Starting his culinary career at the Dorchester and later under Heston Blumenthal, Straker launched his own restaurant in Notting Hill in 2022.

He went on to create his own brand of irresistible home-grown butters after his online social series ‘All Things Butter’ achieved over 500 million views online, and recently secured £2.2m in seed funding for the global expansion of the brand. As both a restauranter and self-made entrepreneur, Straker has a unique insight into creating and growing a successful business, as well as sharing his approach to creativity, teamwork and leadership in different environments.

Build your team
Knowing how a successful restaurant kitchen relies on a highly skilled team means my approach to building scalable businesses starts with having the right people in the right jobs to support me both day-to-day and operationally. From finding the perfect site to securing investment for All Things Butter, the pace is non-stop and without structure, can run the risk of being chaotic. In a restaurant brigade, everyone has their section and clear, ordered responsibilities that leverage their skills. I infuse this structure into my FMCG business, with a focus on leading a supportive team.

Embrace the debrief
In the restaurant world, briefing before and debriefing after a busy service is a vital part of the day-to-day running of the kitchen and front of house. The team at my Notting Hill restaurant gets together ahead of opening to ensure everyone is motivated and clear on their tasks. At the end of the evening, we then get together to talk about what went well, what didn’t, and what could be improved.

This creates time for communication, team-building, and reflection in a busy, fast-paced environment where staff are on the front line from the very first minute. While this can be high-pressure, there is no room for office politics or miscommunication, which makes everyone more aware of how to work collaboratively, motivated towards the same outcome. Daily debriefs help teams reflect on their performance, learn when things don’t go to plan, and celebrate successes, leading to better overall performance and team cohesion.

Teamwork under pressure
Restaurants are high-pressure environments where the quality of the food produced depends on the cohesion and synchronicity of the team to get every element of the dish perfectly prepared at the same time. What I have learned from the kitchen is not to over-complicate things. Embracing a culture where team members can rely on each other and communicate openly can improve performance, especially under tight deadlines or high-stakes growth phases. All working environments should be structured to allow ideas to flow. Crucially, as exists in a restaurant kitchen, there has to be a mechanism for accountability so everyone feels supported to be at their best. At All Things Butter, we do our best to translate this into the office by regularly setting clear expectations for the team and outlining our goals. It’s really important to share the brand’s vision, mission, values and procedures with everyone, making sure they understand their roles and duties.

Immediate feedback and celebrating successes
In a restaurant environment, feedback from customers is immediate and unfiltered – you know right away if someone likes what you are doing or they will send it back and you can see, hear and feel if customers are happy by the smiles on their faces. We know when we have done a good job and smashed the service, there is no question, it is visible. With that comes collective and individual accountability and allows us to celebrate successes as they happen. In our butter business, we make sure to celebrate every win – even the small ones – with the team by taking them for a meal at one of my favourite London restaurants, like Plaza Khao Gaeng, a Southern Thai restaurant. At a senior level, my long-term friend and business partner, Toby Hoppy, and I make time to take short breaks when we reach large business milestones, like our recent £2.2m fundraising round. We went to Mallorca for a long weekend, but as founders, we did end up talking about the business a lot! Celebrating often makes a team more resilient when things go wrong and increases willingness to openly discuss issues when they arise.

Balancing work and personal wellbeing
Growing two very different businesses at once has taught me the importance of slowing down to get the best from both work environments by investing in health and wellbeing. The restaurant scene is well-known for its ‘work hard play hard’ environment and I have definitely made the most of that in the past! As I have matured and grown up as an entrepreneur, I have carved a much more balanced lifestyle. It makes me so much more productive. Now I get up earlier in the morning and make time for myself before the day begins. I get up at 5am and go to the gym and have an ice bath, arriving at the restaurant by 7am, so I can take the morning at a slower pace. It can be easy to work late in my office above the restaurant until 11pm, as the team below are also working. But enjoying a slower start to the day is definitely a worthy wellbeing investment.