JAMES Horler, award-winning chief executive of the La Tasca restaurant chain, believes the company offers a genuinely different experience. Coming from a boss with no office, it's a claim you have to take seriously.

IN image terms, Spain is not a country that lends itself to caricatured restaurant gimmickry.

Its enduring popularity as a holiday and ex-pat destination means you cannot simply bedeck your eaterie in straw hats and stick condiment donkeys labelled Sally and Pepe on every table and expect the public to buy into the image.

It is a subtle marketing challenge which demands sincerity and understated commitment from its players. To get that, you need belief -- and James Horler, chief executive of Bolton-based La Tasca restaurant chain, has belief to spare.

"Spain is still the number one holiday destination for Brits, as well as being the top spot for foreign property ownership," he says. "It's that element of lifestyle that we can tap into. It's an extension of the customers' experience, rather than a separate entity."

He believes his customers are clearly identifiable -- 70 per cent of La Tasca customers are female -- and the restaurants reflect those demographics.

"Women nowadays tend to get married older, and have a lot more disposable income," he says. "They also like to go to places where they can have good food, wine and conversation.

"We spend a huge amount of money on small details such as candles and flowers, but it's vital, because it creates the kind of atmosphere they want."

Since taking over the reins of La Tasca three years ago, Horler and his team have increased their number of outlets and almost doubled turnover, from £22 million to £40 million.

Following an early career with Granada Motorway Services, he joined Frankie & Benny's as operations director in 1996, at a time when the brand had only five restaurants. In the five years he was there, the chain opened a further 58 restaurants.

He departed from the restaurant group in 2001 and established a new company, the Restaurant People Group. It was through this that he acquired La Tasca from founder Neil Gatt and venture capitalists 3i in September 2001.

It was a private equity-backed £28.2 million deal, which saw Horler take on 16 North-west restaurants.

Now the chain has 39 venues and employs 1,450 staff. Sales for the year to April 2004 were up by 32 per cent on the previous year, and pre-tax profits for the coming year will be around £7 million.

Horler also has a unique management style. He does not have an office, preferring to work on the move.

He also believes his staff should share in his success. Each of his 39 restaurants has its own managing partner, who is encouraged to run the operation as if it is their own and takes a share of the monthly profits.

Horler says: "I believe it is the way forward for casual dining. My managing partners work very hard, but are big earners who also get a share of the profits. Most of them have doubled their income since I bought the chain two years ago, which to me is a great thing."

It is that unconventional methodology and utter belief in his management teams that led to Horler winning the prestigious Group Restaurateur Award at the Caterer and Hotelkeeper Awards -- regarded as the industry Oscars.

The Catey judges said: "James Horler is entirely behind the success of this brand."

"However, this award was not won on financial success alone. More than anything, it was Horler's skills as a leader that both nominators and judges felt was the key to the business's success."

Horler says: "That felt great, to win that award. It was from my peers, so it was a good recognition of what we are trying to do with the brand.

"We're a town centre brand. Wherever we open on a high street surrounded by pubs, we do well. People like the set up -- they can walk off the street and escape for a while."

The group plans to open further restaurants during August and September in Plymouth, Bury St Edmunds, Aberdeen, Kingston and York, and believes there is the opportunity to operate 150 sites in the UK.

It recently expanded into the USA, opening pilot restaurants in Washington DC and Arlington, Virginia, and he makes the journey to the US every couple of weeks.

He says: "It's a very different market over there, but they seem to be working. They're doing well so far."

Even across the globe, the inspirational philosophy gets Horler's personal touch.

Good job he does not have an office, really. It would only go to waste.