Juggling Motherhood and Menus...

Abigail Balan (OG 2001–2003) and Claudia Duffy (OG 1998–2003) met at Prior’s Field in 2001 and their friendship has clearly made the grade.

Claudia explains, "After many years of talking about possible business ventures together, in the thick of the pandemic we really started to put pen to paper to sculpt our vision of what we wanted ‘When Abby Met Claud’ to be. Our dream of opening our own restaurant finally came true and in September 2021, almost exactly 20 years to the day after we met, we opened the doors of our new London restaurant.

We wanted WAMC to feel exactly like our friendship; fun and welcoming, a place to celebrate achievements or to forget the stresses of a difficult day. We aimed to create a fun dining experience and atmosphere that can easily take you from brunch to dinner, right through to late night dining and cocktails until the small hours. The neon sign in the restaurant 'Oops...I did it again' was a term often used by us after years of ‘We’ll just stay out for one’ type of evenings."

Abby Balan has hospitality running in her family as daughter of the late Prady Balan of Balan’s of London and has grown up in the restaurant industry. "I was a Marketing Executive and feel strongly about the importance of being a fully female-owned business. Female solidarity is really important to us, and we are thriving to make WAMC a great example of what can be achieved when women support women, and as mums proving that we can do it all, despite being exhausted at all times! It's taken a lot of hard work and there is still much more to come, but any PF girl who survived 5am fire drills on the field, has surely built up the resilience needed!"

Ruby Jeans Coffee Shop

Olivia Garriock (OG 2000–2005)

My partner and I took over Ruby Jeans coffee shop in Shirehampton, Bristol, in November 2019. We originally wanted to expand the business and open it as a bistro during the evening, as we’d already hosted some supper clubs, but we had to change our plans because of the pandemic.

Thinking quickly, we had the idea to turn the cafe into a local shop which in hindsight was great because we became better known in the area.

Our cafe became a shop almost overnight, because we could still get things from our suppliers that shops were struggling to source; things like baking ingredients, bread and the basics. We offered a local delivery service and we operated like that for a few months throughout the lockdown. We did takeaway supper club meals and delivered to local people who were shielding or who didn’t feel safe going out.

If you’re in the area, please come and visit us: 3–4 The Parade, Shirehampton, Bristol, BS11 9TS

I was furloughed from my job working for a private chef company and at that point I was 26 weeks pregnant.

We spotted an empty NatWest bank site on The Parade in the centre of Shirehampton and decided it would be perfect for our next venture because it has such a nice community feel about it. There are so many young couples, so we knew there would be an appetite for a family-friendly restaurant, opening for breakfast and brunch and then a 40 cover restaurant with a menu of small plates to share at night.

It's been a long slog, but we finally opened our restaurant in December 2021 and with our young daughter, I have never felt tiredness like it! We feel very proud and a huge sense of achievement.