St Luke’s closes its b.kinda coffee shop

“We are so grateful to the staff who put their hearts into trying the make the coffee shop a success”

St Luke’s CEO George Lillie said: “Walk past the coffee shop and you would see what looks like a busy and thriving establishment, but behind the scenes the impact of heavy overheads has been taking its toll. When you add in the additional pressures of increased employer National Insurance contributions and the rise in National Minimum Wage, sadly we feel unable to continue operating the business.

“We are so grateful to the staff who put their hearts into trying the make the coffee shop a success. They did such a fantastic job of creating a friendly and welcoming space where members of the local community really felt at home, and that’s what makes this decision such a tough one.

“Rest assured that we will be following a robust closure process, making every effort to offer alternative roles within St Luke’s for the coffee shop’s contracted staff.”

The coffee shop premises are set to become the new home for St Luke’s retail presence in Plympton in due course and our current shop, around the corner on the Ridgeway, will be let out to another retailer.

Mr Lillie added: “With the majority of our funding coming from the local community, we need to raise millions of pounds every year to support St Luke’s end of life services.

“Like many other charities, we are always seeking sustainable income generation opportunities outside the traditional streams of fundraising and retail. We had hoped that branching out into the coffee shop market would be a profitable enterprise. Sadly this has not been the case.

“For the time being, in terms of income generation, we will be focusing on retail and the continuing growth of our successful local charity shops, as well as both established and new fundraising initiatives.”