他是伦敦餐饮业的明星投资人
保罗•坎贝尔(Paul Campbell)热情地迎接我，并把我带到拐角一张餐桌，他先让服务员上了咖啡，而后再让其取来早餐菜单。坎贝尔穿着休闲：白衬衣(最上面的扣子并未扣上)、黑色夹克衫以及暗色裤子(与上衣不太搭)。他无需靠穿着来搏取印象分。
Campbell is the public face of Hill Capital Partners LLP. In fact, he is its only face, and its sole director. And yet over the past seven years he has carved out a particular and very useful niche for himself.
坎贝尔是Hill Capital Partners LLP的明星人物，事实上，他是唯一的明星，因为他是公司唯一的总裁。而在过去七年中，他成功开拓了与众不同而又成绩斐然的细分行当。
As he sips his flat white, I ask him to describe his role. “I find really interesting restaurant businesses to invest in early, businesses that have invariably been the creation of equally interesting individuals,” he says, “and then I support and help them as much as I can to expand.”
就在他啜饮着flat white咖啡时，我问他如何界定自己的角色。“我发现感兴趣的餐饮公司(由同样有意思的人创办)后就先下手为强。”他说，“而后我会全力以赴帮助其发展壮大。”
His most notable successes in London to date have been the Hawksmoor steakhouses, the Vinoteca bistros and Blacklock, the noisy restaurant that specialises in lamb chops finished on a grill with the help of an old iron. His involvement in all three began, however, very differently.
迄今为止，他在伦敦投资的最得意之作是入股霍克斯韦尔牛排馆、Vinoteca小酒馆以及Blacklock。后者是食客如云的餐饮店，专营烤羊排(有烙铁“相助”的炉子上烤就)。但他入股这三家餐饮公司的路数却是大相径庭。
It was in 2009, when Will Beckett and Huw Gott had opened their first Hawksmoor, that they contacted Campbell with a view to his future involvement. He met them, ate their food and was impressed. As a non-executive director he has backed them all the way; today they have six London sites and a further one in Manchester (and will open in the rebuilt World Trade Center in New York, probably in 2019), as well as four branches of Foxlow, their other restaurant brand.
那是2009年，当时威尔•贝克特(Will Beckett)与Huw Gott刚开张首家Hawksmoor牛排馆，他们就接洽坎贝尔，希望后者能投资。坎贝尔与其会了面，并品尝了他们做的牛排，对此赞不绝口。作为非执行董事的他后来一直鼎力相助。如今，威尔•贝克特与Huw Gott已在伦敦开设了六家分店，并在曼彻斯特开设了一家分店(2019年预计在重建的纽约世贸中心(World Trade Center)开设分店);此外，他们旗下另一餐饮公司Foxlow也已开设四家分店。
Meanwhile, Campbell’s involvement with Vinoteca began when he was a customer at its first site in St John Street. His initial approach was rebuffed but nine months later, founders Charlie Young, Brett Woonton and Elena Ares were planning their second site and returned his call. There are now five Vinotecas, with another opening in Bloomberg’s new London head office in early October.
与此同时，坎贝尔光临Vinotecas在伦敦圣约翰街(St John Street)的老店后，就想对其投资入股，却遭到对方断然拒绝。但九个月后，酒馆创始人查理•扬(Charlie Young)、布雷特•沃顿(Brett Woonton)与埃丽娜•埃瑞斯(Elena Ares)打算开设分店，于是主动请其投资。如今，Vinotecas已在伦敦开有五家分店;位于彭博(Bloomberg)新落成的伦敦总部大楼的分店也将于今年十月初开张。
Campbell’s friendship with Blacklock’s founder Gordon Ker began in very different circumstances. Ker was a lawyer working on a lease for Hawksmoor when, at a celebratory dinner after signing, he admitted that he was captivated by the idea of becoming a restaurateur and had even made a business plan. Campbell was drawn in and the second Blacklock site has just opened successfully in the City.
