The founder of Bill’s Restaurants, Bill Collison, had a chat with us to talk all things food, fun and fish pies…

How did Bill’s first start?

My father owned his own fruit farm but always told me to do something else, so I went off to train as a chef and then went travelling. When I came back, my father said “I’ve bought some retail space, I want you to do something with that” – it was no more than a shed really, based in Lewes. As my experience was in fresh produce and since I knew a lot of farmers in the area, I decided to make it a greengrocery. At the end of each day, I made the leftover produce into fresh pies and soups for people to take away. 

Was it successful?

People loved it from day one. It began to get really busy and my sister said to me “you should put a café in here as well”. So, we had chefs meeting with the local farmers to get brilliant, fresh products to fill the space and cook with and the whole place looked amazing, fresh, vibrant and quirky. The staff were fun and liked to put on ‘a show’ every day for the customers; it was one massive family, as it still is now. Then we opened down the road in Brighton, which was even more successful. It became like a hobby for us, because we all loved going to work every day. We got lots of media interest and then I was very lucky to get someone to back the Bill’s concept, and that’s how we got to where we are now.  

So how long ago was that?

We started out in 2000. We’ve made some mistakes along the way, but we try and put them right and are honest and open about it.

What has made it so successful do you think?

We care about what we do and we’ve got amazing staff that are passionate and genuine too – it’s still very much a family-feel business. We work tirelessly to get fresh and in season ingredients so that our dishes really stand out and add to the ‘theatre’ of it all, with great food and drink and an inspiring, quirky decor. We help communities, and just try and be the best out there, which is not easy because there’s a lot of great players out there, especially in Manchester.

I love the décor here…

I do that, I love it. I go to auctions to find new pieces to use; it’s good fun.

What three words would you use to describe Bills?

Fun, theatre and honest.

What’s your favourite dish on the menu?

I love the Roasted Aubergine with Chickpeas and Chilli dish on our new summer menu. It’s light and fresh and I could eat it every day. I also love our Bill’s Fish Pie. We’ve also just introduced a range of new, summer botanical-inspired cocktails, which are a must-try. Some of which feature the new Bill’s Gin we’ve just launched too. 

What do you think sets Bill’s apart from other restaurants?

Obviously the look, but also I think we’ve got an honest history. I care about where we’ve been and I want to constantly move forward to make it better every day. I really want the customers to love their time here and feel like they’ve been to a show.  I want the staff to feel they’re in a great place to work and be really proud of it. 

Apart from Bill’s, do you do anything else on the side?

I grow fruit and vegetables, which I used to hate but I now love. I enjoy walking the dog. Other than that, I work solidly. 

Why did you choose Manchester as a spot?

We chose Manchester because we wanted to come up north, and where else first other than Manchester? When I came to see the site, I knew the work we could do, because it was previously an office and I knew we could make it look great. 

What does the future have in store for Bill’s?

We’d like to open up more sites up north, ideally roll-out our ‘Little Bill’s’ concepts in suburban areas. We also want to keep working hard to make Bill’s better – better cocktails, better, fresher produce, even more fun and quirkiness. 

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