Cocktail bar and restaurant ‘Dish’ relocates thanks to BEF

An award-winning restaurant that was turned down by the banks has expanded into new Leeds city centre premises after receiving further funding from the Business Enterprise Fund (BEF).

Dish, a dining room and cocktail bar, outgrew its original Millennium Square premises just 10 months after opening and needed the funds to expand into the former Anthony’s restaurant on Boar Lane.

With competition high to secure the new premises, Dish owner and head chef Eddy Nuttall turned to the Business Enterprise Fund (BEF) for help.

He said: “The new venue was such a sought after location it was attracting a huge amount of interest and I knew I had to move quickly to access the funding to secure a deposit.”

“When the banks turned me away in 2012, BEF offered its support and Dish was launched last October. In 10 months we became so successful and so busy that we had to move into new premises to cope with demand. I turned to BEF again and they quickly provided the funds that facilitated the deposit I needed on the new property.”

He added: “I’ve kept my Millennium Square restaurant which is now “Harry’s Bar and Brasserie” and Dish is now an 80 cover restaurant in a prime Leeds location. If it had been down to the banks, Dish wouldn’t have got off the ground. Less than 12 months on, we’ve expanded and the organisation that believed in us and made it happen was BEF.”

BEF is social enterprise that is committed to helping the economic development of West and North Yorkshire businesses. With offices in Leeds and Bradford, it has lent millions of pounds across the region since its formation eight years ago, and recently secured a further £6m finding to support regional SMEs.

BEF fund director, Stephen Waud, said Dish is a prime example of the sort of business needing help: “In less than 12 months of opening the restaurant doors, Eddy demonstrated incredible tenacity and business acumen that meant his business naturally grew. BEF gave him the initial support to get Dish off the ground and we were delighted to help facilitate his expansion through the loan to move into new premises.”

He added: “The future of the region’s economy depends on the entrepreneurial spirit of people like Eddy and it’s BEFs role to offer the funding and guidance that supports the businesses and the people that will bring regeneration and security to our towns and cities.”