Help secure the future for Harbour Kitchen, Cowes

Aim

Raising money, through the sale of pre-orders and vouchers, to ensure the survival of Harbour Kitchen during and after the covid pandemic

Introduction

My wife and I took on the Harbour Kitchen in 2017 to bring our passion and love for food, drink and the hospitality industry to Cowes here on the Isle of Wight. Since opening we have been blessed with two children, Leo (nicknamed Baby Cheese Burger) and Remi (nicknamed Mini Milkshake).

In a short space of time with our awesome and committed team, we have achieved an award for our homemade burgers made with island reared beef from Cheverton Farm.  

Harbour Kitchen has become the go to venue in Cowes for great coffee and drinks, supported with our delicious and freshly cooked to order foods for all types of diets, all served by a friendly and welcoming team.  Our reviews on TripAdvisor, Facebook and Google, speak for themselves. 

You can read up more on Harbour Kitchen and it's achievements since opening by clicking here. 

Why we need your help

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit every industry with the biggest possible hammer.

As a business within the hospitality industry located on an island which is heavily reliant on seasonal trade, we have lost our ability to work this summer to help pay the big yearly bills (mostly due in June/July), and to bank a reserve to help see us through the much quieter winter months.  

The grant from the government has helped but it will soon run out for us. We have quickly learnt just how expensive it is to keep a business closed and not operating.

You could ask why we have not stayed open to offer takeaways for collection or delivery to generate some income.  We took the decision to close to ensure our staff had a guaranteed income from the Governments' Furlough Scheme. With many of our staff having rent or mortgages to pay and children to feed, their financial security was paramount for us as the owners.  

By supporting us during this crisis, you will:

• help contribute towards the job security of the business's 12 employees
• help us raise the funds we need to pay these unavoidable yearly bills (insurances, annual certificates, etc.)
• help us to bank a reserve for the winter months to ensure our survival
• allow the HK team to positively move forward into 2021 and continue serving up our delicious award winning burgers whilst supporting our local community and traders.

Crucial Match Funding   

If we achieve to raise £4,000 through this crowdfunding circle, we will be considered to receive a £2,000 grant from the very generous and kind people at the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership (https://solentlep.org.uk/), thus allowing us to achieve our fundraising target of £6,000.  If considered and awarded, this grant will be the 'icing on the cake' for us and help to ensure our survival.     

How you can help

It's really easy to help support us, you can: 

• 'Buy now - enjoy later' - buy an HK experience and come in and enjoy it when we reopen.  You will notice that we are charging a bit more than usual, this is so we can pay more from what you give us into our winter survival fund.
• 'Buy now - enjoy now' - buy a treat and have it delivered island wide.    
• Purchase a Gift Card which will be issued and posted straight away*
• Purchase a discount card
• Make an gift donation to the fund

Anyone making a purchase or donation, through this crowdfund, will automatically be entered in to a prize draw where they could win an HK voucher to the value of £100.  And we will also be including a return Red Funnel car ferry ticket for a standard car and up to 7 passengers, just in case you live on the mainland or need a trip there (car ferry ticket can be used in either direction).

To buy or gift to our fund, scroll down or look to your right (positioning of available items depend on your device and browser).

What we will do once we get to reopen

Once we can safely reopen, we will be able to honour any of your purchased pre-orders or vouchers that haven’t already been claimed, and of course continue to support the High Street of Cowes and other local business.  

We are also planning to start a delivery takeaway service to help expand our potentital customer reach.  

We will continue with the apprenticeship schemes to help encourage, support and mentor, anyone wanting to come into the hospitality industry.   

Something about our business and our values 

As a business we believe in buying from other local suppliers and producers, to help the local community and businesses flourish and succeed.  Our beef, pork and lamb, come from the Isle of Wight Meat Company; our dumplings from the incredible and award winning dumpling experts at Dumpling Dumpling; our fruit and veg is delivered by Wayne at Hunts; our accounts are completed and checked by Chris here on the island and not some London or offshore firm, the list goes on.  

We have a strong belief in reducing our impact on the environment which is why all of our electricity is purchased from renewable resources, and when a gas appliance needs replacing we will replace it with an electric one.  Foods, wherever possible, are sourced locally to help reduce their miles.  When redecorating our venue or street food wagons, we will go to the extra expense of buying plant based paint, and use reclaimed or recycled materials.  

We believe in supporting the apprenticeship scheme. Since opening in 2017 we have supported and taken through two apprentices, and now have two more on the horizon.  

We support our staff wherever possible and we keep an eye on our 'vulnerable' customers (now friends) espically if we haven't seen them in a while. 

A few thank you's from us

We just want to say a thank you to: 

• YOU, our customers, for taking the time to read all about us and our needs.
• OUR STAFF for continuing to support us during this difficult time
• OUR FAMILY & FRIENDS for listening and helping us when we've called during this crisis.
• GRACE BAIL of Captured who helped us put together our video for this crowdfund project.
• ANYONE making a purchase or donation, you're incredible and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
• SOLENT LEP for considering us for this possible £2,000 grant.

Thanks again,

Brian, Caroline, Leo and Remi

*Please note that our gift cards can only be redeemed in our restaurant when dining in and not our takeaway service or any of our street food wagins 'HK ON THE ROAD'.

This project successfully funded on 26th June 2020