Hatters Row Cafe tenant could be 'forced to close'

Vicki Locke owned a café in the old Warrington Market for 21 years before she moved to Hatters Row in 2017.

She has spent the past six years building up trade, and despite Covid hitting and there being a lower footfall in the new area she found herself in, she has managed to continue building her business.

However she is now ‘forced to close’ Hatters Row Café following a disagreement with the council over an increase in payments.

Vicki’s lease ran out in 2020, but due to Covid it was never renewed but she has continued to pay her rent each month.

She says she signed a lease contract for an all-inclusive rent agreement with the council in April of this year and there have been no issues since.

But the Warrington Guardian understands she is now being requested to pay an extra £15,000 a year for an external maintenance company, CBRE, hired by the council to run the Hatters Row building.

Vicki Locke

The council pays £197,079.21 per year for this service, which includes cleaning and security, and Vicki, a tenant of Hatters Row, has been asked to contribute £15,022,20 a year towards the costs.

On top of a rent increase, which Vicki has been paying for a number of months, she cannot afford to pay this huge sum.

She explained how the council has said she is now out of contact and has put her on tenancy-at-will.

However the council says the correct forms were not signed and if they are, she would be eligible to pay a lower rate of around £7k a year.

Vicki, who lived in Warrington for 15 years, was also served a four-week eviction notice.

“They are saying I now have to pay this management company but I haven’t taken any contracts out with them, it is the council themselves,” she said.

“I have got all these debt letters from August up to now saying that I owe £15,000 for a service charge for Hatters Row.

“I haven’t got a clue what I am going to do.

Inside Hatters Row Cafe

“I am a single parent, I have three kids and I will have no job.

“It is very hard to find another premises in just 28 days or even a new job, to be honest.

“It doesn’t feel real.

“It is the fact that I have been in business for 27 years as well, it is kind of your life.”

When this issue was put to the council by the Warrington Guardian, a spokesperson said how the necessary forms were not returned to them.

The spokesperson said that due to this, they instructed CBRE to invoice for the full amount.

They said: “The side letters were hand delivered and emailed to the tenants on a number of occasions and requested to be returned to us for signing by June 1, 2023.

“It was clearly stated that where letters were not returned by this date it would be assumed the tenant did not wish to take up the council’s offer to vary the lease and would be liable for the full amount due under the existing lease.

“We have attempted to open discussions with the tenant of the café to agree a new lease on comparative terms with other tenants in the centre. This tenant has not returned the necessary forms to us despite our best efforts.

“We have therefore instructed CBRE to invoice for the full amount due under the existing lease.

“We continue to ask the tenant to engage with us and enter into meaningful discussion.

“Once she completes the necessary forms we hope to be able resolve this issue and set her inclusive rent to £7,850."

Inside Hatters Row Cafe