I Love Rainbow88, Cheadle Hulme

There’s always a warm and genuine welcome at Rainbow88 and the restaurant itself is beautifully bright and spacious as well as spotlessly clean and fresh. In fact, it’s very inviting, with a lovely atmosphere – all backed up with excellent food and superb service. A fairly recent refurbishment saw the addition of a comfy waiting area, sumptuous booths and as a smart, new, well-stocked bar – watch out for Linda’s cocktails!

Back in 1999, when Linda opened Rainbow88 (the name derived from Linda’s Chinese name, ‘Choy’ meaning ‘colourful’, as well as a tribute to the Rainbow Trust, while the 88 means double good luck in Chinese culture) she was on her own with a small child and no family around. However, she knew that, despite the massive responsibilities, daunting financial pressures and downright hard work that she could do it – she wanted to stay here, not run back to Hong Kong. Linda and her daughter, Yasmin, lived locally and loved the Cheadle Hulme and Bramhall area (Linda is particularly full of praise for our schools, a major factor in wanting to stay). Fortunately, one of the shopping centre’s landlords, who knew Linda from the restaurant she managed in Hazel Grove, knew she could, too. The River Fortune had just closed, the unit in the shopping centre was about to become available and was being opened up at the back – and the rest is history.

That said, Linda would be the first to admit that HER history was not especially easy and that growing up, life was often difficult for her – although her incredible work ethic certainly helped, when she began work in her family’s Fleetwood restaurants when she was 8 – later, getting the bus back from school to help out at lunchtime! Stints in Manchester’s Chinatown and even teaching English in Hong Kong for seven years, where her step-father was mayor, followed, before a move back here initially to help distant family, before setting up on her own. Having lived nearby while working in Chinatown, Linda knew she wanted to be around Cheadle Hulme and Bramhall.

Linda’s devotion to community and good causes is legendary, which Linda believes is down to some of the hardships she’s had to face, having had family affected by kidney problems, cancer and dementia – although her incredible fundraising is far from limited to those causes – and it’s clear that she’s a very empathetic listener and supportive of friends, family and local businesses. Linda loves to see others succeed, and believes that if she can do it as a single mother with no close family around, others can too. She’s adamant that in order to do well, everyone should ‘treat others how they themselves like to be treated, never bear grudges and surround yourself with good, positive people’. She cites dedication, confidence and hard work as the key to her success. Her ‘Proud of Stockport’ award for Most Community Spirited Organisation was thoroughly well-deserved, and the community feel of the area along with feeling as though she ‘belongs, is accepted, and a part of it’ is what she likes best about Cheadle Hulme and Bramhall.

Working such long and demanding hours, Linda not only likes to support, but also truly know the value of local shops – frequenting Pimlott’s for meat, Pets’ Corner for cat food and Tom’s superb hardware and household store, T & W, amongst many others. Hair is by Laura Caroline and regular stress-busting massages at Chapel Holistics are a must. She’s also a big fan of all the other Cheadle Hulme restaurants, while Mummy Lam, when visiting from Hong Kong, is very fond of the OAP offer at Luke’s chippy! Like us, she’s known for a while that Cheadle Hulme needs a community and business group and has seen what I Love Bramhall has achieved there, so is really looking forward to developments. We’d like to thank Linda for her support – Linda, being lovely Linda, would like to point out that she thanks all her customers, the community as well as all her home and business neighbours in Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme for THEIR support over the past 16 years.

Well done Linda and Team Rainbow. Here’s to the next sixteen years and beyond!

• Visit : 2-3 Shopping Centre, SK8 5AF
• Facebook
• Twitter 
• Phone :0161 485 2288