Joy originally came to England to study and worked as a waitress in a popular Thai restaurant in Chelsea, run by chef Mini, who is now a celebrity chef and author back in Thailand. Joy learned how to run a successful restaurant through her time there and soon realised how rewarding the business could be.
At the time, I was greedy,
she giggles, and I saw the restaurant was making great profits! Mini, who trained me, was fantastic, always giving me advice. I didn’t realise at the time how that would later shape my career. I was surrounded by successful women who were very good decision makers. Later, when my ex-husband and I had established Pu’s, I took the leap into doing an MBA to broaden my business skills.
We opened Pu’s Brasserie 16 years ago
, reminisces Joy with a characteristic smile, two years later, we started a second restaurant in Richmond, followed by two others in Surrey, which are now run by my ex husband. These were very wealthy areas with village communities, and we enjoyed doing business with such a different kind of clientele than the rushed, business lunches you see more of in London.
Once we were established in these areas people became more than just customers; they became our friends and advisors. It is the same in Hertford; I feel very warm and involved as a member of the community. Even in the economic crunch, people are still coming to eat at our restaurants. We have been sensible about making our prices great value and even though people are spending slightly less, they are still coming to support us.
Jumping For Joy!
To make the most of her work/life balance, Joy divides her time between England and Thailand, where her two sons, age 9 and 12, attend school. The boys are very proud of mum, even bragging to their friends how pretty she is! She also claims to be less disciplined outside of business (I don’t want to follow regulations,
she says, like warming up for exercise - if I want to jump, I’ll jump!
).
Joy believes that relationships are key to continued success. We have built great relationships with our regular customers, to the point where I have had my staff invited in for coffee when they were delivering publicity leaflets through customers’ letterboxes! This is why I love restaurants in this part of the world. It is totally different to London.
If staff are to value their relationships with the customers, they must first value their relationships with each other, explains Joy. I run the restaurants like a family business. My staff know that once they are here under my contract I am not just their employer, but their guardian as well. I encourage them to come to me with any of their problems – not just about work – because I want them to be happy here, happy to work for the company. I can say that most of my staff stay with us for a long time, which means the customers can get to know them.
My staff are Thai, many have worked in five star hotels in Thailand, so we all share the same feeling of creating a ‘home from home’... and of having to work in the cold weather,” she adds mischievously. “I want them to feel happy in their work and happy in their lives, so that we can serve our customers with love and to the best standards possible.
High Thai Standards
Joy’s standards are reflected in every aspect of the Baan Thitiya experience; from the hand-picked decorations and wall art imported from Bangkok, to the traditional Thai greeting each customer receives as they enter the building, to the choice of recipes and menu. The restaurants all use local sources for fresh vegetables and meat, and Martin Lam, a winner of the Moet & Chandon Most Exceptional London Wine List Award, designs the wine list.
The Baan Thitiya chain is now expanding as rapidly as maintaining its high standards will allow, and Joy is currently scouting to expand her portfolio. Our growth is instinctive. When I find a premises that I like I always look around the surrounding area and ask estate agents and friends for their opinions. I always make a note of the cars people are driving, the number of hair salons in the area, all little indicators of how we may fit into the community.
The one thing I will never do is buy an existing Thai restaurant and run my own in the same premises. You can’t know what that restaurant was like – did they have a bad reputation? Did an important customer have a bad experience? I would be more than happy to buy an Italian or Indian restaurant and create Thai food, but I muststart from scratch.
Baan Thitiya is a forerunner of a good food boom predicted for Bishop’s Stortford in the coming years. Joy welcomes any opportunity for the town to be considered the place to eat in Hertfordshire. On the one hand it would bring more competitors, but to have more restaurants in the town would attract people to Bishop’s Stortford. It will be great for the town, and the businesses here.
Although the restaurant industry remains male-dominated, Joy doesn’t believe her gender has left her at any disadvantage. “I have spent most of my time in the restaurant business with women. I started with lady bosses and even in financial fields I have found that the women I have known work harder, faster and more efficiently than men!
Whether man or woman, you just have to dare to make that first step. Dare to start and to make the hard decisions, and you will have success.
Mwaah can vouch for that; for beneath the elegant, engaging exterior there clearly beats the heart of a lady determined to please both her own family and her extended family of staff and customers.
www.baan-thitiya.com/bishops_stortford
