ROCK UP AT ROSS’S BEACHSIDE CAFE 363 DAYS A YEAR!
Ross Hocking has what many would describe as possibly the world’s best job.
His business takes him to a pretty Cornish beach 363 days of the year!
This policy, of his own making has now been running for over 3 years and this desire for year round customer service at Poldhu Cove on The Lizard in Cornwall is paying dividends he feels.
I must say that sort of dedication is heart warming for how often in seaside towns and resort areas you come across ‘closed for the winter’ signs but not here at Poldhu.
Knowing that at anytime of the year you can call around for a warming or cooling drink, snacks etc is brilliant.
It has taken nerve and a desire to succeed but I so wish that more seaside cafes would proffer the same service.
He admits that it has taken a few years to get people used to the idea that the place is open 7 days a week. Ross said, “I felt I would be letting my customers down and if I closed early on random days then once you do that people just cannot trust you. All that hard work to build their confidence is then lost”.
Winter time its surfers and dog walkers that tend to keep the café busy but once into the spring, summer and autumn it is family holiday makers and day visiting tourists that swell the numbers along with the summer surfers.
As well as a whole range of hot food, snacks, drinks, ice cream its their own branded clothing that goes down well with the customers too.
Located in the dunes at the rear of the beach the café came out relativley unscathed by the recent huge storms that battered much of the UK during the early part of the year in 2014. Plenty of outside seating of course with limited but comfortable inside space for those days when even in Cornwall you get what is often describes as ‘liquid sunshine’!
People who run establisments like Poldhu Cove Café need to be applauded for supplying a service that can be relied on year round and in such a fairly remote spot too.
The fact that he had not cut and ran with the easier profits of the summertime and stuck with things I think needs a special award from Cornish tourism for 12 months of customer service.
If the UK is serious to build a staycation tourism base then it is to people like Ross that the tourism world needs to talk with and certainly pay a visit to. Anytime certainly between 9.30am and 4.30pm any day of the week!
