Lessons in excellence from Betty's tearoom

Yes, OK. I own up, it's all my fault. I was the one who, predicting a good summer, spent a fortune on lanterns for the garden and pretty outdoor candle lights for the tables.

At last, summer arrived and we hurriedly unpacked my purchases, placed them round the garden and gleefully listened to the murmurs of appreciation from diners as they took their coffee in the garden at 10pm. Unfortunately, summer went as quickly as it came, and it's not stopped raining since.

However, the weather behaved well over the bank holiday weekend and, more importantly, so did the customers. This holiday weekend coincides with Ampleforth College's Exhibition Weekend, which means an influx of parents wanting places to eat and stay, but who also want you to perform magic at the drop of a hat and increase the size of their tables by four or five covers depending on how many chums their son has decided to invite.

This year, however, nearly everyone kept their bookings manageable. I always find it incredible in this modern world of communications - just today a gentleman taking coffee in our lounge upstairs used his mobile phone to call us and ask for his bill - that people can't phone and let us know that they require a table for only two and not four as per their booking, rather than just turning up and telling us then. Surely this is just a matter of basic manners? Like letting us know that you've thrown up on the carpet rather than leaving us to find out for ourselves!

People often ask us what we think is the basic formula for a successful business, which is something I think about all the time and I always study the places we go to, at whatever level, to see what makes them work - or not, as the case may be. I don't honestly think that it is about amazing staff or incredible gourmet food: in most places it's about quality, professionalism and consideration for your customers' requirements. All of these attributes were fully displayed during a recent visit to Betty's tearoom in York with infant in tow. The facilities they offer for children and the way we were looked after were so thoughtful - unobtrusive toy on the table, baby wipes, delightful Little Rascal Menu offering proper food - and all executed so efficiently with no fuss or bother, yet we didn't feel we were in a particularly "child-friendly" environment. We were in an adult place that just happens to be extremely good at catering for little people. n

JACQUIE PERN and husband Andrew own the Star Inn at Harome, North Yorkshire

Next diary from Jacquie Pern: 22 July