Each week, we ask small businesses key questions.
Here we speak to Phoebe Fox, who runs Sutor Creek restaurant in Cromarty, along with husband, Graham.
How and why did you start in business?
Graham and I met in 1996 while working in Taunton’s Michelin-starred hotel and restaurant, The Castle.
After winning a young chef of the year competition in 1999, Graham was offered a position in the US, working at North Carolina’s only five-star hotel and restaurant – Fearrington House.
This was too good an opportunity to miss and so we crossed the pond, initially on an 18-month work visa, and stayed for nine years.
Graham and I were involved in all aspects of the hotel and restaurant at Fearrington House, Graham as executive chef, responsible for four on-site restaurants and 35 chefs, and I as director of sales and marketing.
It was immensely rewarding but we wanted our two young boys, Gregor and Alistair, who were born in the States, to be educated in the UK.
So, when Gregor was four, we returned to England to take up posts with Lord and Lady Bamford of JCB fame on their Cotswold Estate.
Graham was their private chef and I worked for their marketing department at Daylesford Organic.
Two years later, at the beginning of 2010, a relative from Cromarty informed me that Sutor Creek was on the market.
We flew up to view it and knew immediately it was the right project for our first business together. It had a solid local and tourist customer base and immense potential.
We opened the doors on June 19, 2010 and have never looked back.
How did you get to where you are today?
Our commitment is to provide fresh, local and imaginative cuisine, as well as our artisan, wood-fired pizzas in a warm and friendly family atmosphere at sensible prices. Judging from our customers’ reactions, it works.
We have relied largely on word of mouth – the most effective form of marketing – to increase our customer base, and today serve regulars from Inverness, Nairn, Elgin, Brora, Lairg, Skye and beyond.
Who helped you?
We wouldn’t be here without the active and ongoing support of our families and friends, and the Cromarty business community provides a great local support network – we’re all in it together. This also explains our membership of the Federation of Small Businesses, which has proved to be a vital source of professional advice and support.
What has been your biggest mistake?
Mistakes will happen but our US employer taught us the art of “tweaking”. If something doesn’t work, tweak it until it does – it never fails.
What is your greatest achievement?
Sutor Creek has been included in the Michelin Guide as a “recommended restaurant” since 2015.
The inclusion in Michelin, along with features in a variety of leading publications, including the Good Food Guide, have been great for us and our team.
We are also really proud of our staff, especially those who have gained modern apprenticeship awards while at Sutor Creek. Great skills and a fantastic work ethic go together.
If you were in power in government, what would you change?
More could be done to promote tourism, and I would also incorporate more music, arts and cooking into the education system.
What do you still hope to achieve?
We opened a second cafe, Couper’s Creek, in 2014. It serves light lunches, ice-cream, coffee and cakes. Maximising the potential of both Sutor Creek and Couper’s Creek are quite enough for now.
What do you do to relax?
When the weather permits we go kayaking or mountain biking, and Couper, our dog, likes to take the whole family up South Sutor’s 100 steps – a great way of wearing us all out.
What are you currently reading, listening to or glued to on the TV?
We don’t get a chance to watch much TV during the busy season so we try to catch up with Box Sets during the winter.
What do you waste your money on?
Running a successful business and wasting money cannot be allowed to go together so we invest as much as we can afford in the business. If we want to treat ourselves, we go out for dinner or travel.
How would your friends describe you?
Hopefully, they would say we are passionate about our business and focused on our children.
What would your enemies say about you?
The goal of the hospitality industry is to create a warm and welcoming environment in which people can relax and dine, so we have no time or room for enemies.
What do you drive and dream of driving?
We drive an Audi A4 and VW Transporter. Graham’s dream came true when we purchased the van.