Born in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne a true Geordie. I moved to Lancashire in the 1990's having met my wife Cindy who was at Newcastle University we have a daughter Felicity. I have worked for some fantastic social housing organisation for over twenty years in the North East and North West of the country and made some great friends during my social housing career. In the summer of 2014 I had a fantastic opportunity to take voluntary redundancy and follow my dreams. So for the past twelve months I've develop our business plan for Ham and Jam coffee shop Ltd and we are hoping to open Autumn 2015.
Ham and Jam is now open and can be found on 50-52 Lancaster Rd, Preston, near the Guild Hall.
Ham and Jam is now open and can be found on 50-52 Lancaster Rd, Preston, near the Guild Hall.
Anything
by Rick Stein as I seem to have more of his books than anyone else’s.
What
sentence sums up Lancashire Food to you?
For
me it’s got to be Morecambe Bay Shrimps, Lancashire Hot Pot and good old,
Lancashire cheese!
If
you weren’t doing what you do now, what would you like to be?
I
am very lucky as I've moved on to what I've always really want to do!
Which
piece of kit could you not do without?
San Remo Zoe Two Group Espresso Machine it’s a piece of kit for Ham & Jam
coffee shop that we are investing in to ensure fantastic quality coffee for our
customers.
Who
would join you at your ultimate dinner party and why?
Sid
Bowen (my father in law who I sadly have never met) as the stories I’ve heard about him from my wife, mother in law,
and sister’s in law make me laugh.
Sir
Bobby Robson a true Geordie footballing legend so many stories so much
knowledge.
For the musical entertainment Alan Hull a Geordie singer song writer
founding member of Lindisfarne and of course Bryan Ferry Roxy Music.
To help in
the kitchen obviously Rick Stein and Antonio Carluccio and of course finally
Cindy my wife (but not in the kitchen) to keep the conversation flowing as she
never shuts up!
What
advice would you give to your younger self?
Take
a risk and live your dream no matter what it is!
Describe
your style in three words
Enthusiastic,
honest and passionate!
What
was your latest foodie gadget purchase?
Lincat
six plate commercial oven for Ham and Jam
What
is your greatest achievement to date?
Living
so long in Preston Lancashire I am an exiled Geordie and I miss the Toon!
What
is the worst mistake you have made?
I
don’t believe in ‘making mistakes’ per se as I’ve always learnt so much from my
experiences I would not be where I am
now without these experiences
Tell
us a secret about yourself? May be something we wouldn’t expect!
Growing up living on a council estate
in the west end of Newcastle John Carver ex Newcastle United Manager and Eamon
Donnelly (Declan’s Donnelly’s oldest brother Ant and Dec fame) were great childhood
friends who I grew up with, had a laugh with and attend school with. My claim to fame and dinner party
story.
