Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,520
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Mar 24, 2018 21:52:08 GMT
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Eight weeks since we opened, and all's going well. Of course, I'd like the business account to be healthier than it is, but it's payday for the staff on Wednesday, and we have enough in to pay the wages, pay the rent and then a little more. And we still have four days of trade to add in too. And I guess we are new, and need to walk before we can run.
Today was another really busy Saturday, following on from a busy week. We were properly full a few times today. No seats available.
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CURRENT FLEET
'95 Rover 623SLi (65k miles)
'99 Renault Laguna Executive
'55 BMW 318i (52k miles) for sale
'06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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I am (most likely we are) so pleased to hear that things are going well.
Bill's, staff and shop paid for and some spare cash in the pocket.
As we all know spare cash has a very short life span but it's great when
it's there!
Well done!!
I saw that your Audi is up for sale. Must have been sold by now. It's a great
looking car. Definitely the best detailed car here on the forum.
Cheers
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fulvia1436
Club Retro Rides Member
Finally started a thread for my Fulvia life
Posts: 343 
Club RR Member Number: 63
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Time to jump off....?fulvia1436
@fulvia1436
Club Retro Rides Member 63
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Life is short.
Live it.
Good luck.
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'59 Austin A40, '59 VW Beetle, '63 Mk1 Cortina, '57 Austin Gypsy, '68 Fiat 850 Coupe, '68 Alfa Duetto Spider, '72 Lancia Fulvia 1.3S, '73 Lancia 2000 Sedan ie., '72 Lancia 2000 Sedan, '67 Lancia Fulvia 1.3, '83 VW Passat GL5 Estate, '81 Volvo 245 Estate, '85 Lancia Thema 8V Turbo Estate, '99 Lancia Kappa 20V Turbo Estate, '00 VW Sharan VR6, '06 Fiat Multipla 1.9 JTD, '10 Fiat Multipla 1.9 JTD, '66 Lancia Fulvia 1.3
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Mar 26, 2018 15:53:15 GMT
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To not even closely paraphrase Mr Micawber, money at the end of the month is way better than the other way around! Good on you!  |
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Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,520
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Mar 26, 2018 21:32:46 GMT
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I saw that your Audi is up for sale. Must have been sold by now. It's a great looking car. Definitely the best detailed car here on the forum. Cheers The Audi is still for sale! |
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Last Edit: Mar 26, 2018 21:32:59 GMT by Geordie
CURRENT FLEET
'95 Rover 623SLi (65k miles)
'99 Renault Laguna Executive
'55 BMW 318i (52k miles) for sale
'06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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Davey
Posted a lot
Resident Tyre Nerd.
Posts: 2,348
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Eight weeks since we opened, and all's going well. Of course, I'd like the business account to be healthier than it is, but it's payday for the staff on Wednesday, and we have enough in to pay the wages, pay the rent and then a little more. And we still have four days of trade to add in too. And I guess we are new, and need to walk before we can run. Today was another really busy Saturday, following on from a busy week. We were properly full a few times today. No seats available. 8 weeks! Wow that has flown, making enough to still have something left is mighty impressive in the first 2 months. Congrats. |
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K11 Micra x3 - Mk3 astra - Seat Marbella - Mk6 Escort estate - B5 Passat - Alfa 156 estate - E36 compact
Mk2 MR2 T-bar - E46 328i - Skoda Superb - Fiat seicento - 6n2 Polo - 6n polo 1.6 - Mk1 GS300
EU8 civic type S - MG ZT cdti - R56 MINI Cooper S - Audi A3 8p - Jaguar XF (X250) - FN2 Civic Type R - Mk2 2.0i Ford Focus - Mercedes W212 E250
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Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,520
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Jun 11, 2018 20:29:22 GMT
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Right, so week 21....13 weeks since I updated this thread. Sorry. Well, it's still going well. Still got six staff. Customers returning regularly. It's still long hours, but I wouldn't change it. I've applied for an alcohol license for the premises (I've already got a personal one). I did apply originally a few weeks ago, to which two elderly neighbours objected (the usual generic "there's too many licensed premises in the town etc etc). However, that application had to be cancelled as I was under the impression the council sorted the press notice, as they did for the change of use application. They don't. I should have, but the wording in their email was wooly. Anyway, I've had to re-apply, at another £100 plus £100 newspaper advert, ands that went in today. We only want to initially open on a couple of evenings as a swish cocktail/gin/rum bar, also selling drinks by local breweries and distillers. So we'll see how that goes. We have a big LGBT event on 15th July, in conjunction with the Conservative Club next door, when we will be doing all the teas/coffees/cakes for the festival, then Saltburn Food Festival on the 29th July when the whole town is rammed. Oh, one thing that we didn't expect was to be dropped by our ice cream supplier, completely out of the blue. They rang on a Saturday morning, 10 days after I'd started chasing them to order some more, and said that they believed we wouldn't sell enough to make it worth their while. I said that I thought that was completely unfair, that we were a start-up business, and we'd just gone through the longest, coldest winter in about 10 years, yet they were basing our future sales on that. They hadn't ever discussed what they expected of us, given us targets or anything. Anyway, looks like it's worked in our favour, as we now have a more local supplier, still award winning ice cream, which is quite a bit cheaper per tub to buy in, and I can get it next day, whether that's one tub or five. Screw you I say. Nice way to treat your customers/suppliers, eh? The feedback from customers to what we are doing is great, and the reviews on Facebook and TripAdvisor are smashing so far. www.facebook.com/Saltburn/www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g776120-d13528670-Reviews-Taste_Tea_and_Coffee_House-Saltburn_by_the_Sea_North_Yorkshire_England.htmlI'll try not to leave it as long next time. Anyone fancy a treat?....  |
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CURRENT FLEET
'95 Rover 623SLi (65k miles)
'99 Renault Laguna Executive
'55 BMW 318i (52k miles) for sale
'06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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Jun 11, 2018 20:39:50 GMT
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Nice to hear that it's all going well Chris but dam you - just finished my supper - fancied something on the sweet side afterwards and cant find anything in the house - open your thread and you have a pic full of it  |
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Last Edit: Jun 11, 2018 20:40:07 GMT by Deleted
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Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,520
