Owner of new café in popular park in Northampton 'over the moon' with his first six months in business
The owner of a new café in a popular Northampton park says he is ‘over the moon’ with how his business has thrived in its first six months.
Businessman Iain Hill opened Beckets Pavilion Café in mid-May after refurbishing the derelict pavilion in Becket's Park.
Catching up with Chronicle and Echo, the owner said: “It was brilliant over summer. It’s started a lot better than I predicted. The public reaction has been brilliant, that’s probably been the best thing, they all seem really grateful that we’re here and everyone seems to be enjoying the park a lot more. I’m over the moon, really happy with what we’ve done.
“Ninety per cent of customers say that Becket's Park has been waiting for this for a long time. We have a range of customers from students, hospital workers, dog walkers, those from the marina and more.
"Now we’re here in October with winter coming, we’ve just renovated another room so we’ve got indoor seating now as well for 15 customers.”
Looking ahead to winter events, Iain said: “I’m running a pensioners' special in November, they’ll get a free cake with every hot drink. It’s inspired by Kier Starmer, if this man won’t look after our pensioners then we will.
“And we’ve got the Winter Wonderland coming up in December, which is an ice rink and a horse and carriage and all sorts. On December 7, there’s some Christmas stalls, an ice rink, horse and carriage, Christmas lights getting turned on down here, Santa Claus giving out mince pies, we’ve got it all going on down here.”
Iain, who was born and grew up in Northampton, said he felt ‘for years’ the derelict site, which had been empty since 2017, had potential.
The 44-year-old previously said: “I’d been trying to get the pavilion for years and years and then eventually we sorted it out.
“I kept seeing the building rotting away. There were talks of knocking it down. I’ve been sending emails for years trying to get hold of it. I just thought it had loads of potential. The park’s got loads of potential, and there was nothing there.
“The building was in a terrible state but after relentless renovations it's now something I’m really proud of, and I’m very excited to see what the future holds. I just want to make the café and the park better, something worthwhile.”
Buddies of Beckets (BOB), a volunteer group, had also been pressing the council for years to bring the site, built in the 1920s, back into use.
Iain, who has previously run a number of cafés, bistros and pubs both in Northampton and abroad, called on residents to keep visiting the park.
He said: “Come and visit us. Give us a go. It’s looking great. You’ve got the marina, the play area and a cool café with outdoor seating to come and relax.”
The café opens from 8am to 5pm every day, serving a range of goods from Italian ice cream and hot Belgian waffles to paninis, toasties and loaded chips, breakfast, pastries, cakes and more.