‘An absolute shame!’ slam fans of ‘beloved’ bakery as owners reveal it will close after plummeting into debt
FANS of a “beloved” bakery have said it’s an “absolute shame” that it will close after its parent company plunged into £1.6m of debt.
Trove, an artisan bakery-cafe chain in Manchester, is set to close after its parent company entered liquidation.
MEN MediaTrove is a trendy artisanal bakery that had multiple locations in Manchester[/caption]
MEN MediaA forfeiture notice was placed on the door of the Ancoats store[/caption]
MEN MediaThe chain had locations in Levenshulme, Ancoats, and Wilmslow[/caption]
The bakery group, owned by Two Hexagons Ltd, with sites in trendy locations have found themselves under a mountain of debt.
The £1.6m is made up of £941,423 owed to HMRC, £493,000 owed to Slonne Ltd, and another £75,000 owed to Ecotricity, the Manchester Evening News reported.
A sign had been placed on the door telling customers at the Ancoats store telling customers they had abandoned the premesis.
Fans on social media were angry about the closure and many had their own theories about what had happened.
One said: “What an absolute shame. Its soul destroying.”
Another wrote: “Rents, business rates and electricity are too high.”
While a third posted: “Building rents are far too high.”
Beyond what is owed to suppliers and HMRC, the company could owe thousands more to its staff.
Now ex-staff have claimed they believe they could be owed thousands in unpaid pensions, while others say they were never enrolled in pensions at all.
Trove was started by husband-and-wife team Marcus and Katy Saide on Levenshulme Market in 2011.
A year later they opened a cafe on Stockport Road. Then in 2018 they opened to Ancoats store with another opened in 2021 on Marble Street.
They had plans to expand into Wilmslow, Cheshire, but in December they left their industrial bakery they supplied their stores with break from.
A statement at the time said: “Last week we marked the end of an era as we closed the doors on our beloved bakery site at Crossley Park in Heaton Chapel.
“Unfortunately the increasing rise in our energy costs and other charges forced us to leave the site.”
MEN MediaFans described Trove’s closure as ‘soul destroying’[/caption]
On Friday, passers-by were confronted with the sight of an A4 notice in the window that revealed the premises of the Ancoats outlet had been seized.
It read: “TAKE NOTICE that the landlord has today re-entered the premises in accordance with the landlord’s power under clause 6.1.3(a) of the lease,” the notice said. “As a consequence of the re-entry, the lease is forfeit and the premises have been secured.”
In a statement, landlords Manchester Life said: “Unfortunately, Two Hexagons Ltd, the tenant of Trove’s Ancoats unit, entered voluntary liquidation on May 20, which has led to the forfeiture of their lease. We remain open to working with Trove’s owners and hope for a positive outcome for their business.
“We have always nurtured collaborative relationships with our commercial tenants, supporting the vibrant businesses that contribute to the fabric of Ancoats. Our commitment includes maintaining some of the lowest rents in the neighbourhood and offering extended rent-free periods during the pandemic.”
Two Hexagons Ltd has been approached by The Sun for comment.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open. In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
Boss Stuart Machin recently said that when it relocated a tired store in Chesterfield to a new big store in a retail park half a mile away, its sales in the area rose by 103 per cent.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Wilko, Debenhams Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Paperchase to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
MEN MediaStaff have claimed they are owed thousands in pensions[/caption]
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