Beloved cafe is forced to close down due to rising costs leaving loyal customers ‘gutted'
Bookmark in Spalding, Lincolnshire, will be serving customers for the last time at the end of this month.
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The cafe, which also boasts its very own bookshop, broke the news to loyal visitors recently.
Owner, Darren Sutton, said: "Unfortunately, due to the current economic conditions and challenges in the retail and hospitality sector together with increased labour costs, increased employers' national insurance, business rates, food and energy costs it has become increasingly difficult for stores in town centre locations to be economically viable.
"So with great sadness and regret that we announce that Bookmark will be closing on Friday, July 25.
'We wish to place on record our thanks to our dedicated staff who have worked for us during our tenure of the business, our suppliers and the support shown by our customers over the years.'
The website has been taken offline so remaining purchases can be made directly through the store.
The company also issued a short statement on Facebook, which read: "Unfortunately, the Coffee House of Bookmark is no longer open from today.
"The Bookshop will remain open until we close. Thank you to our customers for all your support!"
Customers flocked to the comment section to offer their condolences and support.
"Bookmark will be sorely missed by so many of us. A wonderful independent store with a great coffee shop. I did manage to come into the shop last week," one wrote.
"Can't imagine it not being part of Spalding any longer," they added.
A second echoed: "When I moved to Spalding over 20 years ago, I was so excited that there was an independent book shop in the town.
"I have loved spending time here over the years. Absolutely gutted you are closing."
A third wrote: "Oh no, gutted you're closing. I always pop in when I visit on the way to my mum's. So sorry to hear this. Hope you have fantastic adventures planned!"
It's not just the small companies being forced to shut up shop.
Costa Coffee has been closing branches across the country, which has been described as "a sign of the times".
On June 29, the store on Whitstable High Street, Kent, closed its doors for the final time.
When Costa Coffee first arrived on Whitsable High Street five years ago there was some initial disquiet.
The area is fiercely proud of its reputation for independent stores and cafes.
But it's the latest casualty in a string of nationwide closures by the coffee chain which were first announced last year.
This included the Costa in Maidstone town centre which shut up shop in January 2024.
The British Retail Consortium predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
At the start of this year, the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down in 2025.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025."
Professor Bamfield warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector across the year.
"By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
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