And as this chapter closes.....

We wanted to take a moment (probably quite an emotional moment!) to properly say our goodbyes and to thank each and every one of you that has been involved with us in this wonderful experience!!

We have met many special people along the way and have had so much support from our family and friends, and that truly means the world to us.

The entire team - Jim, Julie, Bev, Charlotte, Carol, Janice

Setting up a business in a pandemic probably wasn’t our most sensible plan (not that we planned it that way!) but with it, came such a great sense of community, and while we were very happy to be providing food for people during this unsettled and stressful time, it was also about getting out and seeing people and being able to chat. It brought some normality during unpleasant times.

So many of the recipes we created and food we prepared has been based on requests and suggestions from you…and for that, we thank you. We were so pleased to be able to be cooking the food that people really wanted to eat.

One person who deserves a very special mention is our utterly glamorous Saturday girl, Carol. She enjoyed working with us so much that she decided to emigrate to Australia as soon as the borders were open! We love Carol so much and are grateful for the friendship, glamour and endless laughs that she bought into our little little unit (she was a fab washer upper too).

And while we're at it, thank you to Janice for your expert finance skills and friendship and also Charlotte for the amazing flapjacks and other sweet treats.

Charlotte, Carol and Janice from left - right with two dodgy others in the background

And whilst we don’t want to turn this into an Oscar acceptance speech, we should also say a very special thank you to Jim for being so supportive and such a great delivery man every Saturday.

Wivenhoe Kitchen was born out of two friends, Bev and Julie, walking our dogs at dawn every day chatting about everything and nothing. One conversation we kept coming back to was the idea of setting up a food business and as we came up with more and more ideas and some completely unsuitable names for our business (ask Bev), we slowly started to realise that this was something that we wanted to do and could do. It was always a short-term project for us and although we secretly hoped we would become chickpea millionaires, we leave this business incredibly proud of ourselves, of our accomplishments and happy that we took a leap of faith, we have absolutely loved working together; in fact it has rarely felt like work and It will always be something we look back on with incredibly fond memories.

Don’t unfollow us just yet, because although things are definitely changing for us, Wivenhoe Kitchen hasn’t gone completely and we already have a few pop-up ventures in the pipeline. Watch this space!

In a few weeks, we will be very happily handing our keys over to Amy who is the founder of Trinity Patisserie; an ambitious and talented chef who will make a great addition to the yard. We wish you every success Amy xx

And that’s about everything. It’s been an absolute blast… thank you for being there.

Bev and Julie xxx

..seems appropriate to use a photo with masks, given that we started and finished in a pandemic!