Ramblers Coffee Shop

22/06/2024

Apparently, according to DCC officials, the proprietor of any food outlet in Shipley Country Park should think themselves fortunate given the amount of visitors the park itself draws. That is part of their ‘justification’ for increasing rent and expanding lease terms.

Our experience, based on conversations with our former customers, was that the cafe was a huge draw in itself.

No cafe at the visitor centre since mid-March. I think these photographs taken around lunchtime today, says it all.

No people around, no letting revenue for DCC from the cafe, reduced car parking revenue and lower footfall in the visitor centre shop. No sign of a new tenant!

# Questionable leadership

Derbyshire County CouncilShipley Country ParkDerbyshire Live

28/03/2024

Well that’s it then the end of a fantastic 8 years working at Ramblers and 5 managing it very very sad times had a few tears as I handed back the keys and walked away but did do with my head held high knowing we did a bloody good job and put in a million percent effort every day for our loyal and wonderful customers goodbye Ramblers it’s been an absolute pleasure 🥲❤️###x

17/03/2024

15/03/2024

Well! That’s it 🥲. Ramblers has shut its doors, turned off the oven, fryer, coffee machine and hob for the last time after 5 years!

Despite the sadness of leaving our fabulous, funny and most wonderfull team behind (who we will keep in very close contact with as they have all become family to us), and the most amazing customers anyone could possibly have and deserve, it’s time to move on to the next chapter of our lives.

We want to give our thanks and love to all of our fabulous customers, those who came every day to meet with friends and this who became such massive supporters of our cause and gave us the strength to try to continue with the cafe.

I’m sorry if we let you down in the end, we fought so hard but finally came to the conclusion we could not agree with DCCs demands which, in our opinion, were completely unreasonable.

Much love to all, thank you for your support over the past 5years but most of all thanks for your friendship ❤️ you have been, and are, brilliant ⭐️ ⭐️ ###x

Thanks for your kind words of support and the wonderfull gifts of flowers and chocolates.

Ali & Jeff x

11/03/2024

"A lot of people are very sad and angry it's closing" 💔

Read more: https://bbc.in/3wGI0Uy

09/02/2024

Due to being forced to close a perfectly good successful small private business by Derbyshire County Council at the end of march making 15 dedicated staff redundant we have the following items for sale .
Please personal message for prices on individual items thanks .
There is also a lot of crockery plates , dishes , coffee mugs.
The tables we have left now are 1 big oval table and 1 round .

08/02/2024

Hi all, we hope you're all keeping safe and well.

At the risk of repeating all that's gone before in the long running saga relating to the renewal of our lease we've finally had enough and are definitely now, sadly, calling time on Ramblers Coffee Shop.

You'll recall the council agreed in November to give us first refusal of the Lease on new terms> DCC missed their own deadline in getting the revisions to us which turned out to contain a 66% increase in the annual rent together with strings attached which essentially saw us reporting to DCC on the Cafe's performance and an annual rent increase linked to the financial Turnover and/or profits of the business. A proposal we rejected in mid-December.

Following a huge swell of support from customers and friends, not to mention the media, DCC agreed to issue revised Terms based on the previous 'standard' lease terms as per our feedback.

The council then issued a second version of the new Terms which, sadly, did not reflect what had been agreed between us in December - principally, they still referred to rent increases being linked to Turnover and an 'answerability' section where we would be required to report to the council on our business' performance. That said, the initial rent increase had been reduced from 66% to 33%!

We again rejected these Terms on the basis that the business is ours and the council have no financial input whatsoever. We also, again, objected to the link between Turnover and annual rent increase. Our objections and comments were set out and returned to the council.

On the 19th of January, we received a final 'take it or leave it' offer from the council which simply marked our comments/objections as 'noted' and still contained the principal areas of our objections.

The whole saga has dragged on for so long that it's quite frankly draining our energy and becoming unhealthy. We have concluded that we cannot work alongside council representatives who fail to keep their promises and regard our staff as being 'collateral damage'.

DCC)have explicitly stated that the subsequent increase in revenue from increasing the rent on the property they own, such as Ramblers, is a means to plug their budget shortfall in other areas, even if this means putting small business owners and their employees out of work.

You might be wondering why we are so against linking annual rent increases in line with Turnover. The answer to this is quite simple, our Turnover in 2024 will need to grow by around 8% for us to stand still financially - this is due to the increase in wage costs from April together with increasing ingredient costs, utility costs and, of course, rent payable to DCC. The irony is that DCC get extra rent while we will have to work harder still just to cover the difference. It's also worth mentioning that the rent can only be adjusted upwards according to their Terms, so if Turnover falls, the rent stays the same.

