Hart & Co benefit from Escalator support

"It’s lovely when you see customers really enjoying what you do and the Skills Escalator funding means we can keep growing and expanding what we do.”

A Leamington business is stronger for the future and offering a broader, better service to the community after receiving support from the Skills Escalator Fund.

Louise Hart opened Hart & Co, bar and restaurant, in Bedford Street, Leamington Spa, in 2018. Then aged just 20, Louise boldly took the plunge into the competitive hospitality world. Seven years of hard work, learning and evolution later, Hart & Co is thriving – and is even better-equipped for the future after Louise and several of her staff members benefited from training funded by the Skills Escalator.

The Skills Escalator Fund is delivered by Warwickshire Skills Hub and funded by UKSPF in partnership with the county’s district and borough councils, in the case of Hart & Co, Warwick District Council.

The training for Hart & Co staff, which numbers 22 at weekends, centred on two aspects crucial to any business - product and leadership.

“The Escalator funding was a massive help in two really important ways,” said Louise. “Last year we got a new licence because when we took on this building we inherited a lot of very strict conditions. One of those is that a member of staff with a personal licence must be on site whenever we are open. Previously that was just me but three of our staff went on the necessary on-line course. That is a huge help to the running of the business. We are a lot more flexible as I can now leave somebody else in charge.

“The other training was around a core part of the service we provide – cocktails. Two of us went on a two-day course at the Bols Academy in Amsterdam where they make liqueurs to go into cocktails. It was brilliant and taught us the complete basis of cocktail making. We sat an exam at the end and got the qualification and it was just the best experience. The business funded the hotel and travel of course, and it was certainly not a jolly - we spent both evenings revising!

“We couldn’t have done it without the Escalator funding because all the courses in the UK are on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, our peak opening times. The training has really set us up to grow. We had a base of 20 cocktails but if someone came in and asked for something else we didn’t have the skill set to create it. Now we do – and can make our own syrups.”

Leamington born and bred, Louise learned her trade in her beloved home town and is now proud to be part of its vibrant small business community.

“I’m a Leamington girl!” she said.  “I worked at Pizza Hut in Leamington and learned so much there. It was one of the best jobs I ever had and I worked my away up to area manager. I went to uni and did a Masters in International Business but realised I just love the hospitality world because I love talking to people.

“I created the business around the concept of family - each cocktail is named after one of my family members, like Nanny Violet – and now we do cocktails and brunches as well as workshops like painting, flower-arranging, pottery-making and speed-dating. It’s lovely when you see customers really enjoying what you do and the Skills Escalator funding means we can keep growing and expanding what we do.”

Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder for Economy, Cllr Rob Howard said: “Hart & Co is a great example of a strong Warwickshire small business rooted in its community and supplying that community with jobs and skills. I am delighted that the Skills Escalator funding has proved so beneficial to Louise and her staff.”