Member Article

£200k investment helps entrepreneur pair set up cafe promoting Yorkshire’s own

A brand-new cafe and delicatessen has launched with the landlords Edwin Woodhouse investing £200k in the Mill Kitchen to help restauranteur pair Tom Pater and Ailsa Youngson to set up at Sunny Bank Mills in Farsley, near Leeds.

The Mill Kitchen, which opened this weekend, is situated in the Mills’ Old Combing building on Town Street.

Tom explained: “We ran a successful community café in West Oxford, serving up healthy food at an affordable price to locals. We want to repeat this blueprint in Farsley.

“At Oxford, word soon spread about how good our food was and people began to travel from further afield. Oxford’s daily paper, the Oxford Mail, said: ‘In terms of ingredients, novelty, inventiveness and darn it, some pretty funky food, I defy anyone to do better than this, at these prices’.

“When my sister Ellie, who lives in Farsley, persuaded us to visit Sunny Bank Mills, we immediately saw its tremendous potential. The iconic complex was undergoing an amazing renaissance and we were impressed by the plans owners William and John Gaunt had for the Mills as a whole”.

One side of the café houses a deli promoting Yorkshire producers such as Leeds Bread Co-Op, Shepherd’s Purse Cheese and Saltaire Brewery beer.

William Gaunt, joint managing director of owners Edwin Woodhouse and Co Ltd, said: “We are delighted to welcome Tom and Ailsa to our growing community at Sunny Bank Mills. A new café and deli is tremendous news, not just for everyone who works here, but for Farsley as a whole. We wish them well.”

There are now 48 companies, and more than 250 employees, at Sunny Bank Mills, where YTV’s Emmerdale and Heartbeat used to be filmed.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .