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Trio prepare to reopen well-known beauty spot cafe

Lee Bottomley
BBC Radio Stoke
BBC Three women lean against each other, each is laughing as they look at the camera. Behind them is a lakeBBC
Joanne Upton, Corinne Mannion and Amy Mansfield have taken on the lease at Westport Lake Cafe

Three women who are reopening a well-known cafe at a Stoke-on-Trent nature reserve have said they are taking on 10 staff, and hope to employ more.

Westport Lake Cafe had been run by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust for 15 years until the charity moved out in autumn 2024.

Now Joanne Upton, Corinne Mannion and Amy Mansfield - who all work in care - have taken on a 10 year lease for the site with Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

The trio said they wanted the cafe, set to reopen on 22 March, to be a place that brought the whole community together.

They had originally been looking for a venue that could be used as a social club for adults with learning difficulties, and discovered that the building had become available.

"We fell in love with the place, and then the pressure was on to get the business proposal together for the city council," said Ms Mansfield, who described the process of securing the lease as "fun, but stressful."

Three women smile at each other. One is behind a café counter, another is bent over, holding a paint tray and roller.
The women are doing up the cafe in between their full-time jobs

The venue is being billed as a cafe and community hub, and will be used to host a range of clubs and events, as well as being the base for their care business.

"We want a general community space, really inclusive, and very dog friendly, given the situation," said Ms Upton.

Seven staff who worked at the cafe previously are returning, and another three people have been recruited.

"And then we'll see how big we grow in the future," added Ms Mannion.

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