TGt Meets... Flis Weeks

In this TGt Meets interview we spoke to owner of Fox & Kit Cafe, Flis Weeks, about her business and the beautiful city of Bath!

Where is home and why?

I live in Newbridge with my husband & my nearly 2 year old little girl. We love Bath and chose this area in particular because it has a lovely family vibe, it’s an easy (and unusually flat for Bath!) stroll along the river path into town, and we love being so close to both the countryside and the city. After living in London together this feels like the right balance for us.

Describe your business in one sentence…

Fox & Kit will be a truly parent & baby friendly cafe for Bath, where parents and caregivers can come to hang out, make friends, and enjoy a much needed coffee (hopefully whilst it’s still hot!).

What’s been your biggest achievement to date?

I would say building such a following of lovely people who want to see the project come to life and succeed. With my background in hospitality and my ‘Mummy’ experience I wanted to create a cafe where the practical side of going out with little ones was taken care of - changing facilities, comfy chairs, good healthy food, and things to entertain their tiny hands so you could have a stab at eating your own lunch before it was stone cold…

What I didn’t envisage originally was how the emotional and community side to the space would develop before the doors are even open. People have identified it to be a safe place, judgement free, somewhere they can come as a parent and be themselves. That support and drive for the cafe to make a difference in people’s day to day lives is something very special to me.

What are your professional goals?

We are currently looking for the right property in which to open Fox & Kit- always a tricky balance in Bath between location, rent, rates and square footage. So in the short term it’s the securing of that perfect unit and getting the designs and ideas from paper into the real world.

Once we are up and running, I’m planning an events/classes space, a small retail offer (depending on having the room), and generally putting Fox & Kit at the centre of Bath’s vibrant family-friendly atmosphere.

Moving forwards, I would love to bring the same idea to different towns and cities across the South-West, and hopefully give parents all over the region the chance of a lovely hot cuppa and a catch up with their friends whilst their little ones play in a safe and fun environment. Who knows what the future will hold?

What do you think attracts business people to Bath?

Within my industry I suppose many business people would be attracted by the huge numbers of tourists who swarm to the city’s beautiful historic sights every year. Whilst this is certainly an awesome thing, for me it’s the unique combination Bath has of being a buzzing city whilst still feeling small enough to have a pretty tight knit community. People know each other, they support their local economy, they care about the environment, and most of all they care about each other- it’s a pretty special place to run an independent business.

If you could do it all again, would you do anything differently?

The journey so far has been far from silky smooth, but at every bump we’ve learnt a lesson. I’m sure that even before we fling those doors open for the first time there will be plenty more lessons learnt, but that’s one of the wonderful things about running your own business - you adapt and tweak your plans based on your market and your experience.

How do you like to spend your time off?

Between work and ‘mum-life’ there’s not a huge amount of time off nowadays, but generally my bit of self care involves a delicious coffee from Society Cafe, the sun on my face, and a good podcast or magazine. Pretty simple really, but toddlers don’t allow much sitting still time so that in itself is a luxury!

Where’s your favourite place to eat out in Bath?

I absolutely love eating out! Most days I eat out for lunch usually accompanied by a ravenous little one and Renly the dog so we tend to stick to places we know everyone is welcome and happy- we spend a lot of time at Boston Tea Party on Alfred Street, Cafe Lucca, The Grocer on Locksbrook, Hunter & Sons and we sneak the occasional lunchtime pizza at Stable.

When the grandparents are baby (and dog) sitting and the husband and I are released into the evening, we love Hudson’s for a treat, Wagamamas for an easy feast, and The Oven for pizza...followed by a Swoon gelato if we’re lucky.

Who’s your favourite Bath Rugby Player? (current or retired)

I used to follow the rugby much closer when I managed The Bath Brew House, but I’m terrible for knowing player names! As I’m now far more likely to see the guys in a coffee shop than on the pitch, I’d say Fran Louw, Guy Mercer and Dave Attwood especially all have struck me as being lovely and genuinely nice people when I’ve met/seen them.

Describe Bath in 3 words…

Community. History. Home.