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The 1928 founding year, the 1905 Midland Bank origin, and the Mill’s Cafe heritage are buried two clicks deep, never appearing on the homepage that gets all the traffic.
- Observation
- The homepage at hettyandbetty.co.uk opens with a single hero image of the Fish and Chips Afternoon Tea and the line "Award winning restaurant." Nowhere on the first viewport is the word 1928, the phrase Mill’s Cafe, the year 1905, or the fact that the building was constructed by the Midland Bank. The full history lives at /our-story and /whitbys-oldest-fish-and-chips-cafe, both two clicks away under the menu. A 1949 Christmas wedding reception, the 1946 penny found under the floorboards in 2020, the Mills family handover, none of it reaches the visitor who lands on / and decides in twenty seconds.
- Impact
- Whitby is a heritage tourist town. The Abbey, the 199 steps, the Magpie Cafe and Botham’s of 1865 are how visitors choose where to eat. The single strongest credential Hetty and Betty has, "Whitby’s oldest fish and chips cafe, trading on this site since 1928, in a building built by the Midland Bank in 1905", is the credential the homepage never mentions. The Yorkshire Post and Gazette Herald headlines lead with that line. The site does not.
- After rebuild
- A heritage block above the fold names 1928, Mill’s Cafe, the Mills family, the 1905 Midland Bank building, the 2018 Kirtlan family revival, and the 2019 rename. A six-entry timeline lifts the 1949 wedding, the 1946 penny under the floorboards, the Peacock Suite ballroom rename. The Yorkshire Post quote and the Yorkshireman feature surface as in-line credentials, not as logos on a wall.