By Claire Le Meur. Cyril Pays is a serial entrepreneur supported by Fifty Bees.
In the Vieux Lyon neighbourhood, Cyril Pays welcomes us with a smile in his latest bar-restaurant: Illats, a freshly revamped establishment with a convivial atmosphere where the beer flows and the burgers don't have time to go cold. Cyril enthusiastically tells us about his journey. From the age of 16, he worked day and night. After a few years, he had the opportunity to buy Le Rambler and Cyril became a bar owner at just 29.
Today he owns two other bar-restaurants: Illats and Rosita. Making his mark. After each acquisition, Cyril has managed to grow the business. His secret? He gives his establishments a fresh new look.
"I wanted to showcase the architecture of Le Rambler and offer higher-quality products to attract a thirtysomething clientele rather than a student crowd. I invested 380,000 euros in renovations and in no time, we doubled our turnover." While the transformation of Le Rambler was a success, Cyril did not want to repeat the same formula in his other projects. Exposed stone and metal at Le Rambler, French cafe style at Rosita, industrial decor at Illats - Cyril has thought through every corner of his establishments.
And where do all these ideas come from? "From my head (laughs). It's about feeling the place. It's a bit of a source of pride to have created these establishments. I feel at home and not in someone else's place.
Some people work in bars that haven't changed in 20-30 years, which have a soul, something, but I can say that this is my home." Health crisis and closures. Like many establishments, the situation has been complicated since the arrival of Covid. Repeated closures and restrictive health measures limiting activity have greatly weakened the bar and restaurant sector. State-guaranteed loans, solidarity funds, social charge exemptions, partial unemployment and fixed-cost support since December, following the closure of nightlife establishments: Cyril does everything to keep going but the situation is not easy.
Despite what has been put in place, businesses have suffered losses and the health context does not necessarily encourage people to come and spend. The latest fixed-cost support has been more substantial and somewhat limits the damage, but payment delays create real cash flow management issues. "We have structured ourselves today to be less dependent on the seasonality of our bars. Rosita and Illats have a capacity of 110 outdoor seats for spring/summer and Le Rambler does very well in autumn/winter.
" But with Le Rambler closed in winter for health reasons, the balance is trickier... "We are waiting for a good summer to make up for some of this lost time." Bouncing back. It's hard for a hardworking creative like Cyril to stop during lockdowns, administrative closures, contact cases... Today, he nevertheless wants to continue his development.
"We had an opportunity with Illats to buy the business in 2020 and we opened in June 2021. We currently have a few options for other establishments but I am going to look for ventures that give me a bit more security than at present." "I would also like eventually to create a training school using my establishments for orphans. To bring them a sense of family, a sense of security.
An orphan, if they set out to discover the world, with the restaurant industry they can work anywhere. At 16, I found myself alone on the street for a few days and the restaurant industry saved me. I did social outreach work a few years ago and I would like to later make this training project a reality." As you can see: Cyril Pays is never short of ideas - just time!
Illats, Rambler, Rosita... Plenty of inspiration for your next outings, discovering these unique venues over a drink. The Bees salute this wonderful entrepreneurial adventure and are proud to support Cyril Pays in developing his current and future projects!