Successful first season for the Boathouse

A new family friendly restaurant in Saundersfoot has had a successful first season of trading and is looking forward with confidence to the Autumn.

The Boathouse, in Saundersfoot opened at the beginning of July, ready for the school summer holidays and the owner, Leigh Evans is delighted with their first summer of trading and the feedback from their customers.

The restaurant was supported by £57,267 funding from the Welsh Government through Visit Wales’, Tourism Investment Support Scheme as the project was an excellent opportunity to bring a quality family-friendly dinning experience to Saundersfoot.

In a recent Visit Wales survey, events and festivals were identified as being key in attracting more visitors. Saundersoot and the area had a very busy end to the season with the Saundersfoot Tri and IRONMAN events, which were a welcome boost to Leigh and the team at the end of the season.  Saundersfoot is now gearing up for the Big Bang weekend in October.

Leigh is now looking forward to the Autumn and further developing the business, he said:

“We were very excited about opening this new venture in Saundersfoot and are pleased that we can offer a different type of dining experience to the area.  Having a busy first season under our belts gives us great confidence for the future. I’m very grateful to our hard working staff, to the support of our customers and to Visit Wales for their investment and advice. We now look forward

to developing the business further and working with the local tourism industry to enhance Wales’ reputation as a holiday destination.”

The design of the Boathouse pays tribute to the area’s maritime heritage and is designed on a nautical theme with a strong sense of place using paintings and artefacts that link to the local community and tell its story. The emphasis is on serving fresh, homemade food from locally sourced produce.

Cabinet Secretary for the Economy and Infrastructure, Ken Skates, said:

“The busy summer which the team at the Boathouse have had seems to be a reflection of a busy summer in Wales as a whole.  I’m delighted that they’ve had a successful summer season and that we’ve been able to support the development of this restaurant which has such a strong sense of place and a passion for sourcing local produce.  There is a growing trend in Wales for high quality seafront restaurants with an emphasis on local produce, visitors are increasingly seeking local, authentic and novel experiences linked intrinsically to the places they visit.  I wish the team all the success for the future.”