A nice little number

THE most remarkable thing about Number 4, a cafe and gift shop in Langley Park, on the outskirts of Durham, is that it is unexpected.

Approaching it from the north, you drive through historic Durham City, with its bustle and vibrancy, and through verdant countryside.

Langley Park marks something of a contrast. A former pit village, it has, like many others, struggled to find its identity.

There isn’t much by way of business and, until recently, it lacked a venue for a coffee and a chat. That was until last September, when Number 4 was established.

Standing on a main street, it looks fresh and modern amid its surroundings. Inside, it continues to surprise. There is a counter laden with homemade savouries and cakes, and beyond it, a cosy seating area complete with a children’s corner. This leads, in turn, to the gift shop, replete with everything from bags to bath bombs.

Number 4 has something for everyone

Tracey Russell, the creative force behind Number 4, says it was always meant to be somewhere unique.

“We are bringing Barnard Castle to Langley Park,” she says. “We have, for want of a better word, bettered it. We might even have increased house prices – you never know – because people come here from everywhere.”

Tracey, 39, runs the cafe and gift shop alongside 40-year-old Claire Ballentine, who looks after the business side. They describe themselves as different in that they work “on”

instead of “in” their trade, taking a backseat in Number 4’s day-to-day running to concentrate on the bigger picture.

Their background is in manufacturing, having developed Tracey Russell Design, the greetings card company which Tracey started in 1998 in her parents’ spare room. They always dreamed of combining this with a cafe and gift shop but, as Claire says, they “kept getting cold feet”. It was the availability of a unit in Langley Park’s Old Co-op Buildings that convinced them to go ahead.

Some of the items for sale at Number 4

“We always knew what we wanted – that’s why the building was so important,” says Tracey who, like Claire, lives nearby.

The pair worked hard to refurbish the premises. They utilised the space at the far end for the gift shop and had plans to host events on the upper level, then decided it made sense to bring the greetings card business, which was based at a nearby industrial estate, under the same roof.

Tracey started the company after graduating from Cleveland College of Art and Design with a degree in international textiles.

She met Claire when the latter became her first employee.

“We didn’t know each other prior to me looking for someone to help me make the cards,” says Tracey, a mother-of-three. “She’s now my best friend of 16 years and I couldn’t do without her.”

Number 4 has a lot of quirky items for sale

The cards are still a major focus, and it was having a small gift shop at their first base at Riverside Industrial Estate that gave Tracey and Claire the confidence to establish Number 4. Long before Moonpig, they were supplying personalised cards – the difference being that theirs are handmade – and they have almost 1,000 trade customers, including major retailers such as Fenwick.

Being exposed to products at trade fairs led Tracey and Claire to the idea of a gift shop.

“Because we do the trade shows with the cards we see a lot of different and unusual gifts,” says mother-of-two Claire. “We try to support other local businesses,” adds Tracey.

Alongside locally-made toiletries and Geordie-themed products are national brands, including jewellery by singer Ed Sheeran. The main problem is finding enough space to accommodate everything. “The gift shop isn’t big enough,” says Tracey. “If it was twice the size we would fill it.”

The pair’s enthusiasm is tempered with a strong sense of realism. Tracey would love to put hand-made popcorn on the cafe menu, but knows it wouldn’t sell, and the low prices reflect its location. “If we were the Biscuit Factory, there would be no stopping us,” she says.

The cosy cafe sells a variety of delicious treats

Both Tracey and Claire hope that they will spark a renaissance in Langley Park. “If someone else opened a nice boutique, people would come here,” says Claire. “We get bikers and dog walkers, and we are part of the National Cycle Network,” adds Tracey. “We know we’ve got our work cut out, but 400 houses are going to be built in the village, so hopefully that will help.”

• Number 4, 4 Old Co-op Buildings, Langley Park, Durham. Tel: 0191-373 1404. The cafe is open seven days a week.traceyrussell.co.uk