I’m very aware that we haven’t shouted much, here or elsewhere, about the project that has been (almost) all-consuming for the team: Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle.

Now, exactly one month after opening our doors (see our first customer, Ali, below) and still with a to-do list as long as your proverbial, I’d like to share some reflections on what’s gone well, what hasn’t(!) and what we still want to achieve.

Firstly and most obviously I want to thank our team. From day one we’ve had on board: Annabel, Elise, Immy, Jake, Katie and Wendy. Some of the team you’ll only see at weekends, others are more regular, but each and every one has hit the ground running and given their all.

Claire and I are used to doing most things ourselves on Van Henri. In a coffee shop that is not going to work! – but it is truly an incredible feeling if one is, say, serving a customer, knowing that the team around me are primed to make fabulous coffees, clear the tables and turn around the crockery quickly and are sending delicious cakes, bacon cobs etc. out of the kitchen.

Things I’m most proud of additionally:

• Working with exceptional local companies. I can’t call them all out here but we have had incredible support, not only from 200 Degrees (our coffee roasters), Bloomsbury Bakery (in Grantham), The Fruit Basket (Nottingham), Mike Maloney Country Butchers & Bakers (aka ‘The Country Victualler’) across the road, Cherizena Coffee – but also the ‘unseen heroes’ e.g. Digital Deadline who always turn our printing and sign requests around quickly and brilliantly; KCM Catering Equipment who have helped us with kit selection and installation; and Acethespace Design for our website and lots of other design input.
• The support we’ve had from the Belvoir Castle team: our location is a privilege we don’t take for granted and we feel that responsibility to represent the Castle well, right across our team.
• Not shouting about anything until we know we can deliver it!
• Rolling out our menu gradually so we don’t over-commit early on.
• Achieving our 5 star ‘scores on the doors’ food hygiene rating was really important to us and it was such a relief when we had our inspection and got the sticker.
• Carving out time for the team ‘out of hours’ has worked really well: we had a barista evening so those responsible for our coffee could swap tips and practice together, also a focused menu development session with Elise … trying to find the time when the coffee shop is open is impossible!
• We’ve listened to experts: friends like Paul, Jane, Vince, Tom, who’ve been there, done that – I really feel we’ve taken their advice on board but still on occasion have chosen to go our own way and make Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle ours.
• The percentage of cakes and scones that are baked in house and to a really high standard is a source of real pride … the feedback tells us this was the right decision.

So on a personal level, what would I have done differently?

• All the warnings around ‘working in your business so much that you can’t work on  your business’ are valid! I’m really conscious that every hour spent cleaning the toilets is an hour that could be spent marketing, or developing the menu, or winning the next Henri booking. (Ok, guilty, a very obvious ploy to get out of the toilet cleaning roster).
• Staff scheduling is a real challenge as so much of our trade is weather dependent and of course, we have no trading history to go on. So sometimes we’ve had too many folks on shift twiddling thumbs, at other times we’ve almost burnt the team out trying to keep up!
• Spending time getting systems and processes in place to speed up the set-up and clean-down is vital and perhaps we could have rolled this out earlier…
• In an ideal world I wouldn’t have had bookings with Henri on the first couple of weeks of coffee shop opening, but through all the madness we only had to cancel one booking and that was one we knew wouldn’t impact on the event.
• Sometimes I feel when it’s very busy (sunny weekend?) we are so focused on keeping orders flowing that we can’t engage with customers in the way I’d like. I think and hope customers understand that – and hope they’ll return in the week when the quality will be just as good but the service a little more relaxed!

We have so many ideas for the future … loyalty schemes, (how do we bring back the legendary bike stickers?); potential evening events; specials for the menu etc. but firstly we’ve got to stay focused and make sure we’re delivering what we do brilliantly.

Your feedback is what drives us on too and you can leave that any way you choose, including the feedback cards in the coffee shop…