Meet Graham and Ami, the Couple Behind Sully's, Mile Oak's New Cake Addiction
Need cake? Call Graham and Ami, the pair who turned Valley Road into Mile Oak's sweetest corner
Food and Drink
Meet Graham and Ami, the Couple Behind Sully's, Mile Oak's New Cake Addiction
Tucked into the parade at 88 Valley Road in Mile Oak, Portslade, Sully's has done something rare for a coffee shop that only opened its doors on 16 January 2026. It has become part of the neighbourhood almost overnight. The sign above the door promises coffee, cake and good food, and with a 4.9 star rating on Google and a counter that empties as fast as it fills, the locals will tell you it delivers on all three.
Behind it all are Graham, known to everyone as Sully, and Ami. Both bake, Sully handles the admin, and Ami runs the shop floor and the social media, which explains the mascot costumes. More on those later.
Asked how the village has taken to them, the answer is typically Sully's. "We're now everyone's cake addiction fix and hangover cure," they told ImJustBrighton. "We must be doing something right, because everyone keeps making us bake more."
star rating on Google, from reviews left by Mile Oak locals since the doors opened in January
The essentials
88 Valley Road, Portslade BN41 2TQ. Open Monday to Friday 7.30am to 4pm, weekends 9am to 3pm. Dog friendly, with vegan, gluten free and dairy free options, and a 5 star food hygiene rating. Outside catering on 07709 243737.
Blue on blue on blue, Sully's dressed up in its trademark colours on Valley Road
Why Sully's? Blame Monsters Inc
The name comes from Graham's school nickname. "Sully's is named after Sully from Monsters Inc, because he's big, hairy and an absolute softy," the pair explain. Naming it after Ami, they admit, just did not have the same ring to it.
Neither of them came to this the easy way. Sully works full time in hospitality as a coffee engineer, the person who keeps espresso machines alive, so he knows exactly what a good cup should taste like. Ami's background is in SEND and mental health, which might explain why the shop feels as welcoming as it does.
Valley Road is actually Sully's second act. The couple opened their first shop in Fishersgate in June 2024, but were forced to close it after Ami fell off a chair and injured herself badly enough that she could not walk for a while. When their old lease came to an end and the Valley Road premises came up, the decision made itself. Not least because they live on the very same road. "We were too lazy to commute any further," they joke.
"Nobody should have a life without good cake!"
Graham and Ami, Sully's
Cookie Pies, Old School Cake and Counter Envy
The bakes are what people travel for, and there is a proper division of labour behind the counter. Sully is the cookie pie and giant cookie man. Ami handles the brownies and most of the other bakes, plus her own cookie pies. And team member Sarah has fully claimed the sponges. "She's very possessive and passionate about her old school cake," the couple say, and regulars would not dare argue.
Expect loaded cookie pies in flavours like Oreo, Bueno, Biscoff and Kinder, crunchie brownies, stuffed cookies and cheese and marmite twists on the savoury side. One recent visitor admitted walking out with ten different baked goods in a single trip. Nobody at Sully's judged them. Fair warning though, the cookie pies regularly sell out before the afternoon, and the couple have been known to bake through the night to restock for the next day.
First visit? Order this
The owners' own recommendation: an Oreo cookie, or a Kinder cookie pie warmed up. Trust them on the warming up part.
The free-from options come with a story that says a lot about how this couple operate. Rather than risk cross contamination in their own kitchen, they bring in gluten free bakes from Ghost Baker and vegan doughnuts from Cat Burglar, both small local independents, alongside their own house-made vegan cookie pies. Small businesses backing other small businesses, so that coeliac and vegan customers get the safe, good stuff too. As they put it, nobody should have a life without good cake.
Ami's mascot costume collection out in force on Valley Road
Stormtroopers, Mascots and a Cafe That Shows Up
If you have walked past Sully's and seen Zippy and Elmo stood outside, that is Ami. "Ami has a weird obsession with collecting mascot costumes and she thinks she's funny, which is true," is the official explanation. The customers clearly agree, because the fancy dress has become part of the shop's identity.
It reaches its peak on the catering side. Sully's has already covered business events, weddings, christenings, birthdays, Halloween parties and funerals, and at one children's party Ami suited up as a stormtrooper, pretended to die in battle, and then discovered she could not get back up. She was stuck on the floor, under sustained lightsaber attack, until Sully came to the rescue. Princess tea parties and Mario and Luigi events are coming next.
The dependable side is just as strong. When a local group needed a full spread of sandwiches with barely a day's notice, Sully's turned it around overnight, boxed and ready to collect. Reviews from neighbours call it an amazing new cafe for the village and a fabulous dog friendly addition to the area.
"Amazing new cafe in the village!"
Local resident, Google review
None of it is effortless. The couple bake everything themselves, the shop is open seven days a week, and the days run long. "There is the parent guilt of not being as energetic as we used to be, and family time is more precious now," they admit. The upside is that their children are fully embracing the nonsense, and have appointed themselves keen taste testers.
What's Next For Sully's
Ask about the five year dream and you get two very different answers. Ami pictures herself "in a country far away drinking cocktails whilst the staff run our empire" and napping all day. Sully has the business plan: a mobile catering van, deliveries, and opening up as a dessert parlour in the evenings. Somewhere between the two, Mile Oak's cake supply looks safe for years to come.
What comes through most, though, is gratitude. "We're really grateful for how everyone has embraced us and our shenanigans so quickly," the couple say. "We've already got amazing loyal customers and made some great friends. Most of our appreciation goes to our awesome staff, who tolerate so much, from our silliness to our tired moans. They have been a massive part of making Sully's such a success and we're incredibly proud of them."
01
Baked by the owners
Cookie pies, giant cookies, brownies and sponges made in house, seven days a week
02
Everyone catered for
Gluten free from Ghost Baker, vegan doughnuts from Cat Burglar, and a welcome for dogs
03
Events covered
Weddings, birthdays, christenings, business events and themed kids' parties, even at short notice
Sully's, Answered
Sully's, coffee, cake and good food since January 2026
Key facts
Where: Sully's, 88 Valley Road, Portslade, Brighton and Hove BN41 2TQ
Open: Monday to Friday 7.30am to 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 9am to 3pm
Outside catering: 07709 243737
Email: info@sullyscoffee.co.uk
Online: sullyscoffee.co.uk and @sullys_coffee on Instagram
For more of the best independent food and drink across Brighton and Hove, read our Brighton guides and follow ImJustBrighton for daily local stories.
This article was created in paid partnership with Sully's.