This really is it for us, we're tired and can't work with people, or an organization that are, in our experience, disingenuous and doesn't listen! Our current Lease period expires at the end of March this year.

Thanks for your support past & present.

Alison & Jeff xx

18/01/2024

Due to the frozen conditions today we have frozen pipes so no running water , really sorry for the inconvenience but we can’t open , hopefully back to normal tomorrow.

25/12/2023

Sending our Christmas wishes to all of our customers, colleagues and friends.
Merry Christmas 💙❤️

19/12/2023

We have good news, we are staying!

Following continued constructive communications and exchanges with Derbyshire County Council, Ramblers has been given the opportunity to renegotiate the renewal of the lease at Shipley Country Park visitor centre on the previous 'standard lease' basis and on terms which both parties will be happy with.

The most important thing for us is that we have a firmer predictability on the future of Ramblers as a business which enables us to continue to provide employment for our fabulous team. In return, the council benefit from a sustainable and stable business and receive a fair, commercial, return.

The last few weeks have been another emotional roller coaster journey for all involved and we would like to again send our thanks and much love to our wonderful regular visitors and staff for their incredible support which we will never forget. We look forward to being able to continue to serve you and be a welcoming place to visit and meet friends in the years ahead.

The entire Ramblers team would like to take this opportunity to send our love and best wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year ahead.

Here's a reminder of our festive opening times:

Xmas Eve - Closed
Xmas Day - Closed
Boxing Day (26 Dec) - open 10am to 3.30pm
Wednesday 27 Dec - open 10am to 3.30pm
Thursday 28 December - open 10am to 3.30pm
Friday 29 December - open 10am to 3.30pm
Saturday 30 December - open 9am to 4.30pm
New Year's Eve (Sun 31 Dec) open 9am to 4pm
New Years Day (1st Jan 2024) - open 10am to 3.30pm

Return to normal winter hours from Tuesday 2 January 2024

Alison, Jeff & the Rambler's Team xx

15/12/2023

An Update from Ramblers:

Dear friends, you’ll recall our recent fall out with the council over the stance they took when looking to renew our lease, which they allowed to roll-on into this year, and issuing us with a notice to quit on the basis of them offering the lease open to public submission.

You may also remember that, following fabulous support shown by you, our brilliant customers and team members, the council agreed to providing us with 1st refusal on a lease renewal which gave us some renewed confidence.

We’re massively disappointed to tell you that, after taking twice as long as promised to get back to us, the council have now issued ‘take it or leave it’ renewal terms.

These terms include:

1. A minimum 66% increase in the annual base lease payment ( up from £18,000pa we currently pay, to over £30,000pa) plus further increases each year thereafter.

2. Sight of our annual accounts each year and a further payment based on the level of profit we make.

In short, the council appears to be still setting course to profit from the hard work of small family ran businesses to shore up the millions of pounds of losses it has ran up through its own inadequacies until those small independent business fail.

£30,000pa is an extraordinarily high expectancy for the lease, Lease payments are an arrangement between the landlord and the lease holder and are based on a £/sq ft basis on a geographical basis and do not take into account the financial performance of the business that occupies the lease.

We also believe this is an extraordinarily high uplift given the council fail to maintain the premises as per their contractual conditions, blocked and leaking gutters, poorly maintained surroundings and a heating boiler that is inadequate and not attended to despite months of reports. We could go on……in fact we will, it takes 2 joiners to change an internal door handle with no lock (even then they changed the wrong one), it takes 2 plumbers to change a tap, only for the connection to fail overnight and flood the cafe!

The council appear to want to take advantage of their position and manipulate the situation.

We believe the council’s actions amounts to enforced business confiscation. In a commercial world they would have to pay for the goodwill our little coffee shop has built up over the years but in this way they get it for free!!

Our major concern again remains as being the welfare and wellbeing of our staff. The tardy manner in which the council have dealt with this whole situation including their verbal response when we have raised our concerns over staff wellbeing has left a great deal to be desired.

From our experience, as good tennents and hard working business owners, the council do not care about the welfare and wellbeing of people, the majority of those being residents of the county. Disgusting!

Once again, given the financial position the council have put us in, on top of other financial pressures we will face in 2024. We have reluctantly decided that we’ve had enough and will close before the end of this year.

We want to send our huge appreciation and thanks to all of you that have shown so much support during the past two months or so. It’s been overwhelming.

Sending you all much love and happiness for Christmas and all the best for the New Year.

Alison & Jeff xx