'Unique' Liverpool restaurant to be 'gifted' to employees as owners prepare for retirement
The founders of two Spanish-inspired restaurants in Liverpool are giving their ‘unique’ business away to their staff.
Lunya was established in 2010 by Peter and Elaine Kinsella, who are both 60, with the first site opening on College Lane before moving to Hanover Street in 2012. The multi-award winning deli, restaurant and bar, offers ‘the best’ of Catalan and Spanish food and is known for its hanging hams.
Sister venue Lunyalita opened in the Royal Albert Dock in 2018, offering a menu of Catalonia-inspired tapas dishes at a more intimate site with waterfront views.
Elaine was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer in 2021 and has since taken a ‘back seat’ in the business. Peter plans to continue to lead Lunya for the next seven years, but the pair have come up with a plan to allow them to retire and ‘protect our staff very long-term’.
The brand employs 67 people, who will each be given an equal stake in the business, in a ‘John Lewis model of ownership’. Unique to the UK, business owners are able to turn their companies into an Employee Owned Trust (EOT), providing staff members with a financial stake in the business as well as a say in how it is run.
Peter said the model will ensure Lunya’s core values will ‘remain intact’. He continued: “The move to employee ownership reflects our belief that the people who have been integral to Lunya’s success should have a stake in its future.
“This new structure not only rewards the hard work and dedication of the staff but also empowers them to play a direct role in the restaurant’s continued growth and innovation as we retire gradually. Importantly, in the future, they will financially benefit from Lunya’s success.”
Lunya will be valued by independent accountants and the profits up to the value of the business will be paid to Mr and Mrs Kinsella. All profits thereafter will be given to the employee shareholders. Peter hopes the move will see the continuation of Lunya’s “unique culinary and cultural experience for years to come” and will leave a “lovely legacy” for the team. Tom Cavanagh is Lunya’s Director of Operations and has been managing the restaurant on a day to day basis for nearly two years. He said: “The team is really excited by this opportunity that Peter and Elaine are giving us; we are very grateful for their generosity – in effect, gifting us the business, and we plan to continue to run and develop Lunya so it continues to be recognised as one of the very best Spanish restaurants in the UK.
“Personally, I love leading the business and will be working very closely with Peter and Elaine over the coming years, so they get the retirement they deserve in the future.”
The legal arrangements for the Employee Owned Trust have been carried out by Liverpool law firm Brabners LLP with the financial arrangements completed by Mitchell Charlesworth Accountants.
Join the conversation and follow LiverpoolWorld on Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok and email us at [email protected].