Stratford-upon-Avon couple mark 30 years at their diner
WHEN Mal’s Diner first started in Stratford it was only making £15 a day.
But Mal and Rose Hallows have worked hard to keep their business ticking over – and to keep their hungry customers coming back for the food they have been serving up for three decades.
On Tuesday, Mal’s Diner, on the Avenue Farm Industrial Estate, marked its 30th anniversary.
The couple said they have thoroughly enjoyed running their business, which has seen many regular customers become family friends, but the story behind their journey to Stratford in 1993 began the year before in the run-up to Christmas.
“I was livestock manager at a large aquatic store and I also designed ponds,” said Mal. “I liked the job so much it was almost a hobby and while there was plenty of work in the summer, in the winter it dropped off to a few hours here and there.
“I had three children and there were three weeks to go before Christmas and I didn’t have much money. I always wanted to be self-employed and I saw this advert in the Birmingham Evening Mail about running a mobile diner, but it didn’t say where. I applied, I got the diner and ended up in Western Road, Stratford.”
From the start it looked like the odds were stacked against Mal and Rose. The diner was not making much money and had attracted the attention of Stratford District Council’s environmental health team – all of which was not Mal’s doing.
“Someone said to me ‘I told you not to do it’ but Rose and I worked very hard, cleaned the diner up and moved it to a new site on Avenue Farm in Stratford which was much busier for us. In 2007 I designed the diner I’ve now got on a piece of paper and a team of designers made it for me and it works fine as my catering unit,” Mal said.
Nowadays the queues start to build up at the diner from 10am onwards with Friday the busiest day of the week.
“Our customers are great and they come to us from all over the place,” Mal said. “We use the best quality food and we want to give people value for money, so we won’t be over charging and stick with what people want from us.
“I do the meat and Rose does the salad bar, which I’m not allowed to get involved with otherwise I get told off.
“Over the years we’ve made many friends and we have served some of the big-name companies in Stratford like NC Joseph and Precision Engineering. It is like a family down here with the various businesses looking out for each other and helping each other.”
Mal uses the weather to help forecast how busy he might be on any given day and what food will be in demand.
“You can’t beat a cold winter’s day or the run-up to Christmas – that’s when we’re most busy – but a hot sunny day is the kiss of death for business,” he said. “Breakfast baguettes always sell well, and we’ve got a selection of burgers and sandwiches but no chips. I installed a chip fryer once and it hardly got used. When it comes to red sauce and brown sauce, I would say customers go 50-50 for each although I’m a red sauce man myself.”
His business has been affected by the cost-of-living crisis which is hitting households – he hates having to put up prices.
The whole thing is spiralling out of control,” said Mal. “Sausages, bacon, tomatoes and bread are all going up by 10, 20 and 30p. Eggs have tripled in price. I buy 30 dozen from the warehouse and it used to cost me £20 to £24. Last week they went up to £68. I think there’s a lot of greed in the supermarkets and the prices won’t come down again.”
There have been some funny memories over the past 30 years for Mal and Rose, including the time NC Joseph put in a large order which Mal put in the oven to keep warm and the whole lot went up in flames, so he and Rose had to start all over again. On another occasion, Mal had to temporarily abandon the queue outside his diner and climb up a nearby conker tree to rescue his youngest son – Michael – who had got stuck.
Away from the grill, Mal is the chairman of Stratford Angling Club and has been since 2008 having joined it in 1994. He holds angling charity events which raise money for the air ambulance and prostate cancer and he always supports the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.
While Mal and Rose live in Hollywood near Birmingham, the couple can be found working in Stratford most days but they also love to spend quality time with the family – they have three children, Gemma, Christopher and Michael and six grandchildren.
But time is moving on and at 66, Mal’s thoughts are turning towards retirement this summer.
“I’ve done my extra year for my pension and I’m looking to retire in June but Rose won’t be able to retire just yet. I’ve never regretted doing this job. I will put the business up for sale and I’ll be sad to go as I’ve made many friends who I’m really going to miss,” Mal said.
