Olivia Wong, general manager of Stravaigin in Glasgow and SLTN’s reigning Licensee of the Year, has hospitality in her blood.
Having grown up in the city’s south side in a family of restaurateurs and takeaway operators, Olivia wasted no time jumping into the industry, joining the team at Thaikhun in Aberdeen when she was studying in the city.
It wasn’t long before she got hooked.
“I thought, actually, I like food, I like drink and I like service. It made perfect sense,” Olivia told SLTN last month.
As with many hospitality professionals, Olivia spent time working for a number of companies – including Chaophraya and Rusk & Rusk-owned steakhouse The Butchershop – before joining Stravaigin as general manager.
This was in the days when the gastropub and its sister venue, Ubiquitous Chip, were still owned by Colin Clydesdale and Carol Wright, and the GM is keen to heap praise on the former owners, who she said gave her the freedom to really stretch her legs in the role.
Stints at Scoop Restaurants’ Ka Pao and then Crabshakk followed, each time picking up valuable experience working with accomplished operators.
Then, in 2022, Ubiquitous Chip and Stravaigin were sold to Greene King, to become part of the company’s upmarket Metropolitan Pub Company subsidiary, and Olivia found herself headhunted.
“One of my friends phoned me and said ‘someone came into Crabshakk looking for you, to get you back to Stravaigin’.
“I thought, that’s quite bold!
“They came to my work to speak to me about getting my old job back.”
The ‘someone’ that had been looking for her was Michael Horan, who was head of Metropolitan Pub Company at the time.
After buying Stravaigin and talking to staff, the company had landed on its top priority for the unit: hire back Olivia Wong.
“That was the first time I ever got to be like ‘if you want me, this is what I want’,” said Olivia.
“It was quite empowering.”
One of Olivia’s main conditions for returning to Stravaigin was that the unit be allowed to retain its individuality, choosing its own suppliers and putting together its own food and drinks lists.
Horan agreed and Olivia came back to helm the venue.
Metropolitan Pub Company operates an estate of food-focused pubs, the vast majority of which are in London.
Edinburgh’s Café Royal and the Chip and Stravaigin in Glasgow are its only Scottish sites (Hanoi Bike Shop, which was bought along with the Chip and Stravaigin, was sold to Scotsman Group last year).
“Even within Metro we are different,” said Olivia.
“We still do our own drinks, food, wine. We bring in the suppliers we want to use. I get to work with Gavin (Suttie), who used to be the assistant manager here but now reps for Alliance Wine. I work with Marshall (Bass) who used to be the sommelier at the Chip and he reps for Enotria. I get to work with people I want to work with.”
At the same time, Olivia said being part of a larger company has helped to strengthen her business and management experience, as well as provide support for staff training and development.
“It’s taught me structure, how to be more profitable, how to hit targets, develop your team, succession planning,” she said.
She has also worked with other Metropolitan general managers to develop an induction programme for incoming managers to help get them up to speed when they join the company.
Locally, she is also involved in two different local committees organising community action in the west end such as litter-pickups, while also co-ordinating support for charities including Social Bite and Refuweegee.
That’s in addition to overseeing Stravaigin’s 30-strong team, dealing with suppliers and – at the time she spoke to SLTN – restructuring the outlet’s menu.
Longer-term, don’t be shocked if you see Olivia behind the helm of her own gastropub at some point in the future. But whatever the plans, hospitality will be at the heart of them.
“I just like making people feel good,” she said.
“I’ve made so many pals in hospitality and customer relationships – I know about their lives. I knew them before they had kids, and before they got married, and now I’m watching their children grow up. It makes you feel that there’s good in the world. A little bubble of positivity.
“So many people come through the doors to celebrate different occasions and you get to be part of that with them.”
