Milk & Sugar has ceased trading its popular Central Square cafe in the centre of Cardiff.
The cafe took ground floor space at the 1 Central Square office building in October 2016. However, despite having struck a reduced rental agreement with landlord Aerium during the pandemic the business, Milk & Sugar Central Square Ltd - which is a separate entity from Milk & Sugar’s still trading other ventures - said the venue couldn’t be made viable.
In a notice on the closed shutters of the space it said the move to vacate was not “our decision”, but that of the building’s landlord having exercised a right to take back the space under the lease.
Milk & Sugar said: “We have listed back to the landlords new agents the many reasons we believe this building should have a fantastic facility on the ground floor as part of the main building, more so now, during this constant ongoing unease in the workplace.
“But as a commercial entity, in a generally empty building, the financial, albeit reduced amounts, are still too much for us to make it work. 12 months from now may have been a different story.
“We absolutely loved being here and looking after you all for nearly seven years and the friendships we have formed with people will be around for many years to come.”
In the open letter, owner of Milk & Sugar, Tim Corrigan added: “This was my second store in 2016 thanks to Blake Morgan (law firm and first tenant in 1 Central Square) and Paul McCarthy (chief executive of property development firm Rightacres and the developer of the wider Central Square scheme).
“We are not sure what the agents have in store for the space, but we hope it’s something you enjoy."
Property advisory firm Knight Frank have been appointed by the landlord to find a new tenant for the space, for which there is expected to be strong interest from other potential restaurant/cafe operators.
Milk and Sugar’s other venues include those at Eastern Business Park in Cardiff, the bus station in Merthyr and Cardiff University’s new social sciences campus. It also has a cafe in the Pontcanna area of the capital, as well as providing workplace catering for other clients, including law firms Geldards and Hugh James at their Cardiff offices.
Luxembourg-based real estate fund manager Aerium acquired the freehold interest in the 134,000 sq ft 1 Central Square office building in a £51m deal from L&G in 2017.
