AN OXFORD restaurateur is expanding as he looks to bounce back after losing everything in a failed venture.
Max Mason this week opened a second floor to his Big Bang sausage restaurant in Walton Street, after borrowing £40,000 from his parents, Robert and Marilyn.
The move comes after Mr Mason lost £250,000 when he was forced to close his much larger Bristol branch last year leaving debts of £250,000, pushing the business into a “pre-liquidation sale”.
Mr Mason, 33, said: “I lost everything I had but I asked the company that bought it, Walton Street Eaterie, if I could stay on and earn the right to buy it back.
“Now I want to petition the creditors and do that. It has been an expensive few months.”
Mr Mason says the Big Bang in Oxford, which he set up in November 2004, has always been profitable and he is looking to build on that with the new room, which expands his seating to 130. The business will now operate on three floors.
He is also introducing a bring-your-own-bottle service in the basement to cater for students and budget diners.
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