坎贝尔与Blacklock创始人戈登•科尔(Gordon Ker)的友情之旅则是走了完全不同的路数。科尔原是负责Hawksmoor牛排馆租赁事宜的律师。在一次租赁签字仪式后的庆祝晚宴上，他坦承萌生了自己当餐馆老板的强烈愿望，甚至还草拟了开店计划。坎贝尔对其进行了投资，如今第二家Blacklock分店刚刚在伦敦的金融城(the City)开业。
I ask him for common themes. “Well, I suppose that all of my investments are in fairly traditional formats — steakhouses, restaurants with a wine focus — but where each is given a modern twist. I feel my bravery is in investing early rather than in judging whether a particular style of food is going to become mainstream.”
我问坎贝尔秉承何种投资主题。“我认为自己所有的投资项目都在非常传统的领域——牛排店、突显葡萄酒特色的餐馆——但是，每家都得有现代风格。我觉得自己的胆识在于下手早、而不是去判断某个餐饮细分行当未来是否会成为主流。”
Campbell also evaluates the way potential partners are prepared to work, and whether or not they will take guidance. “How willing are those I am going to back to listen? Entrepreneurs must be open to my advice,” he stresses.
坎贝尔同样会评估未来合伙人的经营理念，以及对方是否愿意接受自己指导。“我的投资对象多大程度愿意倾听我的建议?我提的建议餐饮经营者必须接受。”他强调道。
He gained his experience — and his financial muscle — first as financial director of PizzaExpress and then as chief executive of the Aim-listed Clapham House Group. It was an exciting period for the group’s Gourmet Burger Kitchen, a lone upmarket chain in what has become a crowded market.
他在餐饮经营方面的经验与日俱增(投资回报同样如此)：首先担任英国比萨饼连锁餐厅PizzaExpress的财务总监，而后又出任英国另类投资市场(AIM)上市的Clapham House Group集团CEO。在其执掌期间，Clapham House Group旗下的高端连锁餐厅Gourmet Burger Kitchen在强手如林的伦敦餐饮业发展迅猛。
Today, Campbell says, the situation has changed. “Premiums, cost pressures, increasing consumer discrimination, the rise in the importance of the female diner are all factors for any restaurateur. But the one I fear more than any is a rise in interest rates. We have got used to cheap money and I hope it stays that way.”
坎贝尔说：如今已是时过境迁。“各种费用与成本飚涨、消费者的鉴赏力与日俱增以及女性用餐者越发举足轻重都是餐饮经营者需要考虑的因素。但我最担忧的是利率上升。对低利率我们早已习以为常，希望政府能维系现有利率不变。”
Nevertheless, in Campbell’s view there are still golden opportunities for laying down the basis of any burgeoning business. “Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Bristol are cities full of people where there is an underprovision of restaurants, and the property is so much less expensive than London,” he says.
然而，在坎贝尔看来，任何新兴行当一旦夯实好基础，还是大有可为。“曼彻斯特、伯明翰、利兹以及布列斯托尔等城市都是人满为患，餐馆供不应求，而且相比伦敦房价要低得多。”他说。
The location may change but Campbell’s approach will not, his goal always to ensure that a brand works coherently for the restaurateurs, their customers and their staff.
餐馆选址可以变动，但坎贝尔的投资方式不会变;他的奋斗目标永远是确保品牌与经营者、消费者以及员工水乳交融、珠联璧合。
“A non-executive director brings experience, is well connected and coaches rather than dictates,” says Hawksmoor’s Will Beckett. “Paul has all of these qualities in spades.”
“非执行董事经验多、人脉广、需宏观指导而非指手划脚。”Hawksmoor老板威尔•贝克特说。“坎贝尔完全是集上述优点于一身。”
Campbell tells me that these days he receives a business plan a week, but cannot pinpoint just what it is that makes him choose one. He does admit, though, to his good fortune in being able to help people grow in the restaurant business — and to having some fun along the way.
坎贝尔告诉我：近期他每周都会收到一份企划书，但无法准确说清楚自己最终抉择的依据。然而他的确坦承帮助餐饮经营者发展壮大，并因此带来不菲回报——也是其乐无穷。
