Honiton Wine Bar – family aims to develop the High Street business

Lisa and Pete Beigan,the new owners of Honiton wine bar. Ref edr 51 18TI 6981. Picture: Terry Ife (Image: Archant)

Please introduce yourself…

We are Peter and Lisa Beigan.

We took over the Wine Bar on November 23, having previously worked here from 1998 for several years. We had always dreamed of having a restaurant between us and now seemed like the perfect time to do so because the family is a little bit older. The fact it was this place, which has always been in our hearts, meant it we found it to be the perfect opportunity.

What made you decide to set up shop as an independent trader in Honiton?

It was because Honiton is home for both of us.

We did very briefly look at Exeter but we really like the close-knit community Honiton has. Our girls are at school here and we think Honiton deserves more independent traders. We think we are underrated because we are part of the community, whereas big chains aren’t necessarily community-friendly. We have modelled what we are going to do on what we observed and experienced when we worked here before. The place was working at its maximum in the early 2000s which is why we have planned to make the menu more traditional and take the eatery back to its roots, by re-establishing its wine bar status.

How do you see your business faring over the next five years?

The best case scenario is we will have this place back to what it was in the early 2000s.

As far as the business itself goes, our eldest daughter Ellie wants to have a lot more involvement here, and we are all for it as she has a great business head. Our 16-year-old Finley is all for the hospitality side here and wants to do an apprenticeship here. Our 12-year-old Olivia is really interested in becoming a chef and doing an apprenticeship too. The idea is we train our children for them to eventually take it on – that’s the long-term goal. Within the next five years, we want to transform the Wine Bar into one of the best restaurants in Honiton. We would like to increase food sales with our new menu and become the talking point of a lot diners.

What one piece of advice would you give to anybody considering setting up a local independent shop or business?

Follow your dreams and do it!

You live once – so if you sit back and think too much about, you’ll end up convincing yourself out of it. We have never done that, we have always done what feels right and we have got away with it so far! We are also firm believers in enjoying what are you doing.

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