When Lucy Young was made redundant from Ketton (now Castle), Cement, in 1989, she did not despair, but decided to use the opportunity for a fresh start and embark on running her own catering business.
Now what began in a cottage in Stamford with ‘two or three jobs in the diary’, has grown into a small company employing eight people on a regular basis and a hundred jobs in the diary on a busy day.
Lucy displays her lovely buns
Lucy and her team cooked for over a thousand people in one week during January, thriving on her reputation for ‘good value and a generous job’ and giving the lie to the idea that small businesses will necessarily suffer in the current recession. Asked if she had any advice for those people currently looking for employment following redundancy, Lucy stressed the importance of being able to get along with people and of being flexible.
“We give people what they want,” she says. “If they ask for a cold buffet and they want curry with it, that’s what we give them.”
Lucy’s business is known as ‘Lucy’s Kitchen’ and is based at Woodcroft Road, Woodcroft, where she has lived with husband, Nigel for the past twelve years. She explained that the house and land were ‘just what they wanted’ and there is space here for some of Nigel’s historic vehicles, five cats, chickens, ducks, Moss, the sheepdog (who rounds them all up at night) and Dromin, a 25 year-old ex-racehorse. There was also the opportunity to build a separate kitchen and it is from here that the catering operation is carried out.
Though reluctant to ‘drop names’, Lucy told the Tribune that she has cooked for Prince Charles and Camilla, Princess Anne, George Bush Snr and John Major.
She describes Charles and Camilla as being ‘very nice’ and it was this function that provided one of her most challenging engagements as she provided mulled wine with hot and cold canapés at Apethorpe Manor, which was at that time undergoing work under the auspices of English Heritage – “basically a derelict house with no heating, water or electric” says Lucy.
Having cooked for former Prime Minister, John Major, on about twenty occasions, the largest function she has undertaken was a five-course meal for 550 guests to celebrate his 25 years in government. This was served in a marquee at a private house, where George Bush Snr ‘was flown in as a surprise’.
She has worked in all kinds of situations – “everything from a cowshed to Burghley House” she laughs.
All the food is locally sourced wherever possible, including most meat from Stilton butchers, fruit and veg from Clements of Spalding and hams and cheeses from Peterborough.
Living close to the railway, both Lucy and Nigel have an interest in old engines and vehicles. In fact Nigel, who also has his own business – Priory Autos (body repairs), Stamford, was named after the steam engine ‘Sir Nigel Gresley’, and uses his skills to refurbish the historic vehicles in his collection. These include a fire engine and a pink Cadillac.
But this sounds like another story and a tasty photo feature. Watch this space! Sue Young
