Des Gunewardena, formerly one half of restaurant group D&D, has spoken for the first time about his acrimonious 2022 departure from the company he founded 18 years ago.
Speaking to City A.M. in an exclusive interview he said: “I had no option [but to leave]. There was a pretty fundamental difference of views between the guy who founded the business [him] and the financial stakeholders.
“I had one vision for how to develop the company and the private equity investors had a different vision. My strategy was to continue to practise the things that have been so successful since D&D was formed… In the short term, you have to manage the business as well as you can. And in the long term you continue to stick to your vision: long-term players, long-term growth. That was my strategy. Theirs was more focused on the short term.”
Gunewardena, who made a failed bid to take back control of D&D, is set to open a new Japanese-Korean restaurant, Jang, and entertainment venue, Engel, in Royal Exchange next month.
He has two other projects in the pipeline, a 10,000sqft project in Canary Wharf and one that is yet to be announced.
I will continue to look at the UK, but I’m very interested in the US and India. I’ve just come back from Mumbai and places like that are still in the early stages of a big growth in the middle classes. The sheer numbers in India represent a big opportunity for restaurateurs
Des Gunewardena
He says: “I’m building a very nice little business. In 12 months I’ll have gone from zero to 250 staff. I’ve got my hands full, there is momentum. I’m enjoying myself more running this than I was running D&D. There’s a lot of routine involved when you have 2,000 staff, and there’s a lot of routine involved in running the company. It’s not that it wasn’t fun but I’ve got a new lease of life. I’m doing something new and that’s energising. It’s very short, sharp and unbureaucratic.”
Gunewardena is also eyeing more expansion, including to the US and India. He says: “I will continue to look at the UK, but I’m very interested in the US and India. London is very established and very successful, a big city and with big opportunities. I’ve just come back from Mumbai and places like that are still in the early stages of a big growth in the middle classes.
“The sheer numbers in India represent a big opportunity for restaurateurs. I’m looking at a project, working with a local, well established restaurant company over there, about the idea of opening something in Mumbai next year. And if that works that may be a platform to do more in Asia…”
• Read the full interview on P16-17