Covid-19 Business Update

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the business here at Cadwaladers.

We are a small family owned business and therefore we do not have huge cash reserves to draw down on when things are challenging. Our business is seasonal which brings its own challenges, but this year means we have lost most of our peak periods trade. Our peak period is from April – August, most of which we have had little or no income. It looks very unlikely we will see trade return to normal this year, certainly not this summer season.
The government has taken steps to prevent companies like ours from entering liquidation. One such measure is the temporary reduction in VAT, this will certainly help us to stabilise the ship and see us through another winter period.

The government also introduced a “eat out to help out” scheme for customers to benefit from. We are signed up to be part of this scheme.
Before lock-down we were about to roll out an updated menu, there were some price changes scheduled for this based on the increase in living wage and supplier costs. We have held off the roll out given the current circumstances, but this updated menu will be in place at all trading stores by 3rd August at the latest. Our suppliers are all local, family owned companies that have suffered terribly as well. By supporting us you will also be supporting them.

We wish we were able to lower prices, delay menu changes but unfortunately, we aren’t. We are doing everything we can to keep as many people employed as possible, as an Investors In People Gold Employer, our people, including our customers are at the heart of everything we do.
What we are going to do though is double the amount of loyalty points gained when you use a loyalty card, these are free to obtain and points can be used on anything in store at all.

We are going to extend our online gift card sale to the end of July, purchase a £10 gift card voucher for just £8, you can buy this here.

Also – every Saturday for the next 4 Saturdays we will give one “Free ice cream for a year” cards to one lucky customer, keep your eyes peeled on our social channels!

We do hope you continue to support us and we can continue to serve our exclusive, organic and Fair trade coffee along with our secret recipe vanilla ice cream for many years to come.

See you all soon, stay safe

Diane Brierley
Chief Executive Officer
Cadwaladers