Heather is celebrating two years at the Garden Mews Hotel in John Street, and became a partner in the business in April.

Sarah is just round the corner, having taken over the old Theatre Coffee House in Albion Street and reopened it with a new look and a new name – Sersi Continental Café.

Mum Valerie Chalkley is never far away, working with Sarah at Sersi and giving both daughters the benefit of catering experience which dates back more than 30 years to her time at Hull’s Royal Station Hotel.

Sarah and Heather learned from their mum as the family owned and operated the Admiral Wyndham Hotel in Sunny Bank from 1995.

Initially they all stayed on after selling the Admiral Wyndham in 2005, but Heather moved to Garden Mews two years ago and became a partner in the business in April.

Valerie and Sarah left when the Admiral Wyndham finally closed last December, and they didn’t have far to look for a new project.

Sarah said: “We needed something to do and with visiting Heather at Garden Mews we were aware that the café round the corner had closed. We wanted something a bit different and this is ideal.”

Different certainly applies to the menu at Sersi, with the emphasis on quality continental food – and no fries!

Sarah added: “When we took over, the place had been closed for a couple of months but you could still smell the oil from frying, so we made a conscious decision not to fry anything. All our food is grilled, roasted, baked – although occasionally we might fry someone an egg!”

Local produce is at the heart of the cooking at Sersi, forming the ingredients for the chutneys and jams home-made by Valerie and for the tapas which is proving a top attraction for crowds heading to Hull New Theatre.

Sarah said: “We normally open from 10.30am until 3pm but we extend that to 7.30pm when there’s something on at Hull New Theatre and we came up with a tapas menu inspired by our time living in Ibiza because it’s different from most of the food available in the city centre.”

Daughters Emmeline and Saffron, who fits the work around her studies, help Heather with the work at Garden Mews – a hotel venture which emerged from the idea of a tea room.

Heather said: “When I decided to leave the Admiral Wyndham I wanted premises for a tea room, but this place was so nice that I ended up doing both! Once breakfast is finished we concentrate on the tea room, with sittings at midday and 2pm for sandwiches, scones and cakes – and we also do indoor picnic boxes because some people prefer savouries.

“It’s becoming more popular as people find out we’re here, and we get quite a few group bookings from regulars. It’s a great place for an afternoon tea party.”

Heather said: “We work together as much as we can. I do some baking for Sersi and we recommend each other’s businesses. Sarah advertises our afternoon tea and we tell people about the pre-theatre tapas.

“That’s important because a lot of small hotels and cafes get pushed out by the big chains, but we work hard on service and a homely atmosphere and we get a lot of business by word of mouth.”

Kathryn Shillito, HullBID City Centre Manager, said: “We met Heather and Sarah at some of the HullBID networking events and we’re very impressed by the way they have identified a niche in the market and are working together to promote Hull and bring something different to the city centre.

“Partnership working is important to the success of any business, and it can certainly help when the people involved have been working together as a family for so long.”

(Photograph by Karl Andre).