The owner of a Croxley Green café has thanked her customers as she looked back on a “rollercoaster” decade of business.

The Kitchen Croxley co-owner Linda Anderson said there will be treats and glasses of fizz as the café today celebrates 10 years since picking up the keys to the Watford Road business. 

Since opening in 2014, Linda said she had “no idea” how the business would grow, adding: “All I was doing was moving out of my home because I just thought I needed somewhere bigger to make celebration cakes. 

“We had a couple of tables out the front of the shop thinking people might come in and buy a piece of cake, and then we got a second-hand coffee machine.

The Kitchen Croxley co-owner Linda Anderson.The Kitchen Croxley co-owner Linda Anderson. (Image: The Kitchen Croxley)

“I just never imagined we would go on to do afternoon teas, have an all-day menu and outside catering.”

The café owner said the last 10 years have been a “rollercoaster” as she shared photos of the unit’s renovations before opening.

“It just feels like another world, we were there pitching in,” she explained. “All the family were here and taking the ceiling tiles down, painting and laying a new floor. We did it all ourselves, it was a real family working together job.”

(Image: The Kitchen Croxley)

She said she has gotten to know their customers well over the last decade: “Croxley Green is a lovely place because we know everyone. Everyone comes in to say hello, it’s very friendly.

“I really want to say thank you to all our customers for their support and encouragement.

“When things do get a bit tricky and you wonder how much longer you can keep going, someone says something which reassures us that we’re meant to be here.”

Although the café owner said the business is doing well, she admits that they face challenges and recently appeared on BBC Politics Live on June 19 to discuss the impact of utility bills and rising costs on small businesses.

Looking ahead to the next decade, she has no plans of going anywhere: “People say to me ‘when you retire, when you sell up', but I've got no immediate plan to stop working.

"I really hope we will be here in 10 years because it is such an ingrained part of the community."