23/11/2025
💔 The Closure of My Little Dream 💔
This week marked the end of an era - the closure of my beloved venture, Vintage Birdcage Cakery on The Bridge.
I opened this café just shy of three years ago with two simple hopes: to build a small pension for myself and to give my youngest daughter a place to grow. She had just left college and didn’t feel drawn to the career paths her grades opened up for her. Instead, she wanted to follow my dream - to bake cakes, create joy, and build something together.
So after many long discussions with the landlord at the Charfield café, I took the terrifying plunge… and gave it everything I had.
We transformed a cold, uninviting space into somewhere warm, super friendly, and full of life.
But none of us could have predicted the hurdles that arrived almost instantly.
A £30,000 electricity bill landed on me during the tenancy changeover.
Just three months in, the café flooded due to an incorrectly installed boiler. Then came a break-in, losing lots of stock from our outside fridge and freezer.
Still, we pushed on. We kept going. We broke even. We kept smiling. We kept serving!
But then… the pressure became too much. The sharp increase in National Minimum Wage and National Insurance pushed costs to a point I simply couldn’t absorb any longer. I had to make the most painful decision I’ve ever had to make: to use my break clause and walk away from the lease.
It has absolutely broken my heart. I have felt every emotion imaginable. I am someone who does not cope well with the idea of “failure,” and this has sat so heavily with me. My closest friends and family have held me together through some incredibly dark moments.
But what hurt most wasn’t the financial loss. It was the people.
I had staff whose lives were tied to this place - people who relied on me.
Some of them are autistic, and I was proud to give them a safe, happy, understanding workplace where they could thrive at their own pace. Watching them grow in confidence has been one of my greatest joys… and now I feel like I’ve taken that stability away from them.
I employed young staff to guide them into the working world, to give them skills, support, and encouragement.
And then there were our older regulars - those who came for a warm meal, a chat, a hug… sometimes the only human contact they had all week.
Closing the doors affected far more than just me. Twenty-five members of our little VBC family lost their jobs, and with the way hospitality is collapsing in this country, some of them will really struggle to find somewhere new. That breaks my heart.
Just as we were finding our feet, rising costs and further increases landed like a punch to the stomach.
Hospitality is being pushed to breaking point. Our margins are tiny because of heavy taxation and rising costs, yet we are expected to keep prices low so customers don’t feel the strain. People see a £7 sandwich and think we’re being greedy - but the truth is, by the time utilities, wages, ingredients, insurance, and taxes are paid, there is barely anything left.
We love what we do, but love doesn’t pay the bills.
Hospitality needs to stand up and speak out - because enough is enough!!!!!
I’m choosing to leave with my head held high. I gave this dream everything I had. I hope I brought a little bit of VBC sparkle into the community while we were there.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for every visit, every purchase, every kind word, every moment of support. It meant more than you will ever know.
Please share so we can unite and help stop the looming wipeout of small independent businesses. 🙏
Much love,
Nicole
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(sorry, but we are 😞😩)
