Paul Heathcote – restaurateur

The thick stone walls of the offices upstairs at the Longridge Restaurant are covered with awards; there are others on shelves and in cabinets. Paul Heathcote gets plenty of recognition as a chef, a restaurateur, an entrepreneur, a trainer, an employer, and more – this is an important part of his reward for 17 years in business so far.
Not the only part, though. He is finally enjoying the financial rewards of his efforts: ‘There’s no guilt trip about that – I’ve taken enough risks, after all.’ He has been close to the edge once or twice: ‘It was a tremendous strain, but I’d get up the next day and fight it out. It takes belief and strength of character, and it gave me huge satisfaction. But it’s not for everyone.’
By the end of 2007 he will have 15 restaurants open in the North West, so it’s rare for him to get into a kitchen these days other than to peer over the shoulder of his head chefs on his travels around the various Heathcotes venues.
He is far from the image of the tempestuous celebrity chef, hurling curses and knives at sous chefs: Heathcote is a softly-spoken Lancastrian who has learned some of his most valuable lessons from kitchen bullies. He mentions a chef at a famous hotel in London: ‘You don’t treat people like that; he was aggressive and uncompromising. I understand that now and then you have to be tough if you can’t get through to someone – we all need a kick up the arse occasionally – but you must double that in compliments and encouragement............