\n
A coffee business founder who felt \u201csick to his stomach\u201d after closing his company\u2019s shops has urged politicians to do more to protect struggling hospitality firms.<\/p>\n
Rounton Coffee founder David Beattie expanded the business with shops across Teesside, including a Middlesbrough town centre branch.<\/p>\n
However, the hugely popular store in Bedford Street closed in September 2023, before also shutting the Norton branch the following June amid soaring costs that meant that arm of the business was \u201csimply unsustainable\u201d.<\/p>\n
Since then, the North Yorkshire roastery has bounced back, with seven of its coffees recently earning at least one star in the prestigious Great Taste Awards.<\/p>\n
However, Mr Beattie says the experience remains the lowest point of his career.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaking the decision to close the Bedford Street branch was absolutely the right thing to do, but it still crushed the team and me,\u201d said David. \u201cI was gutted for everyone, especially the customers who loved that space. I felt sick to my stomach because we had built something people genuinely cared about. But we explored every possible way to make it work, and it simply couldn\u2019t survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
The closures allowed the business to concentrate solely on roasting coffee and wholesale supply. Since then, significant investment in new equipment and growing demand from customers \u2013 including with the firm\u2019s growing subscription service \u2013 has helped the company expand its reach.<\/p>\n
Despite that success, Mr Beattie believes many independent hospitality businesses remain under \u201cinsane\u201d financial pressure.
His comments came after former Prime Minister and Rishi Sunak visited Rounton Coffee\u2019s headquarters, where Mr Beattie challenged him \u2013 and others in Westminster \u2013 to do more to support the struggling sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving the former Prime Minister visit was a chance to speak directly about the struggles facing independent businesses, especially in hospitality and food and drink,\u201d he said. \u201cThere have been some incredible local businesses that should be really viable but, through no fault of their own, have failed. Hospitality has always been built on optimism and historically, when one business closed another entrepreneur was ready to invest and create something new. That cycle of innovation and optimism is drying up and currently it feels like one-way traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Beattie said many business owners were now focused on survival rather than growth because of rising costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know business owners full of ambition, but rising costs mean they can\u2019t invest or recruit and they are forced to prioritise survival over growth,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s policy failure, not bad luck. Companies can\u2019t survive on warm words from Westminster. They need an environment that gives them the confidence and financial headroom to grow, while politicians must do more to stop viable businesses from vanishing. If MPs remain on the sidelines, there won\u2019t be a hospitality sector left to save.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the visit, Mr Sunak toured the award-winning roastery and even tried roasting coffee beans. <\/p>\n
The pair also discussed the company\u2019s support for the North Yorkshire Moors Trust\u2019s Stepping Stones to Nature programme, which helps children from some of the region\u2019s most deprived communities experience the countryside.<\/p>\n
While Mr Beattie says closing the cafe was one of the hardest decisions he has made, he believes focusing on the roastery has secured the company\u2019s future. \u201cThe business is in a far better place now, and as devastating as that was, the reality is it put the company on a much stronger footing to move forward,\u201d he said. But the harsh reality is that there are still far too many good businesses disappearing, and politicians need to stop talking about growth while the businesses creating it are going bust.\u201d<\/p>\n
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