The owners of Cottage in the Wood have invested £50,000 to tackle recruitment issues as they look forward to selling the business for £1.25 million.
Kath and Liam Berney bought the Whinlatter restaurant with rooms in 2002 and have turned it into a foodie’s must-visit destination, earning the Cottage in the Wood a Michelin Star in the process.
Following lockdown, Kath and Liam found The Cottage was a hugely desired destination, but staff and supply shortages meant they were unable to take full advantage of their popularity.
New customers were having to book three months in advance, and many people had vouchers saved from the lockdown period so while bookings were on the up, this wasn’t necessarily reflected in business cash flow.
As a result, the couple worked with The Cumberland Building Society to identify the issues, with the building society providing in-depth analysis into potential solutions which would help The Cottage In The Woods take advantage of its success.
The Cumberland Building Society devised an investment package which would see them extend the term of their existing loan by three years, resulting in a reduction to their monthly payments of 40 per cent, which freed up finances for The Cottage in the Wood to invest in provisions.
Additionally, The Cumberland supported The Cottage in the Wood with £50,000 which they could spend on recruiting staff, with Sam Miller joining as head chef in August 2022.
Sam has worked in some of Europe’s top restaurants, and also spent more than five years as executive sous chef at the renowned Copenhagen restaurant, Noma, which was consistently voted the world’s best restaurant during that period.
Kath and Liam said: “When we founded The Cottage in the Wood, the guest house was run down but we knew just how much it had to offer. It’s location is simply beautiful, and we knew we had found something really special, so we wanted to place it at the heart of the local community.
“Following the COVID-19 lockdowns, we realised that we had so much potential to further grow our offering, bring in more visitors to the area and help boost the local economy. The Cumberland were fantastic in helping us to realise this potential.
“They sat down with us, took an in-depth look at our books, and created a plan which would help us take advantage of the huge uptake in demand we were seeing. As a result we’ve been able to expand our team, our services, and grow our suppliers to ensure we can cater to everyone.”
Ian Craig, senior commercial manager at The Cumberland said: “With The Cottage in the Wood being at the heart of our local community, we are eager to see them flourish in everything that they do.
“We were confident that we would be able to help Liam and Kath bolster their offering, and having built a strong relationship with The Cottage in the Wood over the years, were keen to do so.
“We’re pleased to say the plan we devised with them has been able to do this. As an iconic venue in Cumbria, it means a huge amount to The Cumberland to be able to help and support them.”
The 17th century coaching inn has a 30-cover restaurant and nine rooms.
Kath and Liam said they were now looking forward to retirement, but were keen to make sure it continued to go from strength to strength while it was on the market.
The venue, which dates back to 1646, is renowned for its dining, with the restaurant with rooms being listed in the top 100 restaurants in the UK by the National Restaurant Awards, as well as being voted one of the UK’s Top 50 Boutique Hotels.
