Since then, their business has grown to
encompass the Racquet Club and ziba Restaurant,
in Liverpool’s commercial district, the Eagle and
Child pub in Bispham green, near Parbold, and
the Wizard in Alderley Edge.
Th ere’s also the Strickland Arms in Cartmel,
Cumbria, and the famous Miller Howe hotel in
the Lake District. Th eir most recent venture is the
Home Farm Shop, also in Bispham green, which
specialises in organic locally-sourced produce,
including galloway beef from their father’s farm.
In many ways, their food empire is a natural
extension for the pair, who were both brought up
on the family farm in Lancashire and went on to
HOME IS WHERE
agricultural college. Th is was followed for Martin
by a spell in the City as an analyst before they took
THE ART IS FOR
their fi rst steps as entrepreneurs.
Th eir businesses may be varied but a common MARTIn AnD
thread which runs throughout is their insistence
on the simple virtue of using quality, locally- HELEn AInSCOUgH
sourced produce wherever possible.
Helen says: “great food and great restaurants Over the last 20 years they have collected District hotel, Miller Howe, their homes
and pubs should be about the simple things. hundreds of original artworks and prints from and the country pubs they own across
We focus on using the very best ingredients and around the world. Lancashire, Cheshire and Cumbria.
providing the brilliant service. It’s never been Th e latest acquisition to hang in their What began as a fl edgling gallery
about being trendy because because trends come Racquet Club hotel and restaurant in Liverpool business on Falkner Street, Liverpool, 20
and go; it’s about maintaining some enduring and is Apples of the Hesperides (detail above), by years ago is now a passion.
timeless values. John Moores prize-winner Martin greenland. Helen says: “We come from a family
“Of course running a group of businesses is It depicts a deep classical landscape, with a of habitual collectors so I guess it’s in the
hard work but we love it because we are both so clutch of golden apples in a tree, distant snow- blood. Our collection is personal, inevitably,
passionate about what we do. It’s not a job, it’s a covered peaks, a shoreline and a blood-red cape and monetary value is honestly irrelevant.”
vocation and it’s a way of life. I can’t imagine what
else could give us that sense of satisfaction you get
when someone tells you just how much they’ve
“We come from a family of
enjoyed their experience with us.”
habitual collectors so I guess it’s
in our blood. Our collection is
personal, inevitably, and monetary
value is honestly irrelevant.”
discarded over rocks. Martin reckons he buys a work a week,
It is laden with half-suggested stories and although it may be something as small a
rich in detail; the kind of picture, in fact, which £50 print.
you can look at over and over again and always Th e painting he would choose to take
fi nding something new. with him if marooned on a desert island
Martin says: “I love landscapes and the is one we can all enjoy because it hangs
suggestion of landscapes, abstract works and in the Walker. It is a Poussin landscape,
shape and colour combinations which can be shimmering blue and green, which, despite
Youhan Raffo,
maitre d’ of the
revisited time and again. its Classical allusions, reminds Martin
Racquet Club “In Liverpool we’re blessed. Th e John of nothing more than the green English
Moores exhibition is a great way of buying art countryside.
and there is so much public art to enjoy.” Just the kind of thing he would want on
Other works adorn the walls of their Lake his desert island.
12
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