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It might be tucked away in a tiny hamlet in a little-known corner of the countryside, but Oad Street Food and Crafts is starting to make a big name for itself in foodie circles.
As the family in charge celebrate 10 years since taking the helm, they reflect on how it has gone from a rural tearoom into a dining destination with regular queues out the door, celebrity patrons and a 50-strong staff.
Despite being something of a backwater, Oad Street, near Borden outside Sittingbourne, is increasingly on people’s lips.
Its namesake cafe, with its hearty brunches and Instagrammable courtyard igloos, have brought the big city vibe to the countryside, and the 70-seater restaurant is full most days with customers of all ages - many having travelled from across the county and beyond.
In fact, it is so popular that there are regularly queues out the door for a table.
Celebrities have also turned out for brunch, including Anne Hegerty from the hit TV quiz show The Chase and Thelma Barlow, who played Mavis Wilton in Coronation Street.
It offers a range of breakfast stacks, topped pancakes, bagels and burritos and one of the most popular eats on the menu are the ‘tots’ - potatoes which come in four variations: festive, dirty, cheesy and nacho.
There is also afternoon tea, a kids’ menu and coffees, cocktails and fresh juices.
The business, which employs 50 staff, relies solely on social media to get people through the door and has built a large presence on its pages, with more than 18,100 followers on Instagram and 12,000 on Facebook.
Now, with plans to expand its car park to better accommodate the growing number of customers, the Sittingbourne family behind Oad Street Food and Crafts revealed what it is like to run an independent business in what is a harsh climate for the hospitality sector.
Mike Woodcock, who has 49 years of experience in the hospitality sector, took over the site a decade ago with his late wife Karen.
It had been a craft store since 1987 and at that time its clientele was mainly middle-aged and elderly people and its main trade was breakfasts.
Mike, who opened his first cafe at Norton Garden Centre, called Ferns, in 1989, was helped out by the rest of his family to help run Oad Street - some of whom have gone from washing dishes to being at the forefront of decision-making.
One of them is 32-year-old Harry Woodcock who went from working in the kitchen to helping to run the business itself.
The other is daughter Rebecca Kingsnorth, 35, who has worked with her dad since she was 12 and is behind the branding, using her degree in graphic design. She says that taking over Oad Street was a risky move for the family.
The mum-of-three explained: “Before we came here we had owned a cafe in Canterbury. Being in the city centre there is always footfall, so I was a bit worried that we would not get the same footfall in the countryside.
“But I think because of our high-quality food, which is all sourced locally, and our service people are happy to come out, especially as the area is lovely.
“Whereas in a city centre you have a dip in January and February we don’t seem to have that problem, again as people are happy to travel to see us.
“Social media has helped in that sense as it means our reach is much larger than just the local area.
“Everyone wants to put out on their social media stories where they are and what they are doing so when they do that here they are sharing what we offer.
“But of course that would mean nothing if we didn’t back up what they have said but that’s exactly what we do.”
Mike, 65, added: “When we took over we had big plans for the site and it did need some work to modernise it. But there was a great customer base already here.
“From my other business ventures, we brought our quality service and food and just worked really hard to make this a success.
“We have really tapped into the brunch market which has become our niche and our ‘vibe’ and opened up a new market and younger market for us whilst keeping our customers.
“But it has been a battle all the way and we have had to adapt to make sure we survive. The hospitality sector is really tough with profit margins getting slimmer and slimmer.
“This is not helped by the hike in our National Insurance payments in April.”
One major setback for the business was the pandemic, which affected all independent businesses.
This took place just as the family had suffered a huge blow when Karen died of cancer in 2019.
Rebecca remembers it as a “really tough time” as the family was grieving and the business faced real difficulties, having to shut because of government lockdowns.
Mike says that Karen was a real driver behind the business and that she would have loved what Oad Street has become.
It was also just before the pandemic hit when Oad Street started its events, with Summer Schaffner, who is engaged and has three children with Harry, taking the lead on that front.
Like the rest of the family, she started by helping out and then never left.
The 30-year-old launched Oad Street’s first event, a baby shower, on March 15, 2020 – just seven days before the UK went into lockdown.
When businesses began to open up, with outside gatherings and the rule of six, Oad Street hosted customers in its large courtyard.
It was during this time that it set up its igloos - a major factor in its online appeal.
“They started off as just tents,” Summer said, “but then when we saw that most places had cancelled their Father Christmas grottos we brought in one of the igloos to have our own where kids could almost touch Santa.
“Mike and Harry took it in shifts to be Santa because of how popular it was, partly because we did it for free to bring people out so they might buy a coffee or a tea.
“But it was just chaos. We had to bring in a limit for 40 families per sitting because of how many people showed up.”
Covid changed consumer attitudes, however, and Mike believes it has made people happier to travel to them.
As part of their need to diversify the business to cope with economic changes, Oad Street wants to expand its car park on the field behind the current spaces.
It has an overflow car park at the front of the site which is used in busy times, but during the winter months, it becomes very muddy and almost unusable.
Mike says the extra 54 spaces are to cope with current demand.
He said: “You do not want people who are coming to eat at a high-end place to start their visit by walking through mud, so that’s part of the reason behind it.
“The other reason is because we are diversifying our business to cope with economic changes, which includes our events which we want to run in conjunction with what we already offer.”
Swale council has a target date of Tuesday, February 18, to decide on the plans.