Client Spotlight: The Cavendish- Bearsted,Maidstone, Kent

We recently visited Jules & Tania, owners of The Cavendish, a coffee house and eatery based in Bearsted, Kent:

“We are a local café, serving homemade food, made with locally sourced ingredients, and high-quality teas and coffees.

It all started five years ago, when we both had a job at a café. Having never met each other previously, we were asked to take a trip to Ikea to source furniture to kit out the café. We knew we would be best friends when, after chatting the whole way there, we further bonded over our love of grub, both diving into a massive Ikea breakfast! Working full-time, and travelling to markets and fayres at the weekend, we made the café a success.  It was then that we realised that we were a great team and could put all our efforts into doing it for ourselves.

We had seen a shop in Headcorn that we liked and had started on the ladder to purchasing it, but then someone suggested we go and look at The Cavendish which was for sale… and we fell in love with it.  The lady that owned it at the time was delighted by our excitement, energy and passion to make this our own and so our story began!

We gave ourselves a four-day window from getting the keys to opening the café! It was ambitious, but we roped family in to help us clean, source supplies and make everything look nice.  We didn’t get much sleep in that time – the night before we opened, we were there really late, just putting in place the finishing touches like the blackboards and flowers.  That was three years ago and on reflection, it was a fun and an amazing time.

The first few months were crazy. We thought ‘we’ve done it before it’ll be easy’ but having all the extra responsibilities and decisions of actually owning the business was overwhelming.  For example, initially we had a small gift shop area as well, but we soon realised that whilst this looked lovely, it was not making money and taking up valuable seating space.  The Cavendish was popular with the locals and was proving successful, but after our first Christmas and only a year of having the business, we were hit with the Covid-19 pandemic and forced into lockdown.

With more tough decisions to be made, we were determined that we were not going to let our business slip away after everything that we had put into it.  We had to furlough our employees and we offered takeaway food and drinks, we even had a little shop with eggs, rice and pasta as people couldn’t get hold of any in the supermarkets. Our marquee in the car park was brilliant for when people were allowed to sit outside.  It was tough as it was just us doing all the work, but it was working, we were still taking in as much money as we had been pre-lockdown.

We branched out into offering Easter boxes and children’s Easter Egg kits, donating half the money we made (about £600) to The Heart of Kent Hospice who had been writing that they were going to have to close. It was important to us to help others out as well and word got around – we had requests from nurses to provide sandwiches for their wards, so we made food parcels for them, and from people who wanted something for special occasions or bank holidays, we made barbecue packs with meat from the local butchers, and salads.

I think we are very lucky where we are, we have a lot of nice, good customers ranging from parents and their children to older ladies and gentlemen, and without a doubt we wouldn’t have been able to survive without their support. You get to know everyone – when we first opened, you would have ladies coming in that were pregnant and now they come in with their toddlers – we love our customers, and we take enjoyment from seeing them enjoy their time at The Cavendish. We believe our repeat custom is not only because of the homemade food, but because of the atmosphere within the café; its warm, cosy and friendly. We’ve got a really good little team who work so hard, we have a giggle, have a chat with the customers – it’s a relaxed and happy environment. A customer commented the other day that “our open kitchen is like being in a theatre, just watching us and everyone’s just having a good time.” We have a lot of word-of-mouth recommendations, so we listen and take on board what people say, good or bad.

We are proud to have been successful in reaching the final three for the Kent Café of The Year Awards recently and are waiting eagerly for the results!  It is an amazing feeling to be recognised for the work we do and what we are trying to achieve through using locally sourced products and ingredients and helping the community where we can.”

To find out more about The Cavendish and their amazing food, please click here www.thecavendishbearsted.co.uk.

If this looks like something you want your business to take part in please email Mia@accsysltd.co.uk to arrange it today.