Good hospitality starts with people. And it always has.

We've spent the best part of our working lives in restaurants, bars and hospitality businesses. Opening places, building teams, developing ideas and getting stuck into the day-to-day realities of making it all work. We've seen what a great service looks like. We also know the work that goes into making it look effortless.

We still get excited about a great concept. Not just the food, the drinks or the design, but the atmosphere. The people who make you feel welcome. The teams who know their stuff and enjoy what they do. Those are the places you remember. And, more often than not, the ones you go back to.

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Why the Impossible Dream?

Because most of the best things in hospitality start with somebody wondering, 'What if?' A new idea. An empty building. A team with something to prove. A belief that a place could be something special.

The name also means something personal to us. It's a nod to Tim Bacon, whose influence on our working lives went far beyond opening successful venues. He showed what could happen when you backed people, thought bigger and refused to settle for ordinary. That spirit has stayed with us. It's part of why we're doing this together.

Experience, without the lecture.

We're operators first. We understand the excitement of a new opening and the frustration of a slow Tuesday. We know why margins matter, why standards slip and why good people sometimes need the right support rather than another new process.

We're not here with a magic formula or a presentation full of answers before we've asked a question. We'd rather sit down, listen, understand the business and work out where we can genuinely help.

That might mean shaping a new concept, improving how a venue runs, developing a team, getting closer to the numbers or simply offering a different perspective. We're interested in new ideas and technology too, including AI, but only when they solve a real problem. They're part of the conversation, not the whole conversation.

The people behind it

LL

Lee Lynch

Co-Founder

Lee Lynch's hospitality career began at fifteen, collecting glasses and working behind the bar in Liverpool's Irish pubs. In 1998 he joined Tim Bacon at Life Café, and went on to build some of the UK's best-known hospitality concepts under Living Ventures. As Director of Bar Operations he launched and scaled The Living Room, Prohibition, Blackhouse Grill and Gusto across the country, and created the bar concept for The Alchemist, opening its first Manchester site and training the teams behind it. He opened venues end to end, from the bar blueprint and equipment specification to recruiting and training the people who ran them. He later co-founded 3RD Place Ltd, the company behind the Red Door bars, where he started as Operations Director and was promoted to Managing Director, and spent a year working in the kitchen. Across that career he was mentored by some of the industry's most respected names: Tim Bacon, Dave Hinds, Jeremy Roberts and John Brannigan. After two years researching how AI applies to hospitality, Lee co-founded The Impossible Dream to help independent operators use it to turn the corner.

AH

Alex Hannah

Co-Founder

Alex Hannah has spent more than 25 years building, launching and growing hospitality businesses across the UK and internationally. He spent seven years with Living Ventures, one of the UK's leading restaurant groups, before moving to Dubai to work with MMI, supporting luxury hotels and premium brands. Back in the UK he joined the team behind the relaunch of Alma de Cuba, then founded his own concepts, including Lucha Libre and Miyagi. That span, from independent restaurants and premium bars to luxury hotels and international brands, gives him a broad, practical perspective on what drives exceptional guest experiences and commercially successful businesses. More recently he has worked at the intersection of hospitality and technology, helping embrace digital innovation and practical AI. As co-founder of The Impossible Dream, Alex helps independent businesses understand and adopt AI in practical, people-first ways that strengthen teams and improve performance.

Venues we have built, run and turned around.

  • The Alchemist bar and restaurant frontage, with outdoor seating on the terrace.
  • The illuminated central island bar inside The Alchemist, stocked with spirits under warm hanging lights.
  • Three grilled chicken tacos topped with pink pickled onion and radish on a wooden board at Lucha Libre.
  • A packed venue floor at Alma under a shower of confetti and warm stage lighting during a live event.
  • The illuminated exterior signage of The Living Room restaurant and bar at night.
  • An elegant restaurant dining room with green banquette seating, laid tables and a central drinks display.
  • The bar and seating area at DeLuca's under warm red lighting, with the venue name lit on the back wall.
  • A grand brasserie dining room with a central spirits carousel, chandeliers and green leather booths.
  • A vibrant neon-lit dining room with comic-book murals, red seating and long communal tables.
  • A characterful bar interior with exposed brick, a decorative ceiling and diners at candle-lit tables.
  • A plated fine-dining dish of cured fish, tomato and micro herbs on a white plate.
  • A coupe cocktail being finished with a dramatic flamed orange garnish.
  • A bowl of ramen with grilled meat, greens and a soft egg, garnished with nori.
  • Gusto Italian Restaurant and Bar beneath the brick dock arches at the Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool, with waterside terrace seating. Photo: Colin Lane.
  • A fire-breathing performer entertains a packed crowd during a live event at Alma de Cuba, Liverpool.
  • The glowing red Miyagi neon sign above a busy nightlife side street in Liverpool at night.
  • An architectural render of The Urban Oasis rooftop scheme, with garden allotments, timber pavilions and a living green building facade.
  • The glowing red neon Red Door sign above a busy, candle-lit bar crowd.
  • Two bartenders making drinks under a canopy of hanging spirit bottles and vivid neon lighting at a late-night bar.
  • Diners at an ornate bar with exposed brick, a gold-railed staircase and newspaper-print walls.
  • Three pieces of glazed prawn nigiri sushi on a slate board with pickled ginger and dipping sauce.
  • Slices of fresh tuna sashimi on crushed ice over a turquoise plate, with wasabi, pickled ginger and radish.
  • A colour-changing purple cocktail with a lemon wheel and butterfly garnish being topped from a carafe, styled with glass prisms.
  • A spirit-forward cocktail over ice garnished with a skewer of dark cherries, styled with glass prisms on a bronze backdrop.

There's always room to make something better.

Hospitality can be brilliant, demanding, funny, frustrating and incredibly rewarding, sometimes all in the same shift. We love it for what it is, and we believe it's worth doing well.

If you're building something, changing something or just trying to work out what comes next, we'd love to hear about it.

Let's have a proper conversation Or book a 20-minute call