Meet the Bradford couple branching out to open a new luxury Yorkshire tea room

Ms Gazi-Hussain noted how her upbringing had planted her desire to open a tea room.

“I just love the culture of afternoon tea,” she said, “My mum was always into having afternoon tea whenever we had guests over, and I was brought up on it.

“So it's something that has always been in my life, and now I get to bring it back around for all our locals.”

Ms Gazi-Hussain, who also works full time in digital safety for children, noted how the couple wanted to create something which they feel Bradford is currently lacking.

“We just found locally in Bradford, where we live, there aren't that many options,” she said.

“People go to Ilkley for Bettys afternoon tea, or people go into Leeds for the Ivy, but we felt like there aren't many places like that here.

“We aren't a huge brand name, we’re not an Akbars or an Ivy, it's a small home grown family independent business, so I think we are really bringing something new.”

Diverting from their initial budget of £50,000 the couple have spent £200,000 on the cafe, hiring an award winning Yorkshire-based designer to handle the interior decorating.

The cafe, which seats up to 37 people, is located at the Parkside centre on Keighley Road. The couple are set to soon finish their hiring stage, and hope to eventually have between 15 and 20 staff.

Despite the cost, and the couple’s intention to make the cafe feel up-market, Ms Gazi-Hussain noted her desire for anyone to feel welcome at the cafe.

“We have a two-year-old daughter, and I don't want it to be one of those places where you take your child and everyone looks at you,” she said.

“I want it to be the kind of place where everyone's welcome, children, no children, people who are single. If you've just been for a run in the park or if you're coming on a date, I want it to be an inclusive place.”

The couple first founded their floristry business SKG Eden six years ago, which Mr Hussain now works at full time.

They noted how they would like people to see the new venture as an expansion of the brand.

“We feel like our clients have helped us grow, I feel like it's a plant that everybody helped to water, so we didnt want to chop that down and start something new,” said Ms Gazi-Hussain.

Despite their confidence in the business and brand, Ms Gazi-Hussain noted how the couple had occasionally questioned their decision to take on such a project at a time when businesses are struggling.

“I keep saying to my husband: ‘why have we done it?,’ and It's a lot of stress we’ve put on. But we’ve done it because I wanted to bring something exciting and new to Bradford, and to be proud of it,” she said.

“We just want to have people come and enjoy it, and to be able to say they didn't have to travel out of Bradford to get something like this.”

“We also want to let people outside Bradford know that they can come here and find these really lovely places to visit, and we want to be one of those places. We want people to know they don't have to travel out to Leeds or Ilkley, you can find something lovely on your doorstep, that's what we’re trying to achieve.”