Popular town centre cafe and bar takes ‘leap of faith’ to expand business with new Northampton location
and live on Freeview channel 276
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
A popular Northampton town centre cafe and bar has taken an exciting step towards expanding their business this week.
The Eccentric Englishman, a quirky venue that offers afternoon teas, cocktails and themed events from their cafe in St Giles’ Street, first opened in September 2021.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdFollowing the popularity of their buffets, made-to-order cakes and afternoon tea deliveries, owners Liz Cox and her partner Mucker have got the keys to a new location.
What will be known as ‘The Eccentric Englishman Around The World’, the second location is based at Sulby Farm – the other side of Welford.
The new premises will initially be used as an industrial kitchen for Liz to bake and cook orders before they are delivered to people’s homes or the St Giles’ Street cafe and bar.
With the catering and cakes “rapidly taking off”, it made sense to Liz and Mucker to go down a “different tangent” than they envisioned when they set up The Eccentric Englishman.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdIn the future, there are hopes their “beautiful” Sulby Farm grounds will be used for outdoor events once they have settled in.
“I’ve got cake orders coming out of my ears,” said Liz. “Having an off site kitchen will allow us to offer more buffets and cakes, and more home baking for St Giles’ Street.
“Bigger packages for buffets and afternoon tea deliveries are what we are concentrating on moving forward.”
When asked how it feels to be expanding at a difficult time for businesses and the hospitality industry, Liz said it has been “nerve wracking”.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWith their bottomless brunch quizzes and psychic events also “flying”, Liz described getting an industrial kitchen as the clear next step for them.
She said: “We had to go for it and take the leap of faith. All the signs were pointing the right way and we’ve had no end of support.”
With a large following on social media, Liz says she and her team “could not ask for better supporters” and they “appreciate every single one of them”.
“Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined we would take off in the way we have,” she added. “We would have regretted this had we not gone for it.”