IT is a round trip of around 90kms taking in eight restaurants and dozens of staff. But Zac Hauswirth still has time to serve, sometimes, hundreds of clients in a day… and always with a smile.

The entrepreneur behind the Bar and Cafe Group, that set up 12 years ago, insists that it is this friendly, open demeanour that has been the key to his success. “I’m a customer service fanatic and everything must be perfect for the clients,” he explains over lunch at his flagship The Cafe American Bistro, in Duquesa port.

“I hope I lead by example.” Having set up 10 restaurants since launching the company in Spain with his wife Anita in 2004, he knows the staff are the key to his business. “I can tell in five minutes if someone will be a good barman or waitress,” he explains. “It doesn’t matter if they know nothing, I can train them up. Above all, they must be friendly.”

The talented businessman, 43, currently employs 55 staff and this number normally rises to over 80 in the summer. It is one of Manilva’s biggest businesses and he is certainly not standing still, having opened two new restaurants last year, in Puerto Banus and Sabinillas, with more planned for this year.

“I often do 14 hours a day for six days of the week,” explains the father-of-one, “I have two great managers under me, but I still love working.” He honed his trade in the London restaurant scene, where he became a regional manager of the Restaurant Group (Chiquito, Garfunkel’s, Frankie & Benny’s) covering over a dozen restaurants. But he was certainly not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Brought up in a small apartment in Casablanca with six brothers and sisters, he studied hard and eventually made it to university in Cape Town, where he studied economics. From there he moved to London, where he met his Austrian wife Anita, who is a major influence on the kitchen and undertakes each restaurant’s interior design.

Together for 17 years, they fell in love with Spain on frequent visits to see friends in Marbella. But their business empire was to begin in Manilva and, in particular, Duquesa Port where they opened their first restaurant, the Mexican Grill and Bar, in 2004.

This followed with a Moroccan restaurant, Casablanca, the Ocean Cafe and Bar and the Cafe, American Bistro, which can now also be found in Sabinillas, Marbella and Estepona. A new restaurant Passion Bistro opened last year in Puerto Banus.