Meet Gordon Ker, a former lawyer turned waiter turned restaurateur, who founded Blacklock in an old basement brothel on Great Windmill Street in Soho in 2015. His second steak restaurant and chophouse, Blacklock City, opened in 2017 and the latest member of the family, Blacklock Shoreditch on Rivington Street, opened its doors in September 2018.
He’ll be appearing in an opening day panel session alongside other industry high flyers (including Sarah Weir, MD of Albion & East, Steve Moore, CEO of Flight Club, and the NWTC’s Chris Hill) to talk about what’s next for their brands.
What restaurant & pub operators do you particularly admire and why?
Dishoom and Hawksmoor for their attention to detail and focus on people in large growing businesses. I’m a huge fan of Pret too — their people seem happy and do a great job at hospitality in such a large scale business with such a short customer interaction period.
What do you feel is the key for operators to successfully compete against their competitors in 2019 and beyond?
Competition is high and, if there is a further downturn around Brexit, there’s usually a flight to quality so a focus on standards and guest experience will be important.
What do you see as key trends in the coming year?
I think with the political landscape as it is, we’ll be seeing the big groups avoiding multiple restaurant openings they took on in the past and focussing on re-engaging their existing estate and being more picky with their openings.
What’s your bestselling dish / drink at the moment?
Simple — The All In. A mixed plate of beef, pork and lamb chops with nibbles to start, sides for the table and just 20 quid each.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?
I’m focussed on people and making Blacklock a great company to work at, so nothing is better than seeing people happy and motivated at work and passionate about what they do. Guests feel that and it improves your experience.
And the most challenging?
We aim to be incredible value for money at all points. Constant cost inflation and rising input costs makes that harder and harder.
Who or what inspires you to be even better?
A commitment to our team to get better and better everyday drives me to do the best we can for them at all times.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Someone once told me to knock on and open every door, I thought that was pretty spot on.
See Gordon at Casual Dining 2019
Give me five – the ‘next big thing’ panel: 11.45am in the Keynote Theatre 1 on Wednesday 27 February. The session will feature –
- Chris Hill, CEO of The New World Trading Co
- Gordon Ker, founder of Blacklock
- Steve Moore, CEO & co-founder of Flight Club
- Sarah Weir, MD of Albion & East
- Simon Stenning, founder of FutureFoodservice.com (session chair)
