24/02/2025
❤️To all our loyal customers and friends.❤️
We have been overwhelmed with all your lovely messages on Facebook and privately. It has been a sad, mad few days.
As many of you know, we have felt badly let down, having operated in awful conditions for the last year, resulting in the council putting a section 77 on the building, saying action had to be taken as it was unsafe.
We had steel supports added across the window, which meant we weren’t able to use outside, as well as having to deal with a broken, boarded-up window.
Following discussions with our landlady, we discovered that we would be responsible for a third of the cost of repairs, totalling a minimum of £15,000 approx, as it is not covered by insurance due to its wear and tear clause.
We would then have the cost to put the cafe back together again, new front window, new flooring and complete redecoration which would go into the thousands.
As a result, we were advised to go into voluntary liquidation, which was not an easy decision.
We have been excellent tenants over the last 18 years of trading and have always paid our rent, even through covid when we were shut.
We believe we left owing a £100 service charge, and £50 in rent arrears, and 3 months rent if we walked away without notice, which we had no choice but to do.
So this is where we are; look out for us in the future; you never know where we may pop up.
Much love
Grahame, Sheena and all the Smile girls
