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Monday February 4 2019 THE NATIONAL MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM, BIRMINGHAM
FRANKE HAYES Former partner of Frankie & Johnny's Cookshop in York On the Move
Where were you? My husband Johnny and I were partners at F&J's [Frankie & Johnny's Cookshop on Bishopthorpe Road in York], although he was very busy in his role as local councillor, so he was more of a paper partner than hands on.
And how did you get there? Way back, I trained in ceramics at Art School. In my twenties I had various jobs. Then, one day in 1999, my husband and I decided to purchase the local hardware shop, Pextons, as a going concern as the owner was retiring. We expanded 18 months later, and had 13 very happy years at Pextons. But I always craved a cookshop department.
There was briefly a possibility of expanding into empty premises next door, but after that fell through, I decided to look elsewhere nearby. We opened F&J's in 2011, just five doors along from our Pextons.
How did you spend an average day? Opening up in the morning and checking everything was shipshape on the shelves and in the window was always very satisfying. If I was on my own, I would start making orders on my iPad in the morning. Deliveries used to arrive mostly around midday. I
always enjoyed unpacking the boxes, especially the fun stuff! If I was working with staff, I would spend quite a lot of time on book-keeping, payroll and paperwork in the back office. On Saturdays, we needed two of us on the shop floor. So, one of my daughters would often be on
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the till, while I milled about helping customers. I also found that I had to spend quite a lot of time keeping the stock room organised, otherwise that can often be the root of stock control problems!
And how will you spend it now? I’m busy volunteering for Indie York, which Johnny launched in 2016. It’s basically a traders association for the whole of central York. I look after the social media and help with admin. I’m not thinking too hard about big future plans - just taking things easy at the moment.
“I would love to see
the playing field made fairer for bricks-and-
mortar traders versus purely online”
What will you miss most? I will miss the staff camaraderie, although we still see each other socially. I also loved working with my daughters. I will miss the customers and the great sense of job satisfaction as well. I also enjoyed visiting the Home & Gift Buyers' Festival in Harrogate every July.
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HousewaresLive.net
“A very proud moment”: Johnny and Frankie Hayes won the Britain’s Best Cookshop (North) category of The Housewares Innovation Awards 2014, organised by Housewares Magazine
And least? I won't miss the red tape, and the HMRC deadlines.
What’s been the biggest achievement of your career? We won Best Hardware Store in the bira [British Independent Retailers Association] Awards in 2009. It was a very glitzy occasion and a big surprise when our name was called out! We also won Britain’s Best Cookshop (North) in
The Housewares Innovation Awards 2014 [organised by Housewares Magazine] - a very proud moment as well.
High point of your career? I would say the highlight of my shopkeeping career was July 2014 when the [annual men's multiple stage bicycle race] Tour de France was in York and
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January/February 2019
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