Still only in their early 30s, the Ringland brothers have already amassed an impressive line-up of hospitality venues.
Peter, who is 34 and managing director of Ringland Group, considered going into banking after studying business and finance at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.
Instead, he left that world to return to Belfast and the growing apartment rentals business he’d set up.
A few years later younger sibling Ben (32) joined him to run operations.
Now they operate hotels The Flint on Howard Street and The 1852 on Botanic Avenue, as well as bar-restaurants Amelia Hall, Town Square and Southside Social (incorporating Chinese takeaway Lucky Duck).
Amelia Hall, a pizzeria, terrace and beer hall venue on Howard Street, opened last month. It’s phase one of a two-stage development of The Flint.
Peter says the launch has been “remarkable”, with the number of staff required rising as a result.
“It’s been relentless since the day and hour we opened. It’s been a lot busier than we thought it was going to be,” he explains.
“It was a bit chaotic for the first week or two until we hired more staff, because we’d had about 45 in the finish-up, but we’re on 70 now.
“There’s been a lot more custom and a lot more demand, and consequently a lot more staff — but it’s a good problem to have.”
A week after Amelia Hall’s opening, backed by a £1.7m facility from Ulster Bank, restaurant chain The Ivy opened its first outpost here in nearby Donegall Place.
But Peter doesn’t think he’s lost out as a result: “We welcome big brands like that. Our view is that the more high quality places in the city, the better for everyone and the more attractive we are as a destination.
“I think The Ivy will steal a lot of people initially, and everybody wants to see the new place, but when it settles down I think Belfast people are loyal to independent brands.
“And it’s not a direct competitor to us, it’s a restaurant and it’s sort of informal fine dining. We’re a bar first and foremost with very informal dining — it’s a different offering.”
Amelia Hall on Howard Street
In fact, the two venues are complementary. He adds: “We’re seeing a lot of the Ivy customers come to us for drinks beforehand and drinks afterwards.”
Opening a pizzeria seemed like a good move. He says: “The trends UK-wide, and especially in NI, are away from very expensive dining with the backdrop of the economic climate.
“We’re seeing more and more demand for informal dining. Don’t get me wrong, people still want an experience, but there’s ways to do that without having to spend a lot and that’s what we’re focused on.”
He feels the development is a strong part of the Linen Quarter, the term for the cluster of streets around the back of Belfast City Hall.
“We’re really confident to continue investing there, and with Grand Central Station opening, it’s only going to move the epicentre slightly more towards the Linen Quarter,” he says.
In phase two of the Flint Hotel development — provisionally to be backed by a £5m facility from Ulster Bank — Ringland Group will add 62 rooms, a rooftop bar and restaurant.
He explains: “We’re getting started on that imminently and we’re going to be investing a further £8m in that scheme over the next 24 months, so we’re really confident.
“On a more macro level, we’ve got really, really good confidence in NI as a growing tourism destination.”
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He said the Flint had experienced its busiest ever August since opening in 2018, with its highest ever average room rate of £156, compared to £142 last year.
But the Botanic Avenue business suffered as a result of racist riots in August. He estimates a hit of up to £20,000 as custom died off in the aftermath.
However, the human impact of the disgraceful outpouring of hate has been the most distressing aspect.
He says: “We were devastated with the attacks that happened. We have donated heavily to get the businesses back up and going from a moral point of view, and from the point of view that it’s bad for business if Botanic is not a thriving community.
“Botanic Avenue has established itself as one of the food and drink quarters of Belfast. There are over 30 food and drink establishments there, and what makes Botanic so great is that they are so diverse and every nationality is represented. To see those attacks was just horrible.
“Thankfully the past while has been a lot better. To see the other Botanic businesses rally around the ones that had been affected was a good news story in the end.”
It all represents strong growth for the brothers’ business.
Parents Irene and Nevin, a well-known leader in the third sector here, sit on Ringland Group’s board, but are not actively involved.
Peter’s interest in hospitality started in the 2010s.
The experience of letting out the family’s holiday home in Portballintrae inspired him to venture into short-term apartment rentals in Belfast with an Airbnb-style company, Holidaylets.com.
He adds: “I had just started the business before I went to university and I decided to just come back and have a crack at growing the hospitality business, and lo and behold, in a few years it had grown into a substantial size. It wasn’t really by design.”
But in an era before self check-in, it became hard to manage after reaching 13 apartment units around the city. It was sold in 2013.
Two years later the opportunity arose to buy the Regency Hotel on Botanic, which was to become Town Square.
He explains: “It was a distressed hotel, so at that time we were able to buy it at a decent price and then start to invest in that and turn it around into what it is today.
“A hotel wasn’t the obvious choice, but it was a similar model to short-term apartment lets.
“We didn’t know about food and drink at that point but we took the risk and learnt as we went on the journey.”
Now the business is neatly divided between Peter on the strategy side and Ben on operations, assisted by operations manager Andrew McWhirter.
He says: “I effectively come up with the new idea, build the new project, get it up and going, and then hand it over to Ben and his team, and I can move on to the next project.
“So, in reality, now that Amelia Hall is up and going, Ben and his team are running that and I’m working with the design team on the phase two development of Flint Hotel.”
He’s excited at the prospect of the extension joining other new developments in the area like the Bedford Hotel at the Scottish Mutual Building and The Dean Hotel planned for Bedford Street.
“It’ll be a triangle of really high quality hotels with really high quality food and beverage offerings,” he says.
“It’s really going to help the area and position the Linen Quarter as a great alternative to the Cathedral Quarter in terms of nightlife.”
But he’s not resting on his laurels: “We do have our eye on something for another hotel but I can’t say where. If all goes well, that would add onto the pipeline and follow phase two of The Flint.”