Expert Eye: Lauren Kellaway, director, Kellaway’s Fish & Chips, Truro, Cornwall

In a bid to achieve a better work-life balance and grow the business, Lauren has decided to hire a manager – a move that marks a new chapter for the long-standing family-run shop

My mum and dad have owned Kellaway’s since 1997 and I’ve been here for 15 years. I’ve seen the hours they work – the long days, the constant commitment – and I’ve said to myself, “I don’t want to be like that.” That’s not me being disrespectful; I just want to find a work-life balance that works for me. And for me, that means getting a manager in.

I don’t want to be in the shop five or six days a week. It’s been a hard decision, and I definitely feel guilty for wanting time and a life outside of the business. But I’ve realised it’s necessary. There’s also the bigger picture – Mum and Dad are thinking about retiring. So the question becomes: do I take it on? Or do I walk away and do something else? But when I think about everything we’ve worked for and achieved as a family, I know I don’t want to throw that away.

I know I can run the business. It’s just about making sure it runs the way I want it to. That doesn’t mean I think I’m above anyone. I still muck in – that’s not a problem at all. But I want to get it to a point where the shop can run without me being there every single day. If we bring in a manager, we’ll have the capacity to work on the business more, to grow, evolve and take it to the next level.

We came third this year in Fish & Chip Takeaway of the Year, and we don’t want to stop there. We want to go for first. But that takes time, planning and the right focus. I need time to get that right and the business needs to evolve for that to be possible.

So now, I’m working on putting all the right things in place. I spent yesterday going through the numbers, budgeting for a manager, and making sure we can afford it. I’m also in the process of buying Mum and Dad out of the business, so there’s a lot more money going out than before. But the good news is, it’s all still possible, it just takes careful planning.

I’ve also created a full blueprint for how the business runs – all the processes written down step-by-step, right down to how to make the curry sauce and beans. It’s basically a “How to Run Kellaway’s for Dummies” manual, but it is important to give you the freedom you deserve when you run your own business. 

For anyone else in the same position as me who is thinking about taking on a manager, I would say, reach out for professional advice. We have worked with Action Coaches Global, and they’ve helped us make sure we’ve got everything in place. You can’t really over-prepare for something like this. And speak to other shop owners too. At the Norwegian Seafood Inspiration Day, I was really surprised at how many other people are doing the same, so it’s not out of the ordinary to want to have a shop that is manager-run.

And most importantly, talk to your team. We’ve spoken to ours and it looks like it’ll need to be an external hire. We’ve got quite a young team and here and no one is really looking for that kind of pressure, which is fair. I wouldn’t have wanted to hire someone from outside if one of the team thought they could do it. So definitely have that discussion and so they feel a part of it, rather than something that is done without their knowledge.