Fears that the closure of the Poppy Pantry cafe in the City of London Cemetery might lead to a chain coffee shop opening have been dispelled.
The new operator will be the Royal Voluntary Service charity which is to refurbish the cafe and plans to introduce a healthy eating menu. It will be staffed by volunteers.
A spokesman for the City of London said: “We are very excited to be working with the Royal Voluntary Service. It’s a new step for the café with a focus on healthy eating which is a direction we are keen to take.
“It is also great to be working with a charity who have a dedicated team of volunteers who will help run the café. We want to provide the absolute best service possible at this site and look forward to the refurbishment.”
Paul Charters who previously operated the Poppy Pantry at the site had to vacate the cafe last week after his five-year lease was not renewed. A petition calling for a renewal of the lease gathered thousands of signatures.
The Poppy Pantry was a really nice cafe and I think it was a great pity that Paul Charters’ lease was not renewed.
Hers goes for a second time …. Not too sure what happened to my comment posted this morning!!!
The CoL should be ashamed of themselves and their re assigning of the lease after all Mr Chaters had put into the poppy cafe. Shame on them for making people unemployed ….Ok a charity has taken it on they do not have the overheads of a normal business as they do not pay VAT and do not have employees only volunteers…. The 5yr lease that the CoL offers isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, no business can expect to make a profit in that time line whilst putting so much into it….. so the CoL choose someone that would go down the healthy eating route, fine, couldn’t you have given Mr Charters the option??? This will all come at a price that will eventually pass down to the consumer… let’s see what the healthy eating prices will look like. As stated shame on you CoL for making those people who worked there unemployed….
Thanks Janet ,
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I think the 6000 people including many members of our armed forces and veterans that used the Poppy pantry would agree with you . With only a few weeks to go to Remembrance Sunday ,
I hope the brave faceless people behind this decision will be wearing their Poppy with pride ! ! !