UK farm shop suddenly closes – ‘told on Thursday we’d all lost our jobs’ | UK | News
A popular farm shop and restaurant in Yorkshire has laid off all its staff following a shock closure. Spuds and Berries, a retailer, restaurant and pick-your-own site near Hemingbrough, reportedly told staff members they were out of a job on Thursday. The shop, which had a Google rating of 4.5 and rave reviews from recent customers, has not made a statement on the closure, but its Facebook page has been deleted, and it is listed as “permanently shut” on the search engine.
One former employee told YorkMix: “We were told on Thursday morning that the business had closed and we had all been made redundant. The shop and restaurant were being cleared out into an auctioneer’s van. We had been open as normal and nothing seemed to be different. We have all worked right up until it closed and we won’t be getting our final pay.”
They added that they were “absolutely devastated” and would miss their regular customers.
The shop and restaurant was founded by a third-generation farmer and stocked local produce with an emphasis on quality, according to Visit East Yorkshire, including “locally reared meat, free range eggs, fine wines and a deli counter”.
One recent visitor praised the spot as a “wonderful” stop-off on the way to York, while another said it was a “great farm shop with lovely food in the restaurant”.
A third wrote: “Absolutely LOVE Spuds and Berries. The farm shop is amazing and the restaurant is ten out of ten. The food is incredible and the quality is unmatched. One of my favourite places to go.”
*** Ensure our latest news headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings. ***
Rising costs, weaker consumer demand and difficult trading conditions have seen a spike in retail and hospitality closures over recent months.
Figures from the Insolvency Service showed that the number of company administrations in the UK surged by 41% between December and January and marked a 14% year-on-year rise.
As well as impacting small and medium-sized businesses, the trend has seen high street brands including Claire’s, The Original Factory Shop and Russell and Bromley collapse into administration since the start of the year.
The Express has contacted Spuds and Berries for comment.