“One day I’m going to be the Mayor of Birmingham. I may upset a few people, but you can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs,” declares Glynn Purnell with a glint in his eye.
If anyone should know, it is the Michelin-star chef patron, businessman and passionate Brummie ambassador himself.
The 39-year-old celebrity cook and owner of renowned high-end Birmingham eaterie Purnell’s, is brimming with charm and relaxed confidence. After securing the coveted status of being the city’s first ever Michelin star chef (see box, right) he speaks with refreshing honesty about his home city and the region’s increasingly popular leisure industry.
He is proud of his home town’s ability to change.
He explains: “Birmingham has traditionally had an industrial heritage, but in the past 10 years it has turned itself into a leisure city. For example, it was the most popular leisure destination for St Valentine’s day in the UK this year with visitor figures rising by 8% on 2013.”
Purnell puts this turnaround down to the city’s improved retail offer and multi-cultural restaurant scene.
“The new Bullring has been a massive boon for the city, but I remember the old Bullring shopping centre being filled with rats when I was a kid, it was a horrible place,” he recalls. Next year Birmingham is set to become the only city outside London to field a retail triple-whammy of John Lewis, Harvey Nicholls, and Selfridges once the new John Lewis store opens at the redeveloped New Street station, and Purnell believes the city’s economy can only benefit. “I think Birmingham is cooler than Manchester and Leeds at the moment. People always used to drive through Birmingham, but now they are driving to Birmingham.”
The city needed to raise its game and it has done just that. As for the wider West Midlands, he says the region still struggles with negative images. “There is still a little bit of a stigma attached, but perceptions are changing,” he says.
With a number of leisure operators eyeing Birmingham as a potential test bed for their brands, Purnell urges them to make the move. ”Don’t just consider Birmingham – come.” The question is, can the city which already boasts four Michelin star restaurants swallow many more fine dining eateries?
“I think Purnell’s is more of a gastronomic experience than a fine dining restaurant which tends to have white tablecloths and waiters wearing dickie bows. They remind me of nans,” he says. “There is definitely space for more independent fine-quality gastronomic restaurants here rather than the traditional fine-dining places. Nans are not really the future are they?”
He adds: “Birmingham does not necessarily need any more Michelin star restaurants, but across the West Midlands places like the outskirts of Coventry, Warwickshire and Leamington Spa could sustain a restaurant like Purnell’s. But it is a tough market and it would be a brave move.”
Purnell has had his fair share of those. He negotiated the lease on Purnell’s himself. If the property fraternity was peeved at him not using a professional, their stalwart patronage of the restaurant since then suggests he has been forgiven. He says: “I was a bit gung-ho because I had to be. We were opening on a shoestring, but I struck the deal I wanted to strike. I wanted six months rent-free among other things and I got it, and that was at quite a competitive time during 2006-07.”
However, not everything in Purnell’s kitchen has turned out perfectly. His Asquith concept, trialled first in Edgbaston and then in the city centre, was ultimately unsuccessful. But the former Asquith, based in 6,500 sq ft on Newhall Street, was fruitfully reborn as Purnell’s Bistro in 2012.
So where next? Cautious expansion is being considered. “In the next 18 months I would like to do something slightly smaller and a bit quirky,” he says, “perhaps leaning towards a lifestyle pop-up which could be a champagne bar which does nutritious food, but cool – for hip, health-conscious people.”
Big-hitting retail destinations such as The Mailbox and Selfridges have already approached Purnell about such a concept. Longer term, he says that although he would not consider opening a restaurant in London, he would like to trial a pop-up restaurant in New York.
Whatever happens next, Purnell’s strong work ethic (he only missed four days service in the restaurant last year), likeability (he’s the sort of guy you’d want to go for a beer with) and durability means that if he truly wants to become Birmingham’s first Michelin star mayor, he can surely do it.
About Glynn Purnell
Glynn Purnell won his (and Birmingham’s) first Michelin star in 2005, while head chef at the now defunct Jessica’s restaurant.
Born in Chelmsley Wood, Purnell worked his way up the ranks. In 2007, he remortgaged his house and with no other financial backing set up his own 40-cover restaurant in Birmingham’s traditional office core on Cornwall Street. He says: “It was a dream for me to open my own restaurant in the centre of my home town.”
Signature dishes on Purnell’s tasting menu include Monkfish Massala and the quirky poached egg yolk with smoked haddock milk foam, cornflakes and curry oil – both typical of his innovative approach to everyday food. A further Michelin star followed in 2009.
Regular TV stints , along with a book to be published in May have helped raise the Birmingham City FC fan’s profile and swell his firm’s coffers. He lives in Warwickshire with his partner and three children.
Birmingham is region’s leisure test laboratory
Birmingham’s reputation as a food destination is mushrooming. Purnell’s is in good company with three other Michelin star restaurants – Edgbaston-based Simpsons, Brindleyplace’s Edmunds, and new kid on the block Adam’s which won its first Michelin star last September.
On the back of this success, non-fine dining restaurant operators are now looking at Birmingham as a potential test bed to establish a brand cost-effectively before taking the leap into the pricey and super-competitive London market.
Market observers cite examples such as Viva Brazil, the Brazilian-style steakhouse, which already has operations in Glasgow and Liverpool, as now eyeing Birmingham for an opening before taking the plunge in the capital.
Alastair Robertson-Dunn, retail director at GVA says: “Many restaurant operators have been priced out of London so are expanding in the Midlands and the North. Birmingham’s reputation as a rising star on the ‘foodie’ scene, with an attractive investment market ensures that it a desirable urban destination.”
The good news, for developers and investors, is the region has significant growth potential.
Although the West Midlands is home to 9% of the UK population, it has only 8% of the country’s catering spend, says Alex McCulloch, principal consultant at CACI. McCulloch says that the gap widened during the recession: in 2009 restaurant and hotel spend per head was 6.5% below the UK average, by 2012 it had sunk to 9.9%.
That trend is expected to reverse, and operators who can piggyback on the development of new shopping centres could do particularly well.
Purnell says
? ”The property guys come in here a lot. They are nice guys, have a good sense of humour, tend to wear pin-striped suits and have big wallets.”
? “The Colmore BID has been great for us here at Purnell’s. Yes we have had to put into the pot, but the restaurant is really benefiting from the improvements to the area.”
? “HS2 is going to be fantastic for Birmingham and Manchester. You can have a better standard of living here and easily commute to London.”
? “I think the big ticket regeneration projects such as Paradise Circus, the redevelopment of New Street station and HS2 are great. Regeneration has already had an impact on footfall in the city – you can see it in the amount of people now on the street.”
Lisa.Pilkington@estatesgazette.com
Portraits by Ed Shaw
