# Ground Up Projects

> Hospitality Advisory for Restaurants and Founder-Led Brands in London. Ground Up Projects is a specialist brand strategy and operations advisory founded by Dan Anton, creator of the Lahpet Burmese restaurant group. We work with founder-led hospitality businesses that are launching, scaling, restructuring, or building for the long term.

Ground Up Projects believes that distinct hospitality brands are not accidental - they are shaped with intent and sustained through alignment. Before you grow, define.

## Services

- [Services](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/services/): How we work - Identity, Alignment, Structure, and Build advisory for restaurants and hospitality brands in London.

## Dispatch (Essays)

Original writing on hospitality economics, brand strategy, and the realities of running a restaurant business in London and the UK.

- [The End of the GBP30 Meal Out](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/dispatch/the-end-of-the-30-meal-out/): Analysis of what has happened to the economics of casual dining and mid-market restaurants over the last four years.
- [How Lahpet Started: From Market Stall to Restaurant Group](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/dispatch/how-lahpet-started/): The founding story of Lahpet - from a Maltby Street market stall to a multi-site restaurant group - and what it reveals about building a brand from scratch.
- [The Art of the Manufactured Queue](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/dispatch/the-art-of-the-manufactured-queue-are-you-waiting-for-a-table-or-being-sold-one/): How restaurants engineer wait times as a marketing tool - and whether it still works.
- [The Busy Restaurant Illusion](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/dispatch/the-busy-restaurant-illusion/): Why occupancy is not the same as profitability, and how restaurants confuse activity with health.
- [The Fake Review Economy: Hospitality's Open Secret](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/dispatch/the-fake-review-economy-hospitalitys-open-secret/): How fake reviews work in hospitality, who buys them, and what it means for operators and diners.

## Pages

- [Home](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/): Hospitality brand and operations advisory overview.
- [About Dan](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/about-dan/): About the founder - Dan Anton's background in hospitality, Lahpet, and Ground Up Projects.
- [Contact](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/contact/): Get in touch with Ground Up Projects.
- [Dispatch](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/dispatch/): All essays and writing on hospitality strategy and operations.

## About Ground Up Projects

Ground Up Projects is a London-based hospitality advisory working exclusively with founder-led restaurants and hospitality businesses. Four areas of work:

1. Identity: brand definition, positioning, narrative, menu and pricing architecture
2. Alignment: embedding brand into operations, systems, and team behaviour  
3. Structure: commercial foundations, governance, and scaling decisions
4. Build: site selection, lease negotiation, design oversight, and operational launch

Founder: Dan Anton. Previously founded Lahpet (London's first dedicated Burmese restaurant), grown from Maltby Street Market stall (2016) to multi-site operation.

## Contact

Email: hello@groundupprojects.co.uk
Website: https://groundupprojects.co.uk
Newsletter (GUP Dispatch): https://groundupdispatch.substack.com

## Optional

- [Sitemap](https://groundupprojects.co.uk/sitemap_index.xml)