Nic Stone, owner of the Bottle Kiln at West Hallam, has told Home & Giftware magazine that his family is now selling its business after 36 years. He writes:
“You may know of our business; we bought and restored a former pottery in the Derbyshire village of West Hallam with an unusual landmark Bottle-necked Kiln in it, opening in 1985. It quickly grew into one of the region’s best-loved destinations with its very popular cafe (famed for its amazing fresh food) and home and gift shops selling lifestyle products from clothing through to cards. We think it must be one of Britain’s most well-established independent family-owned gift businesses.
“The Bottle Kiln has won numerous awards and gone from strength to strength, emerging confidently from the pandemic, with a recently developed online store, and now opening the cafe as a bistro on Saturday evenings.
“After over 30 very happy years here I am ready to slow down a bit and try something different, but we have been able to sell at a good time when everything is going well. We would very much like it to continue in a similar vein as it is so well-loved by our many regulars, and hope that someone else in a similar business may want to acquire it. It has weathered all sorts of storms and proved extremely resilient; it’s a very rewarding place to run and would make an excellent investment.”
Details of the sale are on businessesforsale and Nic is happy to answer any queries or provide more detail. It would certainly be good to see this pioneering independent business continue for another 36 years!
