Pre-Opening Diagnostic · Start here
Restaurant and pub pre-opening review
Open with clarity, not hope. A structured stress test of your plan, before the problems are built in.
£695, one-off. Written report within five working days, a debrief to go through it, and a check-in after you open. No VAT added to your invoice.
What should you check before opening a restaurant or pub?
Five things. Whether you can describe the concept in one sentence without three "and"s. Whether the site suits the concept, or you are bending the concept to fit the site. Whether you break even on a worst-case forecast, and have the cash to survive a slow start. What the lease lets you do, and what it stops you doing. And whether the next 90 days are realistic: licences, recruitment, training, a soft opening, and who is responsible for what.
The Pre-Opening Diagnostic is how I check them with you. It is Atelier Sawyer's one-off review for anyone opening a restaurant, pub, bar, or café in the UK: a second opinion from an operator, while there is still time to change the plan.
Is this for you?
It is built for people who have moved from "maybe" to "when", usually three to eighteen months from opening.
- The site is real: you have found a location, or signed for one. Before you sign is the best time of all.
- The plan is live: money is committed, or about to be.
- The stakes are high: you want a calm, experienced view of what matters most before the doors open.
Still at the napkin-sketch stage? Start with the free pre-opening checklist.
Opening a hospitality business is not only a creative project; it is a capital decision. In my experience, venues rarely fail because the idea is bad. They fail because the plan rests on quiet assumptions that only surface when they are too late, and too expensive, to change. The Diagnostic is built to find them while you can still do something about them.
How it works
We do not hand you a document and wish you luck. We stay with you until the plan meets its first guests.
- The questionnaire: When you book, you'll get a link to a detailed questionnaire, and a list of the numbers to have ready.
- The session: 90 minutes on a video call, working through what the questionnaire turned up.
- The report: a concise, written document, not a slide deck, within five working days.
- The debrief: a 30-minute call to walk through the priorities.
- The reality check: a follow-up call four to six weeks after you open, to see how the plan handled its first month of trade.
What we stress-test
- Concept: can you describe the venue in one sentence, and is it genuinely different in your area?
- Site: does the site suit the concept, or are you bending the concept to fit the site? It is a common and expensive mistake.
- Money: does the plan break even on a worst-case forecast, and is there enough cash to survive a slow start?
- The lease: my view as an operator of how its terms affect your ability to trade, grow, or change direction. It is not legal advice; that is your solicitor's job.
- The first 90 days: is the timeline for licences, recruitment, and training realistic? What is the soft-opening plan? Who is responsible for what?
What you get
A traffic-light report that sets out:
- The diagnosis: one paragraph on the overall health of the project
- The top three risks: what could sink you, and how to reduce each one
- The top three opportunities: where you are strongest, and how to make more of it
- The action plan: what to do in the next seven days, the next 30 days, and after you open
The debrief: 30 minutes
A few days after the report arrives, we go through it together on a 30-minute call: what you agree with, what you do not, and what you will do first.
Why work with me
I have spent more than 30 years in restaurants, cafés, bars, pubs, and nightclubs. I have opened seven venues of my own and several more for the people I worked for, so I know where openings go wrong because I have watched it happen, sometimes to me. I know what a lease can do: a clause I signed at 26 eventually cost me three pubs.
What it costs
£695, one-off. That covers the questionnaire, the session, the written report, the debrief, and the check-in after you open. No monthly commitment.
It is a small fraction of what you are about to spend on the fit-out alone, and it is the cheapest point at which to find a mistake.
If you go on to start Plan within 30 days, the £695 comes off your first month.
Prices are shown without VAT. Atelier Sawyer is based in Spain, so no VAT is added to your invoice, whether you buy as a business or, before you have formed one, as an individual. If your business is VAT-registered, you account for the VAT on your own return under the reverse charge.
Save British Pubs member? Your members' discount applies.
The Diagnostic is not right for everyone
- If you are already trading, you need the Hospitality Health Check instead.
- If you want a partner from the first idea to opening night, Plan does that, month by month.
- If you want someone to approve a decision you have already made, I am the wrong person. I will tell you what I see.
Frequently asked questions
What should I check in a lease before I sign it?
Look at what it makes you liable for, not just the rent. Is there a personal guarantee? Is the rent review upward only? Can you leave early, assign the lease, or sublet? Who repairs the building? Does it tie you to a supplier, or limit what you can sell? In England and Wales, check whether it excludes your right to renew; Scotland has no such statutory right. Then have a solicitor read every word.
Is my business plan realistic, or is everyone just being kind?
Test it against a bad month, not a good one. Cut your sales forecast by a third and see whether you still cover rent, wages, and loan payments. Then check the assumptions people skip: covers a day, average spend, how long trade takes to build, and what you will pay yourself. If the plan only works when everything goes right, it does not work yet. The Diagnostic stress-tests it with you.
What goes on a restaurant pre-opening checklist?
In order: the concept and the numbers, then the site and the lease, then licences and registrations, then the team, the systems, and the launch. Across the UK, the legal minimum includes registering as a food business 28 days before trading, employers' liability insurance once you employ anyone, and allergen information for every dish. Alcohol and late-night licences differ between England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The Diagnostic checks your order.
What if my opening date changes?
Openings move; I plan for it. You can move the session free of charge with 48 hours' notice, and the check-in after opening is booked around your actual opening date, whenever that turns out to be. If the delay changes the plan itself, tell me; a slipped opening often means a re-costed first year.
What is the difference between the Diagnostic and Plan?
The Diagnostic is a one-off second opinion on the plan you already have: a session, a written report, a debrief, and a check-in after you open. Plan is a monthly partnership that builds the plan with you, from the first idea to the first service. If you want that help afterwards, start Plan within 30 days and the £695 comes off your first month.
Talk it through
If you are not sure whether the Diagnostic or Plan is the better fit, a free 30-minute chat will tell us both.