one bit surprised at the difficulties he is having.

I still don't get how he continues to have problems with business continuity, how with his high flying profile, he still can't keep on top of things, when thousands of other restauranteurs around the country can keep their outlets open without being a well known "celebrity" and having to work a lot harder to get a good reputation out there for food than this guy has to, because of his public "celebrity" profile???

Is it his prices or his his service or what on earth is it? Or is he jumping into these businesses without having proper amounts of capital behind him???

Mr.Boots

Hammertime wrote: »

He's not a great chef, he was in the mid nineties but the trade has passed him by.

He's now just a good chef who does the bare minimum.

In my opinion he is very talented, he always was and always will be, silly to say otherwise (even if it is fashionable to do so)
His bigest problem is he is a class A prat! He is ruled by his ego...which is huge.
I actualy think he needs councelling hes that bad.
His ego is telling to to open these places...not his common sense.
He lost his business acumen when he broke up with Domini Kemp (who wnet on to open "Itsa")
I worked for him...he still owes me money lol
Im tempted to eat in one of his restaurants and walk out without paying

A New earth

HellFireClub wrote: »

Has anyone ever been to one of his restaurants? Maybe someone could fill us in on the experience, especially what prices were like?

At The Dining Room in Le Stampa on Saturday. Good value at €23 plus 12.5% for the 3 course pre theatre menu, choice of 4 to 5 of each course, I had prawns, skate & eton mess. No rush to get out. Staff lovely

HellFireClub

Mr.Boots wrote: »

In my opinion he is very talented, he always was and always will be, silly to say otherwise (even if it is fashionable to do so)
His bigest problem is he is a class A prat! He is ruled by his ego...which is huge.
I actualy think he needs councelling hes that bad.
His ego is telling to to open these places...not his common sense.
He lost his business acumen when he broke up with Domini Kemp (who wnet on to open "Itsa")
I worked for him...he still owes me money lol
Im tempted to eat in one of his restaurants and walk out without paying

Lol I'll happily buy that debt off you!

EDIT: If he owes you a couple of hundred we could have a E & BM Beers there!

Mr.Boots

HellFireClub wrote: »

Lol I'll happily buy that debt off you!

EDIT: If he owes you a couple of hundred we could have a E & BM Beers there!

It was more than that im afraid.....put down to experience.....couldnt really give a poo about it now.:)

BnB

I wouldn't eat in any of his outlets specifically because he owns them.

Although, anyone who supplied him in his current business... I'd have to say, they took their chances. It was Public knowledge that he was a chancer and a terrible businessman

HellFireClub

The High Court has today ordered the winding up of two of his companies:

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/court-orders-winding-up-of-conrad-gallagher-restaurant-companies-514748.html

martinn123

This guy is actually quite smart.
2009 bankrupt in South Africa, debts of 200K, returns to Ireland

Two Co's wound up yesterday, unpaid taxes of 160K, Co's are in the names of his wife and mother,

In my opinion he thinks the cash in the till at the end of the evening is his. To fund his celebrity lifestyle.

Suppose there will be another feature in the Sindo, and in a couple of months more free publicity when he tries again.

Until our Co laws are changed to make guys like him responsible for debts, he will do another Phoenix.

thatsmyboy

He is running La Stampa now how on earth does he keep getting them............CONRAD take one on and run it well u greedy man

HellFireClub

martinn123 wrote: »

This guy is actually quite smart.
2009 bankrupt in South Africa, debts of 200K, returns to Ireland

Two Co's wound up yesterday, unpaid taxes of 160K, Co's are in the names of his wife and mother,

In my opinion he thinks the cash in the till at the end of the evening is his. To fund his celebrity lifestyle.

Suppose there will be another feature in the Sindo, and in a couple of months more free publicity when he tries again.

Until our Co laws are changed to make guys like him responsible for debts, he will do another Phoenix.

In fairness to him, they are not "his" debts unless he has personally guaranteed them, they are company debts. I don't agree that failure should be outlawed or something that should be loaded onto the shoulders of any person who starts up a business, if the business should fail.

However, at the same time, it's hard to see why someone keeps failing when they are apparently a specialist/professional within their field.

maxer68

thatsmyboy wrote: »

He is running La Stampa now how on earth does he keep getting them............CONRAD take one on and run it well u greedy man

He's the patron chef in La Stampa - From what I've heard La Stampa run the restaurants (pays the bills) and he runs the kitchen and is paid a wage / fee for this.

Recent reviews show that he still has the skills and his food is still up with the very best.

martinn123

HellFireClub wrote: »

In fairness to him, they are not "his" debts unless he has personally guaranteed them, they are company debts. I don't agree that failure should be outlawed or something that should be loaded onto the shoulders of any person who starts up a business, if the business should fail.

However, at the same time, it's hard to see why someone keeps failing when they are apparently a specialist/professional within their field.

Obviously I agree with the above statment, but in his case not the sentiment. He is running up debts to persue his lifestyle, knowing he will not be held responsible.
I have no issue with any business failing, it happens every day, but this guy is deliberate, and taking creditors out again and again.

I would not supply him without a guarantee, or cash up front.

How is his TV show going, bet the fees from that aren't going to creditors