Starting up a new business during the pandemic was always going to be risky - even if it was selling one of Nottingham's greatest institutions. But for one family the gamble has paid off and the Crusty Cob Shop is celebrating a successful first year's trading.
Andy Hutchings, 49, of Stapleford, took over the shop with his wife Danni., 42, after he was made redundant from his job as a restaurant manager. After being furloughed by ASK Italian in Ashby de la Zouch, the father-of-three found out he was losing his job on a video call with 1,500 other employees in July 2020 when the company went into administration
Even though the restaurant has since reopened, Andy said taking over the long-established cob shop was the best decision he could have made. "I wish I'd done it 20 years ago. My wife had been on at me for years and years saying we need to do it ourselves," he said.
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"I was a little bit cautious because I liked to know what we had got coming in every month and if we had a bad couple of weeks it wasn't down to us, it was down to the company we worked for but in hindsight now I wish I'd done it years ago."
It was Danni's mum Kyra Barnett who helped the couple find and fund the shop. Andy said: "It had been a cob shop for over 30 years so we bought it as a going concern. It needed a little TLC and new people at the helm. We kept the name. As far as we know it's always been called the Crusty Cob Shop so everybody knows it. We redecorated it and put our little touches on it.
"Initially we wanted a sit-down cafe but we thought if we went in and changed a few things and put our spin on it, and gave great service and good products then it would always do well. So far, so good. The first year has been really really good for us." Opening day - April 6 last year - was full of mixed emotions as Mrs Barnett had been rushed into hospital with a brain haemorrhage the day before.
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Andy said: "She was making a cup of tea, shouting my father-in-law she had this searing headache and then next thing he's phoning an ambulance. "It was so bitter sweet - we were so excited to be opening the shop but we had that happening as well which was very emotional.
We couldn't see her because of the Covid restrictions. After after lengthy rehabilitation, she's getting so much better.
"She was due to come and see the shop after we'd done all the work but instead she was in hospital until July. She didn't actually see the shop until December - that was the first time she was fit enough to come out and have a look at it."
Helpless and unable to see their loved one, the family pressed on with opening. Less than a week later pubs and cafes were allowed to start trading outdoors after lockdown which helped to increase footfall around the shop in Castle Boulevard.
"That helped to bring more people into the streets. We always knew that we would make a success of it - I don't don't want to sound big-headed but we just knew," said Andy, who has worked in hospitality since the age of 18, starting as a bartender and going on to become a relief manager for Hardy & Hanson's pubs at the age of 21.
"I would say it was unnerving doing it ourselves. The fact we're fully responsible for everything and we haven't got a guaranteed income coming in as a salary which I'd always been used to but we always knew that if we did it right it would grow.
We had some people within the family that thought it was risky, saying how can you grew a business like that in the current circumstances?" The menu still has all the usuals including the best-selling Crusty Cob special - a breakfast cob with bacon, sausage, egg, beans and tomatoes - and favourite lunchtime ham, cheese and tuna plus new fillings such as lime and coriander chicken and meatball salsa.
A wider vegan choice with falafels and onion bhajis is in the pipeline. When they took over the shop the Hutchings also started selling 200 Degrees coffee and sweet treats from the Beeston Brownie Company. Obviously the stars of the show are the cobs; the crusty ones baked in Clifton and the soft ones from a bakery in Carlton - standard and large white and brown.
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"It's a big mix and people have a lot of options so if it's their first time when they come in they stand there with their mouths open looking at the board behind the counter and don't know what to have as there's so much choice," said Andy. The shop attracts a mix of students, locals, office workers and businesses including a furniture shop, travel company and financial services firm, with in-person collections, deliveries via JustEat, UberEats and Deliveroo and outside catering orders.
Despite the rising costs of supplies and energy, the Crusty Cob Shop has so far not passed on price increases to customers so a bacon cob will remain £2.40 and a cheese cob £2.20. "As it stands because the business has grown in line with things we're able to bat it off and not have to do any price increases ourselves at the moment and we'll try to keep that going as long as we possibly can.
"We want to try and give really good value for money and we don't want to have to keep putting the prices up. Hopefully we can weather it. I think one of the things helping us is that we're very reasonable on price.
We are probably the cheapest cob shop around. The people supporting us are what's helping us to support them by keeping our prices down."
The Crusty Cob Shop really is a family business with daughters Scarlet, 17, and Jasmine, 14, and son William, seven, ready to help out whether it's with a paint brush or social media posts. In an Instagram video William is seen running down the street in horror when someone calls a cob "a bap". Andy said: "We get asked for all sorts... barm cakes, rolls and baps.
We've contractors in the area for two or three weeks and we say, 'Just call it a cob while you're here will you?' We try and keep it light-hearted and to be fair they do take it onboard and say 'It's a cob isn't it?'"
