I own and manage Stay in Staithes with my husband Kevin and we have been based in the beautiful village of Staithes since 2005. We specialise in the promotion and management of Staithes cottages and have built our business based on experience, word of mouth and recommendations. This means that we can offer a very personal service to both our rental guests and cottage owners alike. We all have one thing in common – our passion for Staithes!

Why Staithes? 

My family has holidayed on the North York Moors Coast for at least four generations - journeys mainly made by train from Wakefield. I have seen many photographs of their visits to Staithes, Whitby, Robin Hoods Bay and Sandsend going back to the 1920s. I have also spent many holidays along this coast and have fond memories of Staithes, the favourite being October Half Term 1979. The family was holed up in Glencoe on Church Street in the middle of a storm which seemed to go on all week. All we could do was get the coal fire going and settle down to watch the waves crashing over the old staith whilst playing cards and listening to Queen's Greatest Hits Volume 1!

When leaving M&S Kevin and I explored a number of areas across the country for our relocation and, luckily, Kevin also fell in love with Staithes. In late 2004 we purchased two cottages as a renovation project - one would be our new home and the other a holiday let. The project was far tougher than we had expected, but we met lots of new people, built many new contacts and learned lots of lessons - good and bad. We completed the move to the Staithes in 2005 and used our new found contacts and skills to set up Stay in Staithes. The rest, as they say, history!

Who Are We?

Between us Kevin and I have 40 years management experience working for Marks and Spencer PLC in a variety of sales, marketing and project management areas plus the last 13 years running Stay in Staithes. 

Kevin spent his childhood in south west London and Kuwait. I was born in Wakefield and grew up in Leeds, so am a Yorkshirewoman through and through. We have lived and worked in many locations around the UK from Aberdeen down to Felixstowe via Manchester through our various positions with M&S. When a major re-structure was announced in 2004 we decided to make the break away from our corporate lives. I wanted to return to Yorkshire and felt that it would be the perfect place for us to take up a new challenge and prepare the ground for the next stage of their lives. 

We lived in Staithes until 2011 and are now living in Whitby which has given us more space, driveway and large garden. The village has a great deal to offer, but these three things are very rare. At least we have the advantage that the village is our "office" and it beats a desk in a shared space at Paddington Basin any day!

When we are not working we love to play golf on the beautiful cliff tops at Whitby. I have a 20 handicap and Kevin plays off 13 and we are very involved in the day to day running of Whitby Golf Club Ltd. We are also very fortunate to have an apartment at the Aphrodite Hills Resort in Cyprus and our holidays (when we can get them!) are spent playing golf, enjoying great meals out and catching up with friends in the sunshine. Wherever we are living, enjoying our leisure time and working we always can see the sea.