Kara's Kitchen: The popular Essex railway cafe that was once an old horsebox
A former personal trainer turned cafe boss has transformed a horsebox into a thriving train station cafe - and was named one of the best in the UK. Kara McTaggart has been selling cookies, sausage rolls and coffees from her trailer at Shoeburyness Train Station since 2022 - and is now so popular her sausage rolls sell out, and even dogs are queuing up for her goods.
Kara, 34, from Rochford, previously worked as a personal trainer before taking on a horsebox and redesigning it with her own branding, before pitching up at the railway station and serving commuters and dog walkers five days a week.
Her business is now so popular it attracted the attention of a national awards scheme. Shoeburyness station was nominated for the "World Cup of Stations" award by the Rail Delivery Group for the "Station with the Best Local Businesses". While Kara's Kitchen did not make it to the final, it was still regarded by the group as one of the best station businesses in the UK.
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Kara said: "I already had a horsebox there before, so I took it over and renovated it and did all my new logos and plotted up at Shoebury station two years ago. It was local to me, I was a PT [personal trainer] for 11 years and was already PT-ing at Wakering and Ionly live in Rochford. I know the area of Shoebury so thought I'd give it a go.
"I always wanted my own cafe, so this was a starting point for me, so I thought I would see how it goes. I tried loads of different things to see what worked and what didn't; I initially did loads of big cakes, but they didn't seem to sell, so I did my cookies, which are pretty famous now, along with my sausage rolls. People come, and they're always sold out."
Kara sells items such as cookies, blondies, brownies, and sausage rolls, changing them up to create different flavours each month to fit the season. She continued: "Everyone says they're amazing to taste, but everything is homemade there. I think everyone loves that it's a homemade menu. They are full of calories; I've gone from being a PT to making people fit and slim to fattening people up.
"Every morning I do a morning post on social media, talking about the weather and then saying exactly what I've got available every day. Even if I sell out of things, I tell people that I'm sold out of sausage rolls. I wasn't even aware I was nominated for this award until Friday."
On the award nomination, Kara said: "It was such a nice surprise; little old me in my trailer that gets absolutely freezing in the winter when it's minus six degrees and I've got about 20 layers on. It's now paying off, and that's nice to know at least.
"I do a range of everything, really, but possibly a smiley face in the morning, it's hard to say. I'm not a boring coffee lady; it's not like I've just stuck to one thing, and I can move the horsebox around, so when I'm not at Shoebury station, I'm going to schools, so I'm part of the community, even the kids know who I am.
"I open at 6am, go for my morning walk while the coffee machine warms up. Then around half 9 I get the dog walkers, the mums who come down, and then there's other people passing by. I know so many dogs now."
Kara is hoping to strike an agreement with c2c to get a permanent plot at the station so she can expand from her current Monday to Friday morning opening hours to seven days a week and hire staff to allow more time for her to expand her menu to include lunch items.
But while she is very popular with commuters, she also has avid canine fans. She added: "I go through dog treats like no one's business. I need to start making them now. There's one dog called Freddie who actually queues up in the line, waiting for his treat. He waits so patiently, and if I ignore him, he will bark at me."