A HUSBAND and wife team who have a cafe and sandwich shop in York have adapted their offer to weather the storm.

Callum and Amie Goulding have run Essential Eating cafe & take away on the York Business Park at Nether Poppleton, for 11 years.

Many of their customers were office workers from the surrounding premises but that changed with the lockdown and move to remote working.

“We are, for now, take away only but we are offering local delivery,” said Callum who is keen to spread the word and win support from new customers.

The couple who have three young children say the business supports their family and employs two part-time staff.

“In the last six months we, along with our landlords, have undergone extensive investment and refurbishment and now have a beautiful venue for breakfast, lunch, barista coffee and home made cakes - our cheesecakes and slices are very popular,” said Callum.

“We have had to change our offer as we do have a nice eat-in dining area which we can no longer optimise with the social distancing measures. We do have a lovely garden out the front with ample bench seating for our customers to enjoy their food and the summer weather.”

Their food ranges from cooked breakfast favourites to pastries, granola pots, salad boxes, and sandwiches. Callum said they were also attracting attention for their deli-style sandwiches - the Philly Cheesesteak, the Reuben, Pastrami Deli Bagel, Hot Roast Pork Baguette, the Cubano and the Moroccan Veggie wrap.

He said they had not expected the lockdown to continue for so long.

“We were obviously concerned that we would have the income loss with the business closure but we’re somewhat relieved in terms of the government help.”

They have closed their dining area due to the social distancing rule but are still providing take away food and drinks, with local delivery.

“We currently have all the signage, screens and sanitising products to ensure the safety of ourselves and customers,” said Callum.

“We have had to change our target customer base as we are on the business park and many of the offices are either closed and /or working with minimal staff, due to social distancing.”

He added: “We are sincerely hoping that Covid 19 becomes a bad memory and that there won’t be a second wave. We hope we can get back to some sort of normal trading where customers can resume going out to cafes, restaurants and shops safely and get back to enjoying our lives and businesses.”

Orders can be made via telephone and messenger orders (01904 798648) and email (essentialeating@outlook.com).