03/05/2026
SUSIE BATES appreciation time. She hates public affection or the attention… but our tagline is defiantly unauthentic so here’s the defiant in me!
What can I say. She’s bloody amazing.
You see loads of videos on our socials — and they’re all me. Suze is never in them. The other day I said to her, get in the vids! And she was like, no way, people don’t wanna see me, this is your thing.
How wrong can she be.
Without Susie there is no Kitgum. Full stop. We started this together 11 years ago. Went through every single up and every brutal down together. Built a beautiful family and home along the way.
Full time job, three kids, school runs, the house, all of it — while I worked evenings. And anyone with kids knows, even when I’m home they’re hanging off Susie. She never stops.
But this next Kitgum chapter? We need her in it. Properly. Since we got the keys on 30th March she has been absolutely relentless. Project managing the entire build. Every decision, every problem, every late night and early morning. Weekdays, weekends, middle of the night — if it’s about this place, she’s thinking about it.
I know how hard it is. I know how much pressure she’s carrying. And she just gets on with it. No fuss. No drama. Head down.
6 weeks to opening. Money’s tight. Pressure’s on.
But we’re going to do it.
And none of it — none of it — happens without her.
We love you Suze 💚
