Derbyshire cafe will close next month following failed attempts to agree a new council lease - and is now selling its equipment, furniture and crockery

The Ramblers Coffee Shop in Shipley Country Park will now close on March 31 after what would be five years in the Derbyshire County Council-owned facility.

Owners Alison and Jeff Counsell, from Heanor, shared the news on Facebook, detailing that negotiations had seen the venue remain open since November when it had previously been set to close.

The married couple said that a 33 per cent rent increase had been agreed with the county council – down from an initial ask of a 66 per cent hike.

However, the connection between this rent agreement and the venue’s turnover (amount of sales) has proven unsustainable due to increases in wages, ingredients and the rent itself.

The couple say the ongoing difficulties have been “quite frankly draining and becoming unhealthy”.

They claim the county council see their 15 members of staff as “collateral damage”.

The couple also claims the county council said the rent increase was aimed at plugging its own finances, with Alison and Jeff dubbing this “greed”.

This involves a £32 million budget shortfall for the current financial year and £40 million budget black hole for the forthcoming financial year (from April), with the council set to move out of its own Matlock headquarters in a bid to cut costs.

In a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Alison and Jeff said: “We’ve taken the really hard decision to close our business due to the council’s persistence that the lease renewal includes terms which link annual rent reviews to the financial turnover of the coffee shop and contain onerous conditions relating to the introduction of a reporting relationship whereby the council are seeking to control and monitor our business activities.

“All of this follows, despite our agreeing to a 33 per cent annual rent increase.

“In December, the council agreed to offer revised terms based on the previous conditions which had no connection between rent increases and turnover but they have failed to abide by these terms.

“Our turnover this year will need to increase by over eight per cent for us to simply stand still and we don’t see it fair that the council should benefit from this with no risks to themselves.

“Ramblers is a private commercial business and, in our view, the council are simply acting in greed to maximise their rental income through unreasonable terms.

“The situation has been ongoing for over four months and it is taking its toll on us personally.

“It’s our view that the council have acted unreasonably in their demands since October 2023 and simply want us out to allow them to gain maximum income from the premises with no thought for our small business and team.

“Our team has been incredible and supportive toward us and have made representations to the council.

“Once again we are overwhelmed by the customer support we have received.”

The couple posted on Facebook that they are selling crockery, including plates, cappuccino cups, saucers, latte glasses, teacups, fryers, fridges, freezers, tables, chairs, benches and more, ahead of the end of March closure.

A spokesperson for Derbyshire County Council said: "We’re sorry that the owners have chosen not to accept the terms of a new lease despite our best attempts to negotiate these in a reasonable and pragmatic way.

"We believe the terms we proposed were reasonable based on the unique position the café holds in a prime location within the increasingly popular Shipley Country Park. These terms included a fair market rate rent and a common form of annual rent review applied by commercial landlords. The proposed terms are also in line with other similar commercial business opportunities across the country.

"We are a huge supporter of local businesses, but we have a legal duty to make sure we’re getting the right level of income from leasing our premises for the benefit of all council taxpayers across the county.

"Income generated from leasing our premises helps to pay for services we provide for Derbyshire residents such as the upkeep of our country parks. We cannot and should not subsidise a private business at the taxpayers' expense.

"We will shortly begin the process to advertise for a new café provider to open up in the park, and arrangements will be made for take-away food and drinks to be sold at the Visitor Centre should Ramblers Cafe close in advance of this."