Big Interview
The energetic entrepreneur! There’s not much that Ricky van der Linde hasn’t done. The South African-born entrepreneur has tried his hand at everything from selling ice-cream in Hyde Park to managing commercial property portfolios in Waterloo.
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ow he’s running two very different businesses: London Water Delivery and London Spit Roast. The former specialises in the supply and delivery of water coolers, bottled water and water packs for home, office and warehouse use. Meanwhile, the latter has developed into one of the capital’s premier diners and provides loin spit roasts, hog roasts, lamb roasts and barbeques for private parties, weddings and corporate events. Ricky says: “We opened London Spit Roast in 2014 and bought Big Roast in 2019, which was a great year for us. Things were going so well but then the pandemic hit and we went from hero to zero. By then I was already dabbing in the water business; I had registered it in 2018 but initially didn’t have that much time for it because we were so busy dealing with London Spit Roast. In 2020, we had more time on our hands; the barbecue business had to close temporarily and we got a huge influx of people asking for water deliveries. About 95% of these customers were people working from home and then, as things began to open up again in 2021, we got more enquiries from businesses. “As orders increased rapidly, I hired two drivers to help with deliveries. In December 2019 we were delivering 20 bottles a week;
now that figure has risen to 500 per week. I’m confident that we’re going to exceed the 2019 turnover figure this year.” The fact that both businesses are doing so well is testament to Ricky’s energy, drive and commitment to achieving success in the corporate world. He arrived in the UK from South Africa at the tender age of 18 because he wanted to “explore another part of the world to see what it had to offer”. “I actually came for a working holiday”, he says. “I’d never even been on a plane before. I’d enjoyed growing up in South Africa but the world is a big place. I thought: let’s get out there and explore it. “I found everything easier in the UK than in South Africa. I did bits and bobs of everything; I sold ice-cream in Hyde Park and worked at the retailer H&M for a short while. “Then got my first proper job at Bourne Capital, a property development company. They wanted me to work on their commercial properties in Waterloo. I was ambitious – I started as a facilities manager and worked my way up to become operations manager.” Having stayed at the company for almost eight years, Ricky moved on to serviced office provider Regus but the move didn’t work out.
18 Southwark BUSINESS TODAY
“I wasn’t keen so I decided to leave after four months,” he says. “At that point, I decided I didn’t want to work for anyone else anymore.” He hasn’t needed to ever since. The last two years have been challenging, particularly for London Spit Roast, but with the worst of the pandemic behind us, Ricky is confident about the future prospects for both of his businesses. “In June 2021 we reopened London Spit Roast and we were busy quite quickly. I employed someone in the office to take bookings and we were operating at about 80% of pre-pandemic levels of business. Now we’re hoping to exceed 2019 levels – we’ve taken a lot of forward bookings.
