The F&B Guy
About William Leonard
I’ve spent over 20 years in hospitality across Australia, the UK, the UAE, Singapore and Malaysia, working in restaurants, nightlife and retail.
I’ve turned businesses around, bought and consolidated them, and worked on nearly a dozen openings. People call me The F&B Guy.
How I got here
The start
Brisbane
High school, needed a job. Washing dishes in the back of a pizza shop.
UK
Brighton & London
Nightlife and cocktails. A boot camp of events, music festivals, booking artists.
2010
Dubai
Casual dining and large-scale events, including Rugby 7s under the Emirates Group.
2014
Singapore
Beach clubs, casual dining groups and a regional quick-service restaurant business.
2019
F&B Sustainability Council
Brought together 10 small F&B groups to work on sustainability in Singapore.
Today
Bureau Attarine
Advising hospitality owners, running projects and joining teams as a part-time COO.
What I do
- Profit & Turnaround
- Positioning & Brand
- Portfolio & Corporate Development
- Fractional Leadership
- Openings & Special Projects
- Team & Function Building
How I work
- 01Diagnose
- 02Distill
- 03Direct
- 04Deliver
- 05Lead
Experience
- SG
- MY
- UAE
- UK
- AU
- JPN
- QSR, Retail, Casual to Fine, Nightlife, Events ~40K pax
- M&A, +12 Openings, >$5M CAPEX, Rev ~$40M
- Mktg budget ~$2M (not inc headcount)
- Production kitchen ~$3M
- Notable events: Rugby 7s, ZoukOut
- Finance MBA, Financial Modelling, Fundraise $1.5M
Press
Straits Times