STAFF at a Bradford district cafe are celebrating after being named the best in the west at an awards ceremony.
The Loft Cafe Bar, on Main Street in Bingley, was named as the best cafe at England’s Business Awards – West Yorkshire.
The cafe has been co-owned by brother and sister John and Sadie Graves since December 2010 and Sadie said the awards triumph has given everyone at the café a huge boost.
The Loft was initially nominated for the award and then the organisers sent secret diners to the cafe to experience the site first-hand.
A group of staff from the cafe attended the ceremony, which was held at The Queens Hotel in Leeds on Sunday, August 20.
Sadie said some of her loyal customers have brought in presents like cards and flowers to help the cafe mark the award win.
She said: “We’re chuffed to bits. It is nice for the staff and the customers, everyone is happy.
“We all work really hard all of the time. To get a nomination in the first place was fantastic. Somebody put us forward. We were just chuffed with that.
“We’re really pleased. This just gives us all a boost. It’s a nice way to end the summer.
“A couple of my staff are going to uni.
“We got a letter to say we had made it through to the finals.
“About 90 per cent of our trade is regular customers. They are thrilled to bits we have won. We’re getting cards, flowers and chocolates brought into us to celebrate. They are all lifted by it.”
Sadie added the award win was even more of a welcome boost as the cost of bills at the have increased over the last few months.
She said: “It’s a tough trade to be in. It is costing us more money than it ever has to run it. But we can’t put all of our prices up all of the time.”
After scooping the award, The Loft Cafe Bar posted on Facebook: “Well what a night that turned out to be. Thanks again to all of our wonderful customers and staff past and present. Lots of smiles and sore heads today.”
The Loft Cafe Bar, which also has an outdoor dining area, is open every Monday to Friday between 8.30am and 4pm, Saturdays from 9am to 3.45pm and Sundays between 10am and 2pm.
