Page 30 - Oundle Life December 2024

QA
Madison Keys and Zak Perrin run The Falcon Inn at Fotheringhay – it’s their passion... When did you take over at The Falcon?
December 2019 – just before Covid... great timing on our part! When making our business plan, we didn’t quite think a global pandemic would be on our checklist! We saw just two months trading before the relentless impact of Covid. Despite this, our resilience and discipline kept us focused, our business survived and is now budding. Next stop, flourishing!
What made you choose Oundle? I grew
up here, schooled at Glapthorn Primary and Prince William and always loved the area. Zak is from slightly further afield, but after making a pitstop in Tain L’hermitage, France where he did the majority of his culinary training, he found himself in the area and fell in love with it too. When deciding a location for our first joint business, we agreed “where better?”
Tell us more... Zak and I met whilst working in a hotel in Oundle, after Zak had spent some
time training in France under Frederic Bau, the creative director of Valrhona, at his restaurant, Umia. I have always loved hospitality, I think
I got the bug whilst dabbling in the upsell of KitKats in my dad’s shop when I was a child! With Zak’s experience being a chef, and mine in front of house, we decided to give it a go!
Any future ambitions? We always dream big – so absolutely! The climate is still difficult in hospitality, but there are dreams of a second pub or a restaurant, a cocktail bar, and a patisserie!
Any colleagues or do you go it alone? We are incredibly grateful for the work that our small close-knit team put in to support us.
Highlight of your day? We love celebrating each day, even the small wins. When we’re debriefing and get to discuss so many wonderful comments from guests, it really makes us feel on top of the world.
Describe your business in five words...
Sustainable, community-driven, resilient, welcoming, tasty!
30
AND
THE
FALCON
INN
Dreaming big...