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Jun 11, 2018 20:56:49 GMT
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We also have the best tasting coffee in Saltburn bar none. And that's not only me saying that. The locally roasted beans really do make a smooth cup. We have a popular range of syrups too...  |
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CURRENT FLEET
'95 Rover 623SLi (65k miles)
'99 Renault Laguna Executive
'55 BMW 318i (52k miles) for sale
'06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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Jun 11, 2018 22:43:03 GMT
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... also selling drinks by local breweries and distillers. So we'll see how that goes. Updates are always welcome, glad to see the place is doing well. Congrats Foodstuff from local suppliers is good news, locally produced booze is even better news ! For some reason I now have an image of TV show "Moonshiners" being filmed racing up Saltburn Bank  |
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Jun 11, 2018 22:53:46 GMT
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Some nice reviews there Chris. Never dropped a mark! So good to see comments about the service. Many places seem to forget that bit and to me it's as, if not more, important than the offerings. Well done. |
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Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,520
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Jun 12, 2018 14:16:47 GMT
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CURRENT FLEET
'95 Rover 623SLi (65k miles)
'99 Renault Laguna Executive
'55 BMW 318i (52k miles) for sale
'06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,520
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It's hard work this product testing lark...  |
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CURRENT FLEET
'95 Rover 623SLi (65k miles)
'99 Renault Laguna Executive
'55 BMW 318i (52k miles) for sale
'06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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It's hard work this product testing lark... Yeh - I bet it is |
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vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,285
Club RR Member Number: 146
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Time to jump off....?vulgalour
@vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member 146
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I still haven't managed to get over to see you guys and sample your stuff! Going to have to do it soon as I shan't be living in the North East for much longer.
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Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,520
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Great news....we got our license!
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CURRENT FLEET
'95 Rover 623SLi (65k miles)
'99 Renault Laguna Executive
'55 BMW 318i (52k miles) for sale
'06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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GJUK
Part of things
Posts: 238
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Looks great! There appears to be a lot of love gone in to this business, wish you all the best |
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Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,520
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Aug 16, 2018 19:25:02 GMT
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Looks great! There appears to be a lot of love gone in to this business, wish you all the best Thank you! |
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CURRENT FLEET
'95 Rover 623SLi (65k miles)
'99 Renault Laguna Executive
'55 BMW 318i (52k miles) for sale
'06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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Samage
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,467
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Aug 17, 2018 22:05:10 GMT
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Just read this thread in one go, start to finish. Just browsed at first... and then found myself getting absorbed. I even started to feel nervous reading the posts leading up to opening day, and relief for you when it was well received!
And what a result, you've really gone all out with this. Looks fantastic, and it's got to be better than 9 to 5 drudgery!
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Geordie
North East
Course I'm out of my mind...........it's dark and scary in there!!
Posts: 2,520
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Little update for those interested. We're now at week 37!! How did that happen? Unbelievable how the weeks fly by, isn't it? We're still not open on an evening yet, but we're not too far away from getting that in place. I've just ordered a triple drinks/bottle fridge, so when that comes (this Tuesday I think), I'll be building up around it and adding more counter over the top. I also need to find someone with a bit of bar supervisory experience to look after it going forward. I'm not really wanting to work evenings, as well as looking after the coffee shop side of things. At the end of the day, the coffee shop is still the most important thing, as it's open seven days a week and is the 'core product', whereas we'll only be open two evenings a week (at least to start with). Things are going well still though. The takings were definately up during the six weeks school summer holiday, and weekly takings have pretty much stayed at about the same levels since the kids went back. Which is good. I'd like the bank balance to start building up to give us a cushion, but I know that small businesses very rarely make any money during the first year. This is a long game we're playing, so let's do the groundwork and build some strong foundations now, then reap the rewards later. Feedback in the shop is good, as are the reviews. We're now rated number 1 for tea & coffee in Saltburn already on TripAdvisor.... www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g776120-d13528670-Reviews-Taste_Tea_and_Coffee_House-Saltburn_by_the_Sea_North_Yorkshire_England.htmlWe've changed our patisserie supplier too. The guy who was there from week one basically kicked off because I started getting the shortbread circles we give out free on the saucers with hot drinks from a different supplier. He gave me an ultimatum to the effect he wanted to be the sole supplier to the shop or he was pulling the plug on supplying us. Said "I'm sick of business owners resting me like an idiot...don't you know I've worked in the business for 28 years..blah...blah...". Trouble is, his products were inferior to other suppliers, so I told him to stick it. The fridge looks better now...  Light lunches (gourmet pies, pork pies and quiches) look quite tasty too....in my opinion....   I've had to find some new faces on the staff team. Chloe left to go to uni to do her nursing. My son Cameron got a job up in Newcastle so now lives back with his mam, and Julie (the wife) has gone back to work, with a promotion to band 6 nursing, so doesn't work in the shop anymore. Once again though, as at the start, I've hit lucky with the three new people. Thank God! |
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CURRENT FLEET
'95 Rover 623SLi (65k miles)
'99 Renault Laguna Executive
'55 BMW 318i (52k miles) for sale
'06 Audi A6 (18 year old 'modern' daily)
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