Name:

Juan José Castillo Castro.

Age:

37.

What is your business called?

83 Hanover Street and 99 Hanover Street (JJCC Limited).

Where is it based?

Edinburgh.

What services does it offer?

JJCC Limited specialises in the hospitality sector. We have a cocktail bar called 99 Hanover Street and a modern casual restaurant at 83 Hanover Street, serving sharing bites and plates with a flavour of Chile.

I was born in Chile before moving to Sweden as a child. One of the things my mother did to remind us of home was to make traditional Chilean empanadas. She started to sell them in Sweden and with the money she made, took us back to visit Chile every year. The food we serve is influenced by my upbringing and my mother’s cooking but it was also really important to me, that we use local Scottish ingredients and suppliers, so we have charcuterie from East Coast Cured and use Scottish fish in our ceviche.

To whom does it sell?

Anyone who likes to go out and enjoy themselves with good food and drink. We get lots of couples and groups of friends and are very welcoming to single diners at the restaurant with our countertop dining.

What is its turnover?

Three figures.

How many employees?

20.

When was it formed?

2015. We started trading in October 2016 when we bought 99 Hanover Street

Why did you take the plunge?

I worked at Gleneagles for nine years, which was a great place for me to develop and find my own way of managing a business. During my time there, I met an amazing family who run an investment company. They saw potential in me to help create a new hospitality group and after some meetings, talking through ideas, they offered to financially back me. I was only planning to come to work in Scotland for a year and then move back to Sweden, but that never happened.

What were you doing before you took the plunge?

I was running a restaurant at Gleneagles called The Dormy Clubhouse. It was a big operation situated by the golf courses, so we used to do several big groups daily during the season. It taught me so much in how to operate a large-scale restaurant and run events at the same time, manage the team and look after our customers.

I had dreamed of coming to Scotland since I was a child. Before I started at Gleneagles I was working in hospitality in Gothenburg but looking for opportunities in Scotland. I applied for a job as a waiter at Gleneagles, planning to come for a year but stayed and worked my way up from waiting on tables in The Strathearn to managing The Dormy

What was your biggest break?

Of course meeting my investors - a dream come true to anyone in hospitality. You work very hard for years for great places, but to do it on your own is very difficult unless you have support.

What was your worst moment?

It took a long time to find our first unit to trade in; we looked for more than a year. We were in and out viewing several properties but somehow it was never right. It got to the point when I was worried it was not going to happen. But then suddenly 99 came back up on the market and we went for it and got it. It was the biggest relief during a very low point.

What do you most enjoy about running the business?

Running a bar and restaurant is very hectic as it all depends on the people around you. You have to enjoy the buzz and the fast pace when you are in hospitality. And you have to be a people person. Looking after our customers, the team and making sure the service is running smoothly takes a lot of effort, but it fits perfectly to the way I operate.

What do you least enjoy?

Hospitality does require a lot of long hours and it can affect family time. I run the business together with my partner, Vanessa, and it can sometimes be difficult to find time for ourselves. But we are getting better at managing it now.

What is your biggest bugbear?

That everyone is a restaurant critic these days! It feels like some keyboard warriors will happily criticise a business publicly online without any thought of the consequences and how damaging it can be for the firm.

We would much rather customers aired any grievances to us directly so we have the opportunity to resolve a problem immediately.

What are your ambitions for the firm?

I would love to open some more restaurants. Creating and finally opening 83 Hanover Street was such a milestone in my career. So to grow that part of the business is my biggest ambition.

What are your top priorities?

To keep the team happy and creative, deliver a great service to our guests, make sure our offer is unique and desirable, invest in my people and have fun with it.

What single thing would most help?

Getting young people inspired to work in this business. Hospitality is too often viewed as the first rung in a career ladder that an individual plans to take in a different direction. But if that doesn’t work out you end up with miserable workers doing a job they don’t like.

Hospitality is actually a great career choice as it opens up so many doors and opportunities if you work hard, just as it has for me.

What was the most valuable lesson that you learned?

Very clichéd, but if you work hard and don’t expect more than you should, good things will happen.

How do you relax?

I love spending time with my daughter Emilia, going out to try new restaurant with Vanessa and long runs.

And there is nothing better than doing nothing and having a movie night with your family after a long week of work.