Meet Arbuckles’ new managing director Jon Grief who started working for Downham Market restaurant over a decade ago

When Jon Grief started working at Downham’s Arbuckles restaurant clearing tables in 2013, he would have been hard-pressed to imagine he would be taking on the top job just over 10 years later.

Back in December 2013, while Jon was at Downham sixth form, he took on a part-time role as a table busser at the popular family restaurant and bar on the A10 serving American-style food.

Having worked his way up through the ranks over the past decade, 27-year-old Jon was officially promoted to managing director last month.

Announcing the promotion in a post on the Arbuckles Facebook page on April 8, the team said: “This is a great story of progression that Arbuckles are really proud of and we are very proud of him.”

“Well done Jon, you deserve it and good luck!” they added.

Jon worked his way through various roles before getting the top job, including waiter, supervisor, general manager and multi-site manager.

Speaking to the Lynn News, Jon said he was offered a part-time role as a busser by the restaurant’s founders and original owners John and Maxine Murphy, which he took on in December 2013 aged 17 to earn some money while in education.

“I initially took it on to get money to decide where I wanted to go, but one thing led to another,” he said.

“I enjoyed it and got reasonably good at it and I gradually progressed my way up through the positions.”

Jon said that while he might not have been able to see himself getting to where he is now at that time, he could soon appreciate that there were plenty of opportunities to advance with the company.

“As time went on in the business, you can see that there are routes for people to progress,” Jon said.

“That’s the same for anyone in the business - for people who put the effort and the hard work in - we like to reward those individuals.”

The majority of Arbuckles’ current management team has worked in other roles previously, he said.

“It’s a rewarding place to work - it’s somewhere where you get out of it what you put into it.”

Arbuckles is now operated by all staff and management under an employee ownership trust scheme which was established in 2018 - with all staff now owning a share in the company and receiving a share of the profits each year.

“That’s really core to our values, we always want to do what’s best for the staff and customers,” Jon said.

“We didn’t want to lose the family-run feel and we get to reward the people who work hard - it’s a great model.”

Now Jon is in what he describes as the “anything and everything” position - taking over from Mr Murphy who is still involved in an advisory role.

“First and foremost, it’s about making the right decisions for the staff and the customers,” Jon said.

His role sees him tackle any issues across the board, regarding staff, customers, suppliers and contractors.

Across the Downham and Ely Arbuckles sites, there are 160 members of staff - with around a 50/50 split of full-time and part-time workers - who Jon says are the business’ “biggest asset”.

“I just want to emphasise just how amazing the staff at Arbuckles are,” he said.

“I really do feel the individuals we have is what sets us apart from our competition with how they go above and beyond every single day.

“They are the biggest asset of the business and consistently deliver exceptional service and standards.

“It really is a pleasure to have such a fantastic team in both restaurants.”

Asked what his vision is for the future of Arbuckles, Jon said: “We want to continue doing what’s best for the staff and delivering what we do for the customers and improving our standards as much as possible and moving things forward.

“It’s a difficult time financially for everybody, so it’s about making things work.

“Prices have gone astronomical and we try to keep it as good value for money, with really good service and big portions, so no one goes away hungry.”