Jobs go after Bourton's De la Haye’s Café Tea Room goes bust

De la Haye’s Café Tea Room and Fish & Chip Shop situated on the High Street has closed, after De La Haye Restaurants Limited was placed into liquidation.

The collapse of the business has been placed on the impact of coronavirus restrictions, that resulted in revenue falling to zero overnight.

The family-run business reached a turnover of in excess of £1 million in the year ending November 2018 and the restaurant received many favourable reviews.

However, with the restriction of flights from China and other parts of Asia earlier in the year due to the Covid-19 outbreak, tourist numbers fell dramatically to the Cotswolds, significantly impacting revenue.

With the business at a standstill, the loss of the majority of the Spring and Summer season, and no clear timescale for a significant increase in inbound tourism, the directors decided that the company had to be placed into liquidation.

Tim Ball and Mark Boughey of Mazars, the international accounting and advisory firm, were appointed as joint liquidators by the creditors on July 21.

Mark said: “As has been widely reported, the restaurant and casual dining sector as a whole has unfortunately suffered from ongoing enforced site closures due to Covid-19.

"In this instance, a viable solution could not be found to rescue the company and the financial implications have unfortunately resulted in the necessary closure of this restaurant.

"As more certainty returns to the sector, hopefully there will be an opportunity for the site to re-open under new ownership.”

The company, which was established in 2016, started out as a fish and chip shop and restaurant in July 2016.

After significant investment a larger, newly equipped fish and chip shop and restaurant opened in February 2018 on the site of the last newsagent in the village, despite protests from a number of local residents.

This was followed by an ice cream parlour in May 2018, a larger fully refurbished restaurant, and a pizzeria.