Hello to all Otterburns Customers

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I'm Dave, and I'm the current owner of Otterburns. Today, I'm announcing the temporary closure of the business whilst I search for a new owner.

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My job over the last 15 months has been to invest and supervise in the build stage; design, furnish, decorate and equip the bar and kitchen to the standard of an exceptional coffee house, wine bar and restaurant. I hope you agree that it’s a great addition to the community and let’s all hope that it’s there, in some form, for many years to come.

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However, various problems have plagued us, and new problems have raised their heads. Historically, a professional General Manager has been extremely difficult to find, with unreliable staff constantly adding to the daily operational issues. We’ve had a Chef Consultant, been through 7 chefs, 5 General Managers, 8 Supervisors and goodness knows how many servers – maybe that’s a testament to how difficult it is to run a hospitality business post COVID, or maybe just a comment about generational differences in attitude to real work?

The clear result of that is that service levels have been spotty, events have been average, menus have been changed too often (as have opening hours) and so Otterburns reputation has suffered. You’ve critiqued us hard and if I’m honest, sometimes too hard, and the online “bashing” has blown our minds. You’ve been a tough and fairly unique crowd to please, often rightfully so but sometimes not - grown adults making young servers cry is never acceptable. Monthly live music, drink/food offers, Sky Sports, party events and everything in between have meant that we’ve tried, tirelessly, to meet your expectations. Our Google review score remains a creditable 4.4 out of 5 with over 3500 followers on social media - there’s a lot for all of the good people involved in the business (there’s been a few) to be proud of.

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However, none of that really matters if Otterburns doesn’t have the support of the community and I’m not sure that we have that anymore. In the end, we knew that all that you guys wanted was a nice coffee, a nice bottle of wine or glass of beer, and a nice meal now and again, all at reasonable prices. I know from speaking to various regular customers that we got it right an awful lot of the time and I know that the set-up is right for any new owner to come in with a fresh broom and a clear head to make it work.

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When the business is sold and reopened, I hope that you'll give the new owner a chance and re-visit. Understand that, even your simple coffees/breakfasts take a great deal of effort and planning to get to your table. Understand that the UK Government make it extremely hard for businesses, suppliers make it hard, the local Council make it hard, but the new owners will be doing it just for your enjoyment. Please be kind.

In the meantime, we may use the small “Otterburns 2 Go” van at the front of the building to offer breakfast and lunch items until the business is sold – look out for it.

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Goodbye

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