Whitby cafe and winter wedding venue Hetty & Betty wins national award for customer service

The business, which serves Whitby Fish and Chips Afternoon Tea on a tiered cake stand and hosts quirky weddings in its refurbished ballroom, won the At Your Service category at the national final of The Small Awards - taking home the award for outstanding customer service.

Owners Lois and David Kirtlan picked up the award at the event in central London hosted by comedian Sue Perkins.

Mrs Kirtlan said: “Exceptional customer service has always been at the heart of what we do."

She added: “Part of our customer service is that we do everything uniquely, and this includes the alternative boutique wedding receptions we host in our first floor ‘ballroom’. We help couples to have their wedding day their way. We tailor every detail of their celebration to them.”

Mrs Kirtlan, who worked in hospitality early on in her career, bought the former Mills Cafe on Baxtergate, in the centre of Whitby for £23,000 in 2018 soon after turning 40 and having her second child, Harriet.

“I wanted to get back into what I really love, which is hospitality,” she told The Yorkshire Post. “We found this neglected, unloved cafe in Whitby and I just fell in love. It’s a period, grade II listed building and ticked every box for me because I love history.”

The building, which they lease, has been serving fish and chips since 1928 but was a little neglected.

“The building had gone through lots of owners in a short space of time and none of them could make it work,” Mrs Kirtlan said.

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She contacted Whitby Civic Society to find out its history and restored the period features of the building, including a first floor ballroom.

She changed the name to Hetty & Betty after her daughter, Harriet, and niece, Molly Elizabeth and her initial idea was to serve traditional afternoon teas.

However, the feedback was that customers wanted fish and chips so Mrs Kirtlan created her signature fish and chips afternoon tea.

Served on a tiered cake stand, it comes with battered fish and chips on the bottom tier, mushy peas and bread and butter on the next - and a home-made scone with jam and cream on the top tier.

The growth of the business, Mrs Kirtlan said, will come from ramping up its winter weddings, which can cater for up to 40 guests.

Winter is quieter in Whitby and the ballroom features a cosy fire which turns the venue into a cosy and intimate space.

"Every wedding we do is completely different,” she said. “We’ve done a gothic wedding where the bride wore horns. We’ve done a wedding where the couple dressed in dinosaur suits and danced to Superman by Black Lace. We have another wedding coming up in September where the couple don’t want to do a first dance, they want a piñata instead.

“My husband and I had our own vintage/goth wedding here in 2022. Another bride loved her wedding so much that she applied for a job here and is now our front of house manager.

"I always say to people, there’s nothing you can throw at me that will phase me. "I love that I help couples plan their special day.”