Yvonne Oppon talks about the heady heights of her first year at The Varsity Club

It’s a slightly chilly day today as I write this, but I’ve chosen to sit up on The Roof at The Varsity Club and look over Oxford’s mesmerising skyline, away from the hustle and bustle downstairs.

The chef is busy preparing for the day of service ahead, deliveries are arriving, furniture is being arranged for private bookings, so I’m up here in a woolly jumper.

I can’t quite believe we’re about to celebrate our first birthday. The past year has been an incredible whirlwind for us all at TVC. When we first came to view the TVC building on the High Street we fell in love with it – it’s so grand, yet inviting and magical all at the same time. It was just a shell but it had such amazing potential – I loved the bare brick walls and metal beams as a backdrop. It had this great townhouse vibe and I had visions of turning it into a really special place where people would love to spend time.

And then we got up to the top floor and The Roof! When we peeked up to see the final level, it had such an overwhelming wow factor – the views across our city and the dreaming spires are second to none. We instantly knew we had a huge but ridiculously exciting challenge ahead of us. We wanted to share this view with people – a new perspective on Oxford.

It did admittedly take a while to uncover that true potential under the layers of old tiles and paint but uncover it we did. The hard work really began when we tackled the top floor, which had a flat roof accessed only by an emergency ladder via a dark, dingy doorway. To open it as a stylish addition to the three floors of TVC has taken more time, energy, sweat and tears than we could have imagined.

A staircase had to be crafted off-site and installed, a steel framework had to be designed and carefully fitted over the entire floor before the decking could be laid. The glass couldn’t be ordered until the vertical stands were built and very precise measurements taken down to the final millimetre. All this was done in rain and shine.

There is the maxim that if it is easy or straightforward, then it would be boring – and we have learned so much over the last year and hope that we have risen to the challenges we have encountered.

In the past year we’ve hosted some amazing birthday celebrations for our guests with themes from Alice in Wonderland to The Great Gatsby – as well as graduation dinners, corporate functions and wedding receptions. We’ve been asked for some crazy things but we always relish a challenge. Seeing how people want to celebrate always makes me smile.

We’ve had so many memorable moments over the past year – some funny, some silly, some just plain mad. But we’ve tried to revel in it all and learn from the parts that haven’t gone quite according to plan – all-in-all it means we get better.

Last summer, when the weather was great and The Roof gave Oxford folks somewhere new to hang out, boy did people come! I’m not ashamed to admit we got it wrong. We simply didn’t anticipate how incredible the demand would be for the new space we created and we ran out of drinks!

So this summer we’re prepared – and to kick off the season, it’s our first birthday! We’re planning a week of celebrations starting from Monday.

With the weather predicted to be fantastic, we’re looking forward to welcoming many guests to The Roof again this season – with the added twist of a brand new VIP area for special occasions and private functions.