UK Enterprise Awards 2018

SME NEWS / UK Enterprise Awards 2018 37 , more people to cook and enjoy food the way I do. All this, combined with my role running the Mountain Café, will keep me busy and provide me with many great opportunities for further success over the years to come.” exceptional hospitality, as she excitedly concludes. “Looking to the future sees me dream of running a cook school. I published a cook book in 2017 and this has only added to my passion to inspire and empower TheMountain Cafe is a Kiwi inspired café in the heart of Aviemore on the northern side of the Cairngorms National Park. We caught up with Founder Kirsten Gilmour to find out more about what drives her and her teamat this unique eatery. Independent Café of the Year 2018 training and loads of effort. We remain committed to excellence to this day to ensure that we do not become complacent. The aim is to continue to offer clients the very highest possible standards of service and delicious meals.’ Offering such a high standard of food and service requires dedicated staff who are committed to supporting the establishment. Their hard work and exceptional hosting has driven the café to the success it enjoys today, as she eagerly highlights. “I feel that the passion and creativity of our staff are the key elements that make us stand out from the competition - mixed with my stubborness and work ethic. We have never scrimped on the quality of our ingredients and have always created our food from scratch. Both these aspects mean that making a margin is always harder, but both also mean that the product is unique. “From the very start I have always looked on my team as being the key element of the business. I have always respected them and looked to see where we can lead them. To do this I have always been involved in every aspect of the business and turn my hand to anything. We have always looked at how we can train and inspire our staff to enable them to enjoy work but also be great at it.” Overall, the Mountain Café has achieved incredible success over the past 13 years, and going forward Kirsten is keen to achieve even more and build an empire founded on fine food and Since its inception in 2004 the Mountain Café has grown to be a key destination for tourists and locals alike in Aviemore. Kirsten explores how this was achieved thanks to the establishment’s commitment to excellence and exceptional hospitality. “With our mix of Scottish ingredients created into great meals with a Kiwi twist, great coffee and amazing cakes the Mountain Café has become a favoured destination whatever the time of day. Through a ton of hard work and some great staff through the years the café has also won a raft of awards including ‘Best Café in the UK 2017’, ‘Best Café in Scotland’ 2017 and getting rated in the top 50 breakfast venues in the UK for 2017 in the Guardian as examples recently. “Since we first began our simple mission has been to create fresh, innovative food and high quality coffee. If we top this off with friendly and approachable staff all in a pleasant environment then we have succeeded. The café has always been about creating as relaxed an atmosphere as possible for people to come in and be served food and drinks that are unique in Aviemore. Food that is imaginative and coffee and drinks that are top quality. If people want, they can also take- away anything on the menu. We also have a great trade in packed lunches and corporate lunches for a wide variety of clients as well. ‘To get to this point has involved loads of practise, loads of staff The Mountain Cafe UKE180010 Company: The Mountain Cafe Contact: Kirsten Gilmour Address: 111 Grampian Road, Aviemore, PH22 1RH, UK Phone: 01479 812473 Web Address: www.mountaincafe-aviemore.co.uk