Northern Enterprise Awards 2022 | 61 Nov22128 Best Dog-Friendly Cafe - West Yorkshire Opened in 2017, Sons of the North is a dog-friendly café based in a former textile mill in Huddersfield. Situated on one level and spacious, it boasts plenty of room for customers with canine friends, prams, buggies, and wheelchairs, and there is a large carpark onsite, too. Guests can tuck into the finest Yorkshire dishes featuring the best local ingredients, while relaxing in a light and cosy atmosphere. With this being the café’s fifth award in five years, we explore what makes it such an award winner. Recognised for multiple accolades since its establishment in the form of the LiveWire Prestige Award for Café of the Year Leeds and West Yorkshire in 2020 and 2021, and the TripAdvisor Best of the Best Award 2020 and 2021, we now celebrate Son of the North’s success within the Northern Enterprise Awards 2022. As a fine food custodian, the café champions the best of Yorkshire products in its café, shop, and events. Sons of the North Director, Luke Tankard observes that much of the café’s popularity stems from casual dining being very of the moment. He tells us, “Fine dining seems to be getting replaced with more informal impromptu dining, in my opinion. Speaking with colleagues and friends in the industry, they all seem to say the same thing. Our business is predominantly casual dining.” What truly makes this café unique, though, is its consistency, having used the same suppliers and had the same team for years. It is fortunate enough to keep its team together, so it doesn’t have to recruit often. As a result, every time a customer visits, they know they’ll get the same high standard of food and service. The general feel is that people love the fact that it buys local and supports local smaller businesses, too, with Luke commenting, “Yorkshire people seem to really value that”. Sons of the North is fortunate enough to be in an affluent area and that most of its customers have a disposable income. This can be seen in the breakdown of its takings, 83% of which this year have been by debit card, which is encouraging. This is despite the industry seeing a lot of turbulence over the last year. The business itself started really well this year, however, with rising energy and food bills, it has noticed a slight decrease in trade. In addition, the main road to the café was closed for 12 weeks from April to July which lost it a lot of trade which it has had to build back up. Alongside this, the café has two main competitors locally, but it continues to keep busy and is constantly building its client base. Therefore, Sons of the North hopes to keep trading into the future. Luke shares, “We have plans in place to expand our kitchen and increase the floor space in the café, but we will sit tight for now and see how things are next year.” Company: Sons of the North Contact: Luke Tankard Email: [email protected] Website: www.sonsofthenorth.co.uk
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