Betty's remains a family affair

By Russell Walker BBC York & North Yorkshire

Celebrating nine decades of a Yorkshire tradition

It's 90 years since Swiss confectioner, Frederick Belmont left his native Alps and travelled to England to build his own business.

When he arrived in England he planned to head for the resorts of the south coast, but confused by the hustle and bustle of a busy London station he ended up on the wrong train and found himself in Yorkshire!

Frederick Belmont arrived in Harrogate by mistake.

The beautiful countryside and clean air reminded him of his native Switzerland and he decided to stay.

In July 1919 he opened his first Betty's Cafe Tea Rooms in the fashionable spa town of Harrogate. The combination of mouth-watering Swiss confectionery and Yorkshire warmth and hospitality in such an elegant setting proved irresistible. Betty's was an instant success and was soon able to boast of 'Royal and Distinguished Patronage' on its letterhead.

The business is still owned and run by Frederick's family and to celebrate their 90th anniversary, owners Jonathan and Lesley Wilde gave BBC Radio York their first ever joint interview.

How did it all start for you both?

Jonathan: "We've been doing it for more than thirty years now, so we ought to know the secret of everything about a husband and wife working and living together. We've got very complimentary skills and characters and the same values and belief systems. It's worked out very well for us.

"I was so anxious to prove myself in the early days. I started work in the business on the Monday, had my stag night on the Friday and got married on the Saturday. I didn't dare ask my father for time off for a honeymoon because I'd only been working in the business for a week so.

"We managed a long weekend, something that Lesley's never ever let me forget."

Lesley:"We do try and keep boundaries between work and home life, but it's quite difficult when it's a family business, there's a real feeling of responsibility and duty and you're on call 24 hours a day."

When you first joined the business there must have been a lot of expectation on you?

Jonathan: "I think I would have buckled if it hadn't been for Lesley because I joined a business where my father was everything. He had no finance director or personnel director or sales director; really just 400 staff and him. I looked at my father and thought he knows everything how can I follow in his footsteps. Then I realised that Lesley had a lot of skills my father had and if we two worked together perhaps we could start to rise to the challenge of being my father's successors."

What was it like the first time you met Jonathan's father?

Lesley: "Funnily enough my father had been at school with Jonathan's father, and mine was Jonathan's father's fag, so there's a little bit of history there. But I really enjoyed meeting Johnny's father; he's a very talented and interesting man."

Betty's opened in 1919 and is still very much a family run business

Jonathan: "They both went to Sedburgh boarding school. My father came over to England at the age of 13, not speaking a word of English, to be brought up as his uncle's son and heir. The first thing his uncle wanted him to do was go to boarding school to be anglicised. The junior boys had to act as slaves or fags to the senior boys so we go back a generation to when Lesley's father was a slave to my father in the late 1930s!"

How prepared were you for your first day?

Jonathan: "I don't think I ever noticed that day, I think my father slowly but surely dropped me in it without me ever realising it. He was very clear with me and with my siblings, that business is a rocky ride and he always said that if we were interested in joining the business, we should go out and get our own careers first.

"I originally trained and worked as a teacher before I came back to join the business. Then slowly but surely he kept giving us rope, then before we knew it we were running the business and that happened actually very fast. I started in 1975 and by the time we got to Betty's 60th birthday in 1979 I was in charge of the celebrations and making it all happen."

What does the Betty's ethos stand for?

Jonathan: "I think it was probably at the 60th anniversary exactly 30 years ago when we suddenly realised this little business got a huge amount of publicity. We realised how much Betty's meant to people. We woke up to the sense of responsibility and had to work out why people loved us? On the surface you think it's because Betty's is all about nostalgia and tradition but actually at the core I think it's a fundamental family belief in doing things properly."

Lesley: "It's real, it's not a brand that's been created by someone in an agency and I think that shows in the way we do things. It's a very creative business and it's changing all the time. A customer will come in today and think it's always been like this but actually it hasn't at all, it's moved on every single day of every single year."

I think it's the most civilised theme park in the world.

Jonathan: "That's a lovely observation, you take from the experience what you want to. A lot of people come here and say, 'I came here with my Grandmother' It brings back memories. We've got certain standards and a way of doing things some of which are very traditional and some of which are very modern. Lesley's always insisted we will not have microwaves in this business, we will cook things properly because microwaves are an invitation to take shortcuts and that's an example of us putting our foot down and saying this is how we do things round here and old ways are best. But in a lot of respects, new ways and fresh ways of thinking and doing things keep us alive."

Is the whole Betty's experience value for money?

Lesley: "I certainly think so. You're looked after so well, we take so much care. Every single member of staff takes it personally that you have a good time when you're here and you're more than welcome to come in to sit and enjoy a simple cup of tea or coffee, you don't have to have a cake or anything more than that."

Jonathan: "Our customers see the good value in good values and they know this is a values based business. Doing things properly isn't just about the surface, providing the food properly. We take the relationships we have with the 1200 people who work in the business, the local community and the supply chain, whether it's with farmers in this country or co-operative coffee growers in central America, really seriously."

You have a real passion for the business, have you passed that onto the next generation?

Lesley: "Well I think so, they're aged between 25 and 32 and they're all very responsible human beings and very interested in the business. We don't know if any of them will actually come and work here yet, we're waiting to see."

Jonathan: "They're all deeply into the entrepreneurial spirit and that idea of creating something with other people that you couldn't do on your own. I would say that it is definitely hard wired into the family gene."