Neil Burke on Hospitality Done Right
When Neil Burke took charge of The Black Friar in Manchester, he had a clear vision and extensive hospitality experience. As Director and Operations Manager of Bigger Boat Hospitality, he transformed the historic pub into a lively, thriving venue. With no formal qualifications, Neil demonstrates how focusing on your strengths and hard work can turn a passion into a successful career.
Neil began working at 13, making sandwiches for his mum’s skittle team. This led to various jobs in hospitality, bars, and restaurants in his hometown of Cardiff. Struggling in school due to dyslexia and self-diagnosed ADHD, he quickly relied on his people skills to secure work. “From a young age, my neurodiversity gave me a keen eye for detail,” he explains. “I fixate on how things look, smell, feel, touch, sensory stuff more than most people I know.” He adds that it also comes with challenges, like concentrating on things that are more boring.
Travel and life experience shaped Neil’s approach. At 18, he travelled extensively, living in Australia and Bangkok, and exploring South East Asia. He learned the importance of kindness, empathy, and connecting with people, skills that proved invaluable in life and business. “Running a business works the same way. I can’t do everything myself. Success depends on my team treating customers well and building genuine relationships,” he says.
After about two and a half years of travelling, Neil returned to the UK at 21, ready to settle down and start building a life, including buying his first house. He worked in hospitality, taking roles at The Tasker and Pizza Express, before joining Jamie’s Italian. Over ten years, he gained experience running restaurants and openings across the UK and abroad, training franchisees in Sydney and supporting expansion plans. After parting ways with his partner of 12 years, Neil moved to Sydney to help open more restaurants, including managing Jamie’s Italian and supporting additional locations across Australia.
In 2021, after returning from Australia, Neil was introduced to the team behind The Black Friar by Tom Hetherington, a food writer and friend of a friend. The pub had been considered for demolition, but planning issues stalled the plans. For two years it had been a showroom for nearby apartments. Once they were completed, the building was left as a blank canvas, essentially an office with no character.
Neil saw the opportunity. His first priority was restoring history and character. He added traditional panelling, sourced antique wooden floors, and hunted furniture and fittings from pubs that had closed. For three months he worked largely alone, using just a credit card, fully immersing himself in the restoration. The result is a pub that balances tradition and modernity; the historic front retains its charm, while the modern extension at the back creates a lively dining space.
Taking care of his team has always been a priority. “If you don’t look after your people, they won’t look after your customers,” he says. Staff are paid fairly, tips and service charges are never touched, and employees enjoy staff trips, incentives and meals on shift. Neil is thoughtful about service charges. While he does not love them, he feels they are necessary to remain competitive and attract skilled staff. “I would love to open venues without service charges, because if people are paid fairly, their tips would be better. But unless everyone stops doing it, good staff will go to places that include it.”
The approach has worked. The Black Friar retains 35 per cent of its original staff from four years ago, including chefs and kitchen staff, which is almost unheard of in hospitality.
Neil has been offered many pub opportunities, but The Horse and Jockey in Chorlton immediately caught his attention. “I know the area well, and I felt it had so much potential,” he says. The pub had not reached its full potential under previous management, and Neil wanted to bring his vision to life. His aim is to make it a go-to spot for locals, offering great food in a welcoming and stylish environment.
He is taking things one step at a time. “The worst thing we could do is rush into other sites when we haven’t got this one established,” he says. Building a reputation in hospitality is hard, especially in a city like Manchester. Neil wants to listen to customers, refine the offering, and make The Horse and Jockey a standout venue before exploring other ventures. He has ideas for the future, including Middle Eastern and dumpling concepts inspired by his travels, but for now, his focus is on this pub.
Neil loves working in hospitality, which he sees as more than front-of-house or kitchen work. There is HR, design, product development, bar work and much more. “Hospitality is such a wide spectrum,” he says.
One of the biggest draws for him is the sense of community. Whether in a busy kitchen or a head office, you are part of a team, something other industries often lack. “If you’re a people person and putting people first matters to you, finding what you’re good at and doing it in hospitality is a real winner,” he says.
Check out Neil’s venues here: The Black Friar, Horse & Jockey and Leo + Roobs
