I love Northampton businesses – here’s three I’ll be supporting for the first time this spring and summer

Although it is important to remain loyal to the independents you have been long-term customers of, no bad can come from visiting other ventures and adding them to your repertoire.

If I could support all of the Northampton founders who have taken the leap to do something for themselves, with the aim of improving the town as a place to live, work and visit, I would – but sadly it just is not possible.

So, like me, why not choose three businesses to support for the first over the coming months? You never know who or what you will discover. Here are my top picks…

Mill House

First up is Mill House on Wootton’s High Street, which has been run by award-winning baker Emily Armstrong for the past eight years.

I first met Emily during her stint running Holdenby House’s tearoom, which she left behind two years ago, and Mill House has only gone from strength to strength since then.

The business is known for its massive slabs of cake, with bespoke birthday and wedding cakes available to order, and Emily recently launched a new range of gateau bowls – stacked with homemade cake, fresh cream and indulgent toppings.

On Fridays from 10.30am until 2.30pm, Mill House operates as a pop-up tearoom, and advance bookings can be made for £25-per-person afternoon teas on weekends.

I look forward to trying Emily’s gateau bowls, which she describes as comforting, nostalgic and built around flavour-infused sponges. The different flavours include Victoria sponge, black forest, banoffee, eton mess and lemon meringue.

Eden Wild

I absolutely love flowers and have enjoyed sharing the story of florist Suzie Whall, who relocated her business Eden Wild from Chester House to the iconic Delapré Abbey in March.

Eden Wild, which was first established in October 2021, proudly offers garden-inspired flower bouquets for general delivery across the whole of the county – as well as for events, farewells and weddings.

Suzie also hosts workshops to share her skills with the community, as well as weaving wellbeing into her offering – especially now she is settling into her new location on the stunning grounds of Delapré Abbey.

I can only imagine how lovely it will be to tie in a visit to Eden Wild while at Delapré Abbey in the spring and summer sunshine, which I look forward to over the coming months.

Following the first story on Eden Wild in the print edition of the Chronicle & Echo, Suzie let me know there was a couple who had done exactly that after reading the story. They visited Delapré Abbey for a day out and popped into Eden Wild while they were there.

Nourish

Nourish has caused quite the buzz since it opened at the end of April, after it was transformed from a tearoom into a trendy new business specialising in coffee, matcha and acai.

Nourish is the sister business to Wootton Coffee Shop, which Jodie Roberts will continue to run while her daughter Sophie Francks is leading the way with her new venture on Duston’s High Street.

The 19-year-old left university earlier in the year to pursue the opening of Nourish at the heart of Duston village, with the determination to make her vision a successful reality.

As well as specialising in coffee, matcha and build-your-own acai bowls, the brunch and lunch menus feature toasties, bagels, sourdoughs, sandwiches, build-your-own pancakes and fresh smoothies.

With queues out the door following its opening, which has attracted the younger generation in particular to flock to the village, I must give this a try to see if it really worth the hype – which I am confident it will be.