An Ashby husband and wife have used their entrepreneurial skills to create 100 new jobs in the area, after setting up a string of businesses from scratch.

Stacey and Carla Garey met whilst working together at the Hilton East Midlands Airport and decided to bravely branch out on their own by taking on a lease to manage The Black Horse gastropub in Appleby Magna.

This was a successful venue, but when the 2008 credit crunch hit businesses hard, the couple were forced to have a rethink as local pubs were significantly affected by the downturn. 

Carla returned to regular work in addition to working in the restaurant to make ends meet, but the desire to run their own scalable, successful businesses remained strong and whilst it meant going back to square one again, they both saw this as the challenge.

As both had experience of the food and hospitality industry, they decided to create Saffron Catering - a catering and events company which now turns over more than £2.5million a year.

After a few years of building up Saffron to become one of the leading catering companies in the area, the couple decided there was further room for branching out into other avenues. Starting first with a property rental company, they have recently also opened a nursery and pre school, mobile Sandwich Van business and a static caravan holiday let business in Skegness, to their portfolio.

Carla explained that it is not the financial income which is the driving force for them both, but the fact that they are both keen to ensure the businesses contribute to the local community in terms of providing employment. 

She said: "The underlying reason for us both is not to be materialistic or solely for income, it is very much around providing jobs and employment in the area we live in - and to have a positive impact on our community.

"They are the things that are important to us. When we managed the local village pub, we were heavily involved in the community.

"Now we own a children's nursery located in the next village, we sponsor a local football and netball club, and more recently sponsorship and support Ashby Rugby Club to help finish their clubhouse development, among other community initiatives, including offering food and catering to our neighbours and various charitable projects.

"These are things that matter to us, how many people we employ full-time, how many mortgage payments they can make as a result of us offering employment.

"We are offering work to many young people within our catering business, giving them the opportunity of a first job in young adult life and support business enterprise in the youth as a way to 'pay it forward'.

"That's the legacy we want to create; it is who we are and what we're about."

The couple make it clear that creating and shaping their companies does not come easy.

Not only did the Credit Crunch cause them to have a re-think when they started their first business, but this happened again during the Covid period.

But they showed that hard work pays off, and their companies now include Saffron Catering, Posh Pigs Hog Roasts, Saffron Sandwich Vans, Evergreen Lodge Nursery and Pre-School and Willow Tree Holidays.

Carla added: "It's a combination of circumstance and some luck, but also really hard graft - we both worked in hospitality at the same hotel where we met, I was the Restaurant Manager and Stacey was the Executive Chef.

"But we decided to quit our corporate careers to try and achieve a better work life balance by working for ourselves.

The couple also run a holiday homes company in Skegness

"The Black Horse won awards and we were named the best restaurant in Leicestershire at one point."

But it was tough with, at the time, two young children and all the family living at the pub.

Carla added: "After the Credit Crunch years, I had to go back to full-time employment to bring some more money in, and for me to find a way out of what was a really difficult time.

"I decided that I wanted to start out my own and expand on the business route of working in a pub, which made me braver when it came to us starting our own business.

"I was living in a pub at the time and married to a Chef and with a background in hospitality, so starting a catering company made sense.

"It was more out of circumstance than anything else, as I was not particularly passionate about food or catering at the time, but it made good business sense.

"We started it with without a penny to our name and we slowly built that up to a company that turns over more than £2.5million alone. Everything in between is just the journey to get there.

The couple also have five children

"One side of it is the entrepreneurial journey of building something from nothing, and the other is investing and being an investor in a company.

"We are both extremely proud of what we have achieved together, and it's also things like having the opportunity to be involved in charities such as The Kids Village and The Brown Dog Cancer Charity. We couldn't do that without the success of our businesses."

Carla added that anyone thinking of doing similar needs to know the risks and hard work involved, but says the rewards are satisfying.

She added: "It is very much about taking risks but also working extremely hard to achieve goals, and I think we have just been real about it all, with blood, sweat and tears - and it's paid off.

"Nothing's been handed to us, and our hard work and determination leads to success, giving us what we set out to achieve for the local community and beyond."