Sarah Heward is the co-owner of The Real Food Café, a popular roadside fish and chip restaurant for tourists travelling through the West Highlands

What is your business called?

The Real Food Café Where is it based?

Tyndrum What does it produce/do?

We sell the best rural fish and chips in Scotland! We transformed a derelict Little Chef back in 2005, driven by a mission to serve customers great food of the highest standard, with a focus on provenance and sustainability.

Since then, we’ve become Scotland’s iconic roadside ‘pit stop’ and won a multitude of awards for our food, including our famous fish and chips and also our gluten free offering.

Along with our focus on serving great food in a warm, friendly environment, we’ve worked hard to build our reputation by taking care of our team and suppliers, focussing on authenticity and building a strong culture of warmth, friendliness and inclusivity. We were recently awarded a place in The Caterer’s prestigious ‘Top 30 Best Employers in Hospitality 2023’. To whom does it sell?

We serve breakfast, lunch and dinner to thousands of visitors from Scotland and beyond every year. To date, we estimate that just under 2 million customers have come through our doors since we opened in 2003. Our customers include day trippers, outdoor enthusiasts passing through the village for events and expeditions, walkers, families, locals and international tourists.

What is its turnover?

It's 7 figures

How many employees? 28

Why did you take the plunge?

Approaching 40, it felt like it was my time to build my own business after successfully doing that for other people. My thoughts turned to actions and I started to look seriously for an opportunity.

It was unexpected luck that I caught sight of an advert for the derelict Little Chef for sale in Tyndrum. I knew Tyndrum because we had a holiday chalet in near-by Killin and my parents lived in Oban at the time. I have always loved the great Scottish outdoors and thought Tyndrum had great potential as a location for a new food retail concept aimed at all the visitors participating in outdoor pursuits.

I was confident that if nothing else we could do a better job than the Little Chef. I was quite easily able to persuade my late husband to support this idea and so we put in an offer to buy the site freehold from the vendors, Trusthouse Forte.

My original plan had been to open an artisan bakery and upmarket coffee shop but 20 years ago, my bank manager firmly ‘advised me’ that Highland Scotland was not ready for that and if I wanted to make it work, I should open a fish and chip shop in Tyndrum…

That was quite a departure from what I had in mind but it felt like advice I simply couldn’t ignore. I created a menu with fish and chips at the heart of its offering and I’m so pleased we did; I have never regreted it. What fabulous advice. I love being part of the fish and chip industry as do our team and there has been consistent demand for our fish and chips ever since we opened.

What were you doing before?

My entire working life has been spent in hospitality. Prior to starting my own business I was managing director of Corney & Barrow Wine Bars in the City of London for over a decade. I was also a non-executive director of our trade association, The Association of Licenced Multiple Retailers (ALMR).

What do you least enjoy?

Writing endless letters to politicians and public bodies to hold them to account and get them to do a better job. It can be emotionally draining (because I care) and sometimes soul sapping.

What are your ambitions for the firm?

To keep evolving the business organically and through expansion as new opportunities present themselves.

What single thing would most help?

A solution to the hospitality recruitment crisis. Hospitality businesses across Scotland, particularly in rural Scotland continue to struggle to recruit as a result of the fallout of Brexit and the pandemic.

Many thousands of businesses are still operating with a reduced service, many have closed altogether. We need a relaxation on working visas to bring the skilled and talented people into our industry. We simply don’t have access to the workforce we need to deliver the ambitions and indeed economic potential of Scotland’s tourism and hospitality industry.

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned?

Two things both equal. Trust your gut. Be grateful to people who are honest and care enough to tell you what you may not want to hear.

What was your worst moment?

My late husband and business partner dying very unexpectedly and suddenly, 13 months after we launched the business together.

What was your best moment?

After losing Steve, meeting Alan McColm and then him joining me in marriage and as my business partner and company CEO.

Who do you must admire and why?

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow. Founder of local charity Mary’s Meals. He started this charity in the 1992 from his garden shed in a small remote village not far from Tyndrum and he now feeds over 2 million children every day in third world countries. Whenever someone says that something can’t be done, I think of Magnus and what he has achieved and I refuse to take ‘no’ for an answer. We are proud that some of his own kids have worked at the café!

How do you relax?

Watching box sets with my husband. Cooking, cooking, cooking. Walking my beloved dog and running up mountains in the great Scottish outdoors when there’s good weather!

What book are you reading and what music are you listening to?

Reading – But what can I do? by Alastair Campbell. Listening to Podcasts galore and to switch off, I love hearing my husband playing his grand piano.