We must have researched and visited dozens of properties across the North West, desperately
seeking to find ‘the perfect site’. We came close to renting two sites in Warrington, and would have
taken one of them if the landlord wasn’t sure a scatty idiot messing us around and changing his mind
several times. Looking back, it’s hard to imagine what Rawkies would have been like at those other
sites; how different the business would have been…
I (Sophie) am a firm believer in that everything happens for a reason; life has proved that, from the
good and the bad. And when we stumbled across this site in Bury for the first time, we weren’t sure
what to make of it, so we put it in the ‘maybe pile’. It must have been a couple of months later when
we revisited the advert for it and really thought about the pros and cons. Pros: town centre location,
big site, good condition, no major competition for desserts. Cons: rent was top of our budget, there
was a whopping great sign on it from the previous tenant that we would have pay to remove, it
would need a change of use application with the council as it was formerly an education centre, but
most importantly, from the outside, it didn’t have that hospitality feel or appearance, so would need
a bit of creative thinking to get it up to scratch. Anyway, we decided to visit the site and go from
there. When we entered the property, we knew it had potential and saw the possible footfall that it
could have; we thought we found the perfect site, so we eventually decided to bite the bullet.
However, before we could sign on the dotted line, we needed to research this change of use
application, which was completely new territory for both of us! After undertaking a lot of research
(and I mean a lot!), we decided we were going to write all the documents ourselves. We are both
intelligent, organised and assertive people; we felt we didn’t need a company to do it for us and
charge the earth! So, over the next few months, Wetherspoon became our second home and we
worked so hard to get the application forms and required documents spot on. We really learnt a lot
from completing this application process and once submitted, we could breathe a sigh of relief! We
had done our very best and if the council reject it, then it wasn’t meant to be.
We did quite a bit of research into this and realised that many councils like to retain as many local
community and learning centres (Class F properties) as possible, so we knew there would be a good
chance that the council would reject our application form. However, by that point, we had fallen in
love with the site, so we wanted to at least try.
Now came the waiting game. We knew it wouldn’t be a quick process but my word, the council were
slow and kept asking us to change (irrelevant!) details on our drawings and site maps! The original
decision date was scheduled for the beginning of November 2022, which we were fine with, as that
meant we could be in the property and ready for the Christmas trade. However, due to the council’s
backlog, they asked us for an extension, which we had no choice but to agree too! Even though,
opening a new dessert café in January, is probably the worst time to do it!
However, in early December 2022, four months after submitting the application form, we got the
answer we were hoping for! We were going to open our very own business! We were so excited and
proud of ourselves; we did this without any professional help!
After sorting out all the legal paperwork with solicitors, we finally got the keys on Boxing Day; this
was such a surreal, exciting moment for us both. We finally had the keys to a commercial property!
The following day we went to Bury to start on the redecorating. We parked our car in the car park
and headed through the town centre. We were still in our own little excited world, that was until we
stumbled across something that burst our bubble… Kaspa’s Desserts were also coming to town!
Typical, we visited Bury on several occasions and that building was empty; we had no idea that a
major dessert chain was planning on opening round the corner from us! If we did, then we would
have likely not taken on this property. I (Sophie) stayed positive and objective about the situation;
we had developed the menu so much in the last four months that we were no longer just desserts;
we had a bar menu, burgers, flatbread pizzas and salads. We weren’t just going to be a dessert shop,
so I wasn’t too worried. However, Adam took a little longer to be convinced, but it was too late to
back out now…
Next chapter coming soon……..