I liked it so much I bought it!” Lee Marshall is considerably younger than the silver-haired smoothie whose line he refers to in the Seventies adverts for the Remington shaver but he has the drive, ambition and determination which are essential attributes of any successful businessman.

Considering that Lee has just navigated The Design House restaurant in Halifax – the business he bought seven years ago after dining there – through the recession, he’s very positive about the future, so much so that he has expanded into outside catering.

Design House Outside was launched a few weeks before we spoke. One of Lee’s early bookings was Lockwood Park Rugby Union in Huddersfield.

The Rock Hotel at Holywell Green, Elland, is also part of his culinary empire, but it is at The Design House where he can be found toiling over hot pans with his team. The restaurant is at Dean Clough, Halifax’s former carpet mill which manufactured Axminsters during the town’s textile heyday.

Today Dean Clough is a mix of offices, businesses and creative art space, and is an appropriate setting for The Design House. Within the kitchen walls, masterpieces are being assembled – not on canvas, but on plates for the many diners who visit.

The restaurant specialises in modern English dishes. Food is served at lunchtimes and evenings and ranges from a la carte to light bites. There’s also a VIP dining club. The menu ranges from crispy duck, cumberland sausage and mushroom risotto to sugared doughnuts and baked plum tart.

Lee often popped by this place while running the kitchen at his family pub in Queensbury. “I used to go down for a meal and it was one of those ‘I liked it that much I bought it!’” he smiles.

It’s easy to see why Lee fell in love with the restaurant. The Design House is a fashionable, stylish place with a relaxed ambience and a modern look. Steel and etched glass and designer furniture provide a contrasting style to the historic surroundings. The restaurant offers award-winning cuisine and an extensive wine list, speciality beers and gourmet coffee facilities.

Value for money is another incentive for diners. Conscious of the recession, Lee launched a three-course meal deal for £12.95.

He says running a restaurant in the recession has been a struggle. The fact Lee and his team have survived is testimony to him, his team and their shared determination to succeed. “Nothing has changed, the quality of the ingredients hasn’t changed and it’s got busier and busier,” he says.

Lee’s passion for cooking is inherited. He recalls baking with his mum as a child. “Mum would be baking and I would be licking the bowl out,” he laughs. “My grandma and grandad used to grow their own vegetables so there’s always been a passion towards food.”

His decision to train as a chef was prompted by his parents’ plans to buy a pub. “I qualified and loved it. I fell in love with cooking,” says Lee.

He worked his way around local restaurants, including The Yorkshireman opposite his old school, Hipperholme Grammar, before setting off for Cornwall where he spent several years developing his knowledge and learning how to cook fish.

“I was getting fresh fish from friends who were fishermen. They would have a catch for me in the kitchen. I am very good at cooking fish. That is my passion,” says Lee.

At 21, he was promoted to head chef at a hotel but eventually returned home and ran the kitchen at the Royal Oak in Queensbury. His father bought the business and, during the four years they had it, they developed a reputation for cooking quality local produce.

Lee was head-hunted to work as head chef of a Halifax restaurant. When the Design House came on the market he decided to buy it and is still as passionate about it today as he was when he took hold of the keys.

“We don’t stand still, that’s the beauty of the businesses. The restaurant is my heart and we build everything from that. We can take that out into the industry, like with the hotel and the outside catering, Design House Outside.

“I love it and when I go home I cook.”

When we spoke, Lee was enthusing about a recent food festival he had taken part in at the Piece Hall in Halifax. The event was well supported and Lee believes it reflects people taking more interest in food and wanting to learn more about it.

The father-of-four often works 18 hours a day, whether in the kitchen or the office, yet his ambition never wanes. “Knowing I will open the doors to the restaurant, and getting a buzz as soon as I do that, is the drive,” he says.