Redundancy paves the way for a new restaurant career

A Merseyside chef has defied the credit crunch after being laid off from his job as a chef at Christmas 2008, by opening a new Italian restaurant 'Little Pizza Kitchen' near Liverpool.

After almost five months of searching for work former Radisson SAS chef, Alex Lawless was fearing the worst.

By complete chance he saw an ad for a food business to let near his home in Waterloo, Merseyside.

With financing a new restaurant virtually impossible due to the economic climate. Alex negotiated an installment plan with the previous owners to pay for the existing fixtures and fittings.

Relying heavily on help from family and friends to get up and running as quickly as possible the "Little Pizza Kitchen" was born.

Alex says: "It's always been my dream to run my own restaurant and due to the lack of work in the marketplace the credit crunch definitely pushed me into trying to create my own work. The previous owners of the business were extremely pro-active and also instrumental in the establishment of the restaurant. The economic climate actually helped push the deal through.

"Our aim is simple, to produce the best quality food based on the traditions of Italian cookery. We combine the freshest, best quality ingredients and present them simply in a relaxed and comfortable environment."

Alex has also created five permanent positions and has helped former colleagues who have also been affected by the economic downturn a way back into work.

Words: Clare Riley

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