ABOUT US
This is Sqew
Our principles, beliefs and culture unite our people and customers like nothing any of us have seen before. The values we apply to sourcing, prepping and cooking also apply to everything else we do... right down to answering the phone.
Today, we are a small business with massive ambitions.
Tomorrow, we’ll be a massive business with a ferocious appetite for more. Between now and then, we are a group of passionate people with a singular idea that will sustain us through whatever comes our way.
Mitch Renshaw, Founder
KEEP IT REAL.
KEEP IT EXTRAORDINARY.
KEEP IT SQEW.
OUR VALUES
- 01
Authentic
There's a saying that authenticity vibrates 400 times higher than love. People recognise it faster, react to it quicker, and respond to it in kind. We strive for authenticity in everything we do. It starts with our ingredients, like the spices and pickles we source from Lebanon; comes together in our recipes, inspired by some of the most famous restaurants in the Middle East; and culminates in the mouths of our customers (many hailing from Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Jordan) who tell us it's the best shawarma they've ever tasted. But it's more than that. We're authentic people, too. We're true to life, and as soon as people walk through the doors of our shops, they feel like they belong.
- 02
Optimistic
Making good food is an act of optimism—we do it in the confidence that our customers will love every morsel. But so is coming to work every day, being a part of a friendly, dynamic team, and playing a role in a business like SQEW. All of it is ingrained with hope, positivity, and the trust that each day can be better than the last. And also by the knowledge that together we are building something special for ourselves and our customers. Everyone deserves the authentic shawarma experience, and you are delivering it.
- 03
Determined
From the off, SQEW was different. We've turned down opportunities and deals other businesses would've given their right arms for because they didn't fit our vision. When things got tough, we didn't throw in the towel—instead, we put that towel between our teeth and pressed on through the pain until we came out at the end. This unique beginning has shaped our attitude and way of doing things. We follow our own path because it feels good beneath our feet, and no matter what happens, we're determined not to step off it.
OUR STORY TRUE GRIT
In August of 2017 at Lloyds Bank offices in Leeds the MD of a national facility management business offered a life changing investment in my plumbing company.
The next few years involved failing in business, debt, selling all my belongings and losing my path.
In 2019 I won investment in Sqew from a Leeds based resturant group.
Sqew was about hospitality and experience, that could never be achieved through a pop up.
In 2020 I found a site.
After several months of negotiations we won the site with one condition a £15,300.00 rent deposit was payable upfront.
We lost money for the next 16months.
I cried in public and in private, I wanted to quit most days, I nearly did but never would.
In 2020 I wrote we'd win the British Kebab Awards in a note pad, I believed it.
