Shareen Campbell and Phil Saunter, owners of Los Gatos and Bistro Les Chats in Wood Street, and the Swindon Business People of the Year, talk about life in the restaurant business

 Some things come as a surprise to people starting up in business.

Obviously, you have to set aside the VAT you collect, pay income tax and make national insurance contributions for yourself and your staff. You expect to pay rent, rates and utility bills, even if they’re a bit steep.

But you don’t expect to be robbed blind by the bank.

There’s often a honeymoon period when you first set up. “Free business banking” they announce, “with the services of a Branch Based Relationship Manager!” (Wow! I’ve always wanted one of those, but it’s not that kind of relationship...) But when the charges kick in, the way they add up is a bit of a surprise. It’s like your bank account has suddenly sprung a leak.

The £5.50 monthly fee is just the start. A bigger surprise is the cost of paying in cash. £6 for every £1000.00, plus 80p per deposit! No wonder the supermarkets are so keen to give you “cashback” – and even to have their own banks.

As it’s the end of the month, we’ve just paid our suppliers and run the staff payroll for Los Gatos and Les Chats. Having paid the bank for the pleasure of paying our money in, we now have to pay them again to take it out.

There’s 25p when you use your business debit card, 23p when you pay someone and another 25p when they pay you! 35p for a direct debit, 58p for a standing order, and so it goes on.

With 25 members of staff, and about the same number of suppliers, the monthly charges, just for paying the bills, are significant.

And then we have to pay the card handling company. Besides terminal rental, there’s a fee for every card transaction. Then naturally, the bank takes its cut when the card company transfers what’s left to our account.

Together, all these charges amount to several hundred pounds a month. We’d rather use that to employ someone (perhaps a redundant bank clerk) to help with our administration.

Our advice is, don’t open a restaurant – open a bank!

Los Gatos can be contacted in 01793 488450 or go to www.losgatos.co.uk.

Bistro Les Chats can be contacted on 01793 527082 or go to www.leschats.co.uk