Three Towns Couple buck coronavirus trend with second cafe in six months

Mike and Amanda Buttle opened their first place in the Three Towns just before the COVID-19 lockdown.

But by quickly adapting to the restrictions the couple were able to stay afloat and have now taken the success of B&B Cafe and Takeaway and invested it in new premises on Hamilton Street in Saltcoats.

Mike told the Herald: “My wife and I opened on Countess Street, a couple of weeks before the pandemic.

“It was a big worry, you put money into a new business you don’t expect a pandemic to hit like this.”

They quickly changed their sit-in style layout to a take-away and delivery model.

He said: “We battled through it, built the cafe up to be good on deliveries, took on local people and trained them up.

“Now we’re opening our second branch in a six month period.”

The couple used to live in the USA, where Mike ran restaurants in Chicago.

He said that working there taught him how important it is to quickly adapt to changes in circumstances to keep a business successful.

He said: “When Boris decided to shut cafes, we had the choice of stay stagnant and shut, or do a little bit of work. We moved the counter forward, got rid of tables and chairs, we changed our way of thinking.”

The couple have lived in Saltcoats for the last seven years with their two children – 15-year-old Joseph who attends Ardrossan Academy and nine-year-old Krystal who goes to Dykesmains Primary School.

Mike said: “It’s something we’ve always thought about doing, a plan for us to work together, we’re very family orientated.

“We wanted somewhere we could work together, and enjoy working together. Not interested in making millions.

“When this took off, we decided to try and put something back into the community.”

The couple took the profits from their shop on Countess Street and used it to get the Hamilton Street cafe running.

Councillor Jim Montgomerie joined the Mike and Amanda to officially open the new premises and accept a donation to his foodbank.