A woman has swapped a career in banking to run a new coffee shop in the grounds of an historic church.

The Hub, in Sittingbourne, has opened at Stadium Way on the outskirts of the Eurolink Industrial Estate and next to the site of the old Murston Church.

Lisa Burke, 48, from Minster on Sheppey, will run the shop – which is part of Murston Heart’s Creative Community Hub development.

Construction of the hub, including its café and the building’s six art studios, was completed in December 2022.

Mrs Burke says the shop and the development will bring something new and modern to the area.

She explained: “I already have a cake business which I run from home called Flamingo Cakery, so when this particular building popped up it caught our eye and we got really excited at the thought of having a permanent base.

“The whole area has been renovated so it’s a really lovely site, and there’s also some more units coming soon.

“A café was something people thought was needed given there are a lot of businesses nearby, but we also wanted to make sure we were a little bit on the outskirts of the industrial estate.

"There's also a good walkway which leads on to some of the new houses in Murston, so that should allow us to get it nice and busy in what is a very community-orientated area here.

"The building is made of oak cladding and is obviously brand new, so we have based our furniture around that design.”

The eatery will be open from Monday-Friday between the hours of 8.30am-3.30pm,

As well as offering hot and cold drinks, it will also sell a variety of different foods including salads, paninis, cakes and baguettes – foods which can also be purchased as a takeaway option, too.

Mrs Burke added: "As a coffee shop, we want to focus as much as we can on getting people visiting locally - whether that is in Sittingbourne or even closer in terms of lunch breaks for workers on the estate.

"We also want to be different in terms of offering a takeaway meal which isn't necessarily burger-focused like many are.

"Everything on the menu can be bought as a takeaway by just calling us up, so that, alongside there not being a traditional café on this side of the estate, should give people a nice setting to sit down and enjoy their lunch.

"We have five tables inside and another two outside, but when the warmer weather comes we'll look at extending our outside seating across the church grounds as we have been given permission to do that.

"We also got inspected on our opening day and received a five-star rating right in the middle of service, so that was a lovely start too given we didn't know anybody was coming.

"I also worked in a bank for 25 years so it's a very different career compared to what I was used to.”

The community hub has been made possible through money raised by National Lottery players, as well as support from Swale council, Historic England, and a number of charities.