Kylie’s Kitchen is at the heart of a resurgence of local businesses in the area, based around Southchurch Parade. With a growing menu and growing customer base the family-run business is thriving. It wasn’t all plain sailing however…
Kylie Ferguson is well known around Collyhurst – born and raised in the area, she is fiercely proud of her roots and firmly believes that – with the right support – the talent exists locally to revitalise the economy.
Getting to this point wasn’t easy. Kylie honed her skills running a cafe from a temporary structure that became wildly popular with local residents and tradespeople working nearby. Unfortunately red-tape meant that the temporary building had to be removed.
Undeterred however, Kylie identified the then-empty unit on Southchurch Parade and planned a comeback. With a mixture of grant funding, loans and her own money Kylie managed to press the local council into agreeing a lease on the site.
Once a lease was secured, attention turned to making the disused unit fit for purpose. Fitting the site for use as a café presented tremendous difficulties as almost everything in the building needed to be refitted.
With the support of family members, local contractors and help from Collyhurst Community Enterprises and Unltd the site was eventually opened and has gone from strength to strength since.
Kylie’s ethos is to help out in the local community wherever she can: regular customers who aren’t seen for a while are checked on to make sure they’re OK, while customers who are ill and can’t get out often find a care package left on their doorstep!