Siobhan Hughes and Mark Lintott had reservations about swapping their high-flying London careers for a bar in Ibiza. But they shouldn’t believe everything they see on the television…

WHEN SIOBHAN Hughes stumbled across a magazine advert for a restaurant business on sale in Ibiza, she immediately wanted to visit – unlike her husband. For two years, they couple had dreamt of swapping their London home, cosmopolitan lifestyle and high-flying city professions for a different world entirely.  Filled with dreams of a simple existence far from the crowds of the capital, she and Mark scoured towns and villages across France and mainland Spain without luck and had almost given up hope when they spotted the Ibiza ad.

But Mark was not impressed with the idea of an island more famous for its partying than its culture. “I had watched Ibiza Uncovered,” he smiles. “ I thought it would be a terrible place, full of package holiday resorts and drunk tourists. I couldn’t imagine it would be somewhere we’d want to live.”

Fast forward two years and the couple and their dog Enzo are happily settled with a home and a bar business in the pretty coastal town of Santa Eulària.

Looking out to sea from the terrace of their bar Liquido, Mark says: “It’s amazing how things have turned out. This is home now.”

It was a desire for a slower pace and improved quality of life that prompted the couple, from Maida Vale, west London, to start looking for a home and business overseas.

“We’d had enough of the work, the weather, the taxes,” says Siobhan, 41. “I’d been working in advertising for 14 years and I’d loved it initially but was looking for a big lifestyle change.

“I was ready to move on to another adventure. Mark felt the same after working as an IT consultant for many years.” Mark, 50, adds: “We knew that we wanted a complete change and a totally new business but the difficult part was finding the right place to do it.”

The pair were feeling disillusioned with their adventure plans following fruitless visits across Europe when they spotted the Ibiza advert. Siobhan managed to persuade Mark to visit for a long winter weekend break so he could see for himself what it was like. It was a trip that was to transform their lives.

“There was a hailstorm when we landed and then the clouds suddenly gave way to bright blue skies and the island lit up,” says Siobhan. “It only took two days for the island to work its magic on both of us. The business we saw wasn’t right but we knew that this was where we wanted to live and work.”

So convinced was the couple that within weeks of returning home, they put their home on the market, resigned from their jobs and began plotting their escape.

Four months after first stepping foot on Ibiza, the couple got married in London – as had been planned for some time – packed up the car with their belongings and set off for the Balearics. “When I look back, I don’t remember it being a stressful time,” says Siobhan. “I knew we had no home, no business and we were putting everything on the line but we also knew we were doing the right thing.

“We were ready to move on. We’d been talking about moving abroad for two years and finally we were doing it. And this trip was our honeymoon.”

When they arrived in Ibiza, they headed to Santa Eulària, the third largest town in Ibiza, where the couple had decided they wanted to live and work. After finding an apartment, they set a six-month deadline to start a new business – and the idea of a bar became increasingly appealing.

“We realised there was not a single bar in the town where we would like to go and have a drink after dinner,” says Mark. “Neither of us had worked in a bar before but we were determined to do something different so it seemed like a great idea.” Less than a month after arriving on the island, the couple were on their morning jog when they noticed a “for sale” sign in the window of a restaurant in the town’s harbour.

“We put our offer in on the Sunday and we put down our deposit on the Tuesday,” says Mark. “Two hours later everything was signed. We got a 25-year lease from the previous owners, an English couple who were retiring. We agreed to take over the bar in January and open it in the spring.”

Looking back, they are amazed at how easy it was to buy the business. “We were a bit concerned about the red tape but it was the most straightforward thing,” says Siobhan, “We hired a gestoria (a legal professional licensed by the Spanish government) who did everything – accounts, translations, legal documents, contracts. It made everything simple, fast and straightforward.”

After making a trip to Bali to buy the furnishings for the bar, they set to work transforming the former restaurant into a modern and stylish lounge bar – before a grand opening in April.

“Our opening night was a bit of a struggle,” says Mark with a laugh. “There were about 100 people and it was a bit chaotic. People were undercharged, overcharged, given wrong drinks. Things have got better since then.”

As the season became busier, the bar went from strength to strength as it became increasingly popular with an array of visitors.

“Since the start, we’ve always had a great mix of people here, from their 20s to their 70s,” says Siobhan. “One night there was a millionaire sitting at one table and a bus driver at the next. It’s that kind of place. We treat everyone exactly the same.”

As the island is so quiet off-season, the couple close the bar – like many establishments –between the end of October and the start of May.

Last year, this enabled them to travel in Thailand, visit relatives in England and even take part in a sailing course in Spain.

Today, the bar is in the middle of its second season and is a haven of relaxation. Wicker chairs with batik cushions are dotted across the terrace, enabling drinkers to take in views of the harbour. Chilled music fills the air, hand-painted wooden masks from Bali hang on the walls, while beaded jewellery made by Siobhan is for sale.

There are things the couple miss occasionally about London life  – “shopping”, says Mark, “cinema” for Siobhan. But in all, the pair are clearly as happy as they are relaxed.

Sipping a glass of chilled cava, Siobhan smiles: “We still work extremely hard – seven days a week without a break from May to October. But we love it. We are doing what we dreamt of and we couldn’t be happier.”

Mark adds: “We have gone from council tax bills of more than £100 a month to E70 a year. I just hope people don’t watch programmes about Ibiza and decide not to visit. I’m certainly glad I did.”