Three-and-a-half years can pass by quickly if you’re not paying attention. The pace of modern life and the rapidly evolving world around us mean it can be hard to stop for a second and reflect on what has changed over time, and how all that change has helped you develop as a person and a business owner.
For Sam Gadd and Zak Newton, cousins and co-owners of Zen Group, sitting down for an interview offers a rare chance to reflect on what they’ve achieved since they completed the purchase of Durham restaurants Zen and The Rabbit Hole in the summer of 2022.
The business partners first worked together on burger restaurant Tango in the heart of the city – which was launched by Sam in 2012 before Zak joined the business in 2016. They then bought pioneering pan-Asian restaurant Zen and Shanghai-inspired Cantonese restaurant The Rabbit Hole from Sam’s parents, Nigel and Deborah, as they went on to continue their own success story in the industry.
“Buying the business from my parents was a progression for me, but it was very much a business decision on both sides,” says Sam, who grew up in and around his parents’ businesses before travelling across Asia after leaving school, then set up several standalone businesses in Durham, including Tango.
“Working for my parents and the amazing chefs they had in their kitchens gave me a great grounding in this industry. Zen in particular was a huge part of my life growing up, seeing it develop and going on to work there in my early 20s.”
While Zak had also grown up in the industry, he trained as an engineer and then travelled the world working in the oil and gas industry while embarking on multiple entrepreneurial pursuits before going into business with Sam.
“While my parents were in the industry and I spent time with Sam and his parents [including sharing the flat above Zen which is now their offices with Sam], I went down a different path.
“Sam and I then started talking about what we wanted in the future – Sam wanted to do his own thing, and I was getting bored of working away all the time. The decision to partner up was made in the Adriatic Sea on two jet skis, and we haven’t looked back since.”
Since then, Sam and Zak have developed and expanded at a relentless pace. Having led operations at Zen and Rabbit Hole while running Tango for a couple of years – including through Covid lockdowns – they bought Zen and The Rabbit Hole in 2022.
Having grown their business from one restaurant to three, they embarked on an exciting period of development.
By the autumn of 2023, The Rabbit Hole had undergone a major refurbishment, while Tango had tripled in size following a move from Elvet Bridge to Saddler Street and a £350,000 investment.
Sam and Zak also purchased café bistro Whitechurch in the autumn of 2023 – adding a fourth venue to Zen Group’s Durham empire and developing its offering before going through a major refurbishment and redevelopment of the venue this autumn.
“We’re a good team, we do the bits the other doesn’t like to do, and we trust each other,” says Zak.
“We’re both very success driven and we have a real passion for bringing ourselves up as well as the people around us,” adds Sam.
“I was itching to grow from day one and while I was the one on the rollercoaster developing ideas and striving for each new thing, Zak was the logical side we absolutely had to have. As we push to grow, we have to stay within our means and be sustainable in our growth. That’s not to say Zak isn’t always looking to grow, it’s just that he looks at it a different way. I’d say I’m the spark and Zak is the fuel that keeps it going, and we need both.”
With a large business comes big challenges and a lot of responsibility. As well as their own interests, Sam and Zak have more than 150 staff. While the team focuses on their guests in the restaurants, Sam and Zak place a lot of focus on the people in their business.
“We’ve got some amazing people,” says Sam. “There are too many to single any one person out, but we have people who have been at Zen nearly 20 years. Everyone who has been with us for a long time is a huge part of the success story.
“With four venues, you’re always going to have a big team, but we take the opportunity to cross-pollinate as much as possible. That gives us redundancy to cover where needed but also leads to some amazing collaboration between the chefs and teams.”
Like all restaurateurs of all sizes, Sam and Zak have to tackle the big issues facing the industry – from rising costs to recruitment challenges at home and abroad.
“While it may look like it’s been easy when you read the headlines, it’s been hard. There are so many situations outside our control,” says Sam.
“Recruitment is a massive challenge, not just the lack of people in the region wanting to work in hospitality, but the challenges of visas for skilled chefs coming here from Asia. Changing the landscape, on both of those, would make a huge difference to the whole hospitality industry. I want to see better training in colleges and I’d love to see more people value a career in hospitality – it’s an amazing industry that you can do so much in with the right level of effort and mindset.”
“Rising costs are also a big factor,” adds Zak. “Everyone is feeling the squeeze, and expectations rise as prices increase.
“As costs have risen across the board, from ingredients to staff, I’d say the industry is sharper now than it ever has been. You have to know how to manage staff properly, how to control costs, how to put a deal together… it’s more complicated than ever before but the rewards are still there.”
Despite the various challenges, Sam and Zak continue to develop Zen Group and explore opportunities to grow.
“Growth is at the heart of the business,” says Sam. “We’re presented with so many opportunities – the skill is in picking those apart and doing what’s right for our business at the right time. We’re excited to expand to another city, but we bear the responsibility of employing more than 150 people, lots of them with mortgages and families to feed. We’re in no rush, which puts us in a strong position.”
“We’ve been around the industry all our lives and we’ve seen so many people come and go, whether they’re new to it or have tons of experience,” adds Zak. “Our approach has always been about balance. We get right into the detail and decide whether the juice is worth the squeeze before we make big decisions.
“While we might feel our progress has been slow at times, we’re still young, we have some tremendous business assets, and we have so much in place to be able to take the next step and the one after – it’s now just a case of striking when we know the blow will be a knockout.”
While they look ahead to further development and growing Zen Group, it’s clear both Sam and Zak have tremendous passion for hospitality as well as the business of owning restaurants.
“At its heart, hospitality is about experiences and that’s at the heart of all our venues,” says Zak. “This business is in our blood, and I get a kick out of having venues that people are happy in. I love going into a venue and seeing the energy in there. It goes back to the real basics of giving people a good time. It’s easy to forget that, but great experiences are really what this business is all about.”
“This business is an outlet for creativity and I love to work on the business and look at how we can grow it and make it better,” adds Sam. “We’ve always loved to see the success of others around us too. Having a team of 150-plus allows us to see that in so many people, which is so rewarding.
“Despite all the challenges and while we hold ourselves back at times, I don’t think we’re even out the gates yet as a business.”
