With the costs of running a restaurant skyrocketing, lots of young chefs are taking different routes into a life of professional cooking. Street food trucks and pop-ups allow for low overheads, but for those who want a more permanent venue, seeking investment through crowdfunding is becoming more and more appealing. Traditional methods of investment mean handing over a portion of the business, but through crowdfunding restaurateurs can retain complete control and generate buzz at the same time.

Some of London’s most popular restaurants were made possible through crowdfunding. The now Michelin-starred The Clove Club was partly funded on Crowdcube, trendy Thai eatery Som Saa was flooded with investment offers when the owners were after a permanent location and the likes of Paul Foster and Gary Usher have relied on the system to open their own restaurants.

There are, of course, downsides to crowdfunding – it takes a lot of planning and time, marketing skills are vital and business plans need to be watertight. Listen to Tom Shingler talk through the pros and cons on Monocle’s The Menu podcast.