Losing everything, embracing audacity, living your values and rebuilding from the ashes.

It’s tough for all independent restaurants right now. Rising costs, staffing shortages – we’ve spoken about it endlessly, and that’s because living through it feels endless too. Business owners find their resolve tested on a daily basis. But imagine if, on top of the relentless firefighting, you suffered business closure, financial destitution, the death of your partner and then an arson attack on your business premises, all within just a few years.

That is what happened to GB Pizza’s co-founder Lisa Richards who, after a run of events which would defeat even the most resilient, has recently rebuilt her restaurant from the ashes – quite literally. Her journey offers an edifying story for anyone who feels stuck in a loop of adversity, demonstrating how, through a commitment to our core values and a focus on our goals, we can harness the power of community to not only survive, but to truly thrive.

As the financial tsunami of the 2007/8 crash wreaked havoc, Lisa’s publishing company in Spain buckled under its weight. Homeless and stripped of financial security, Lisa and her partner Rachel were forced to return to the UK with little more than desperation – Rachel was battling a brain tumour, amplifying the complexity of their situation.  Most would be paralysed by despair. But not Lisa and Rachel. Somehow they found a well of audacity – the strength to follow a whole new path. Lisa remembers that, after going through “some hideous treatment” to ensure she was well enough, Rachel started training as a chef at a gastropub in London, “something she had always dreamed of doing”.

Lisa also pursued long-held ambitions: “I am always looking for the next opportunity, and the financial crash had led to loads of great pubs having to close their doors. Breweries were desperate for new tenants – even ones with as little experience as us – so we took over a pub with rooms on the Wiltshire/Somerset borders and winged it for two years, winning awards and getting national newspaper coverage. It was Rachel’s dream to cook. This marked the inception of their journey into hospitality; a pivot dictated by necessity but, as any restaurateur will know, a step towards an exciting yet immensely tough life.

“We had nowhere to live, no ties, so we hit what I call the ‘fuck it’ button and lived the publican’s life.”

The jump into uncharted territory became a pattern for Lisa: “I guess once you’ve first made a massive leap into the unknown, it gets a little less scary each time you do it. We’d already lost everything, twice, so the risk seemed exciting rather than terrifying,” she reflects. Tragically Rachel’s health meant that they had to give up the pub, and Lisa remembers “I was odd-jobbing, working as a food buyer for a chain of garden centres and as a marketing writer for various awful companies, the worst being a tyre company”. She hated it.

GB Pizza was another leap into the unknown. They opened the pizzeria from a VW campervan in 2012, both of them pizza obsessives and both missing the joys of hospitality. They very quickly smashed it, and its subsequent popularity meant that they were able to open a bricks-and-mortar site on the seafront of their new home, in Margate. The logical next step was surely London. But Lisa explains “we went into a business relationship with an investor blind, which turned really nasty. We messed up when we opened a site in London – it wasn’t right for us nor the brand nor our business model. Ego ruled the head on that one, and it just didn’t work. We had a great two years on Exmouth Market, but financially it was a disaster”. The site closed, a tragedy in itself but one which paled into insignificance when Rachel passed soon after.

With the trauma of losing a partner and two closures behind her, many would have given up. “Rachel’s passing at the end of 2018 gave me the opportunity to decide what to do. I could only ever have carried on. For legacy reasons, and because I genuinely believe it’s a great little local restaurant that has the opportunity to expand to other coastal towns that we have an affiliation with”. Lisa recalls, “You kind of hope there are only going to be one or two major life events for a small business, but we’ve had quite the ride at GB.”

But that resolve did not happen in isolation. “The love that the team and I have felt during the closure of the restaurant due to the arson attack has been overwhelming,” Lisa shares. “On the days that I’ve wanted to give up, an email would pop into my inbox, asking how the team and I are doing, and telling us a story about why they’re so connected to GB and why they can’t wait for us to reopen. A woman who used us as a safe haven, coming in daily and making a cup of coffee or a garlic bread last all day, knowing she would never be questioned or denied a seat. She was in a domestic abuse situation and eventually found her way out of that and a new life. A woman had her first date at GB and got married to her husband just last week. A young woman who found out she’d been cheated on whilst sat at one of our tables brought her gorgeous new boyfriend in for dinner to introduce us to him. One of our newest team members has been eating with us since she was seven, celebrating hers and her sister’s birthdays with us. It really is a privilege.”

The solidarity of their community stands as a testament to the importance of their approach, and to their culture of kindness:. “Giving back is something that has always been incredibly important,” emphasises Lisa. Their involvement with local schools, support for LGBTQ+ youth projects, collaboration with organisations assisting underprivileged children, contributions to cancer charities, and advocacy for initiatives like Margate Pride all underscore their dedication. This involvement not only integrated them into the broader social fabric beyond the pizzeria’s doors, but also infused that space with profound importance and loyalty.

Lisa’s journey underscores the transformative potential of a community-centred business model. She says again: “I don’t think I would have gotten through the last few months without being surrounded by the amazing support of the people of Margate.” Her advice for others seeking to harness the strength of community? Clarify your values, tap into what truly matters to you, and you’ll find the people with whom that resonates: “It’s about working alongside people you admire and causes that touch you. It can’t just be an empty gesture – people spot that from a mile off”.

It seems incredible, given the challenges, that GB Pizza Co is not only thriving but now stands poised for expansion. Lisa’s profound connection with her community and her team’s unbreakable unity haven’t just helped them endure tribulations, but they’ve also fuelled their appetite for growth.

“We’ve all built a series of skills during the last eight months that we would never have had. So we’re feeling reinvigorated, we have all fallen head over heels in love with GB Pizza again, and we want to do more… very soon!”