Pulling her business through the recession has not been easy for Monika Linton. But then she says the most important lesson she has learnt building Brindisa is that anything is possible. "You can make something out of nothing, which is exactly what I did," she says.

Today most people know Brindisa as a shop and restaurant, but it spent its first 10 years as a wholesaler, supplying artisanal Spanish products to restaurants, delicatessens and shops in the UK. Inspired by a love of all things Spanish, Linton started importing wine in the late 1980s after working in Barcelona for three years. But selling Spanish wine here was a struggle so she switched to cheese, which was hardly straightforward. "I tend not to take the easiest route to anything, but starting to sell Spanish cheese in England in the early 1990s was almost impossible," she recalls.

With backing from stores such as Selfridges and Fortnum & Mason, Linton built up a portfolio of cheeses before adding other products. "I managed to sell the cheese to shops but then for the shops to sell it was another hurdle. I had to find other products to subsidise it, so we got in olive oils, vinegars and jarred fruits and later charcuterie such as Iberico ham," she says. "It wasn't like I had a business plan, it was all spontaneous." Today she employs 45 people in the Brindisa shop and warehouse as well as 110 people in the restaurants.

Having played a key part in turning Borough Market in south London into a popular foodie destination, she saw a retail opportunity and the Borough shop was an obvious way forward. "I felt going into the shop was one way of making good use of all the effort in the warehouse-trying to make contact with the public, and in that way prove to our retailers that Spain is serious."

Tapas Brindisa opened near the shop five years ago and since then Linton has added two more restaurants. "The plan is not to roll out hundreds. If you are going to maintain the excellence of ingredients, you have to keep it small," she explains.

Negotiation skill is another string she has added to her bow. "When I started calling producers in Spain in the late Eighties they were bowled over that somebody was interested in buying their products and we were all on this journey of discovery together," she says. "Now the suppliers are talking another language and they are more adamant about quantities, coverage and targets. It is tougher negotiation—you need to be confident that you know your market well."

Surrounding herself with the right staff has been crucial. "I had a dedicated co-director for 10 years. Thanks to him our warehouse has always been organised and the stock managed well."

Last year, Linton appointed a managing director. "We went through a difficult patch—the euro wiped out our earnings, so we closed down the second shop in Clerkenwell and had to reduce the workforce, which was traumatic," she says. "It got to a point where I knew I couldn't do it all by myself, it wasn't going to keep me happy and healthy. But you learn that when you have children and you may take six months or a year away from the business and the business survives, everyone just gets on with it."