Creek Lifestyle didn’t start with a business plan; it started with two childhood sweethearts, a shared pull towards the sea and a chance encounter with a small wooden-fronted shop in Blakeney.

Richard King and Sam Webb first met as teenagers in Upminster. Back then, much of their spare time was spent escaping the suburbs: driving to the coast, going sailing whenever they could and enjoying long days on the beach. A four-year romance eventually ran its course and the pair went their separate ways – Richard to Cornwall, Sam staying in Essex. Both married, had children, divorced and carried on with their lives.

Then, in 2012, came a phone call that rewrote the story. Sam rang Richard to wish him many happy returns; they met for dinner and, as Richard puts it, ‘here we are now’ – partners in life and business, and rarely far from the water. These days they divide their time between the River Crouch in South Fambridge, Fowey in Cornwall and, since 2022, Blakeney on the north Norfolk coast. ‘I think you can see where our love is strongest,’ says Richard. ‘By the water.’

Richard and Sam - Sam is wearing their gansey, inspired by traditional Norfolk fishermen's jumpers (Image: Contributed by Creek Lifestyle)

Norfolk, though, has a particular pull for Sam. Her dad lived in Cromer, an uncle is based in Downham Market and, on her mother’s side, the family tradition was to take a house in Thurne in summer and over Christmas – a rhythm that ran throughout her childhood. When she and Richard first started courting as teenagers, they would head up to Norfolk together, clocking up countless trips along the coast. As adults, once they reunited, the pattern resumed: trips to visit Sam’s dad and........

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