This isn't a message that can be delivered by anyone else; I need you all to hear it directly from me. My heart is breaking as I write to tell you all that we must close our beloved V-ATE.

 

V-ATE has been a passion project like no other, literally built with our own hands. I always dreamed that it would be a legacy that we would leave as a family, that my Dad’s amazing skills at creating these incredible themed tables and works of art would live on for years, maybe even for generations. I worked a shift today with my incredible team; they are all aware that we are now in our final days of trading. We spoke to guest after guest who told us how amazing we are doing and that they can’t wait to return. We didn't have the heart or the energy today to tell them that it won’t be here when they do; we just couldn’t ruin their day. Instead, we smiled and wished them a wonderful Father’s Day and thanked them for spending it with us, while inside, our hearts were shattering into a million pieces.

 

The hospitality industry as a whole is being decimated. I don’t know any other way to describe what’s happening to us. My prediction is that the comments on this post will mostly be from our heartbroken patrons, but there will be a smattering of people who feel that this MUST somehow be our own doing, that somehow we have mismanaged this situation, that we must be idiots. Say what you want and tell me why, after successfully running restaurants for over a decade, I suddenly lose two in the space of 2 years. Two well-supported and well-loved restaurants at that. When I sat with my senior team and told them that we just couldn’t see a way through any longer, they told me that they didn’t believe we could have done more. In the last 2 years, we have rebranded, we added more for our guests to enjoy, we revamped the menu, we upped our marketing game, we improved our service, we trained our staff and made sure they were some of the most qualified in the county, and operationally, our business ran beautifully. I will not sit here and write down every challenge or obstacle or justify our decision; we tried EVERYTHING and threw everything we had financially at it too.

 

As I stood in our fully booked restaurant today, I simply could not believe that it had come to this, that the magic just wasn’t enough. So, before we go, I have some thank-yous that I have to make.

 

First, to Chloe, Ben, and Katie—our loyal and fantastic senior team. I don’t know that we could have done any more, and I will be your cheerleader forever more. It might not have ended exactly the way we planned, but it’s been a blast, and between you, we now have two Level 4 Hospitality Managers and a Level 3 Digital Marketing Graduate! I’m so proud of what you have all achieved.

 

To our team and all the teams that came before—every single one of you has played your part in the story of our brand, and I hope you have memories that you will treasure for many years to come. It's still crazy to me that you can interview a complete stranger, hire them, and then they can become such a huge part of your life and the lives of your colleagues. The friendships you guys have made over the last 7 years have been beautiful to watch, and I’m lucky that I get to call many of you my friends too. Thank you for everything.

 

To our suppliers—First of all… don’t worry, you’re all getting paid! Thank you for the excellent service and support over the years; we couldn’t have done it without you. A special mention to the Pilgrim Foodservice team, who have become our loyal friends; we appreciate you to this day. Thank you.

 

A personal and heartbreaking thank you from me to my husband, who has fought for this for me, and it really has been for me. I think you would have given up way before now, but instead, you have pushed yourself to the limits to try to make it work. Thank you for believing in me; I will be forever grateful for your love and support.

 

To my parents, for doing everything you could to help us through this and for always reminding me that it’s not V-ATE that’s wrong, it’s the world that’s all gone a bit weird (or words to that effect). Dad, I will be eternally gutted that your amazing work won’t be appreciated or leave the legacy I had hoped for, but as you’re a living legend, I am guessing that your legacy isn’t going to be an issue.

 

To the people in the wings—there are always people who help you out when you need it most, prop you up, and give advice. There are so many of you, and I will thank you all when I see you next.

 

And lastly… if you’ve stuck around this long, thank you to you. Thank you for all the visits, the birthday parties, the Father’s Day celebrations, the call-ins on your way home, the watching the football takeouts, and the many more reasons you paid us a visit. It has been the greatest pleasure to have welcomed thousands and thousands of you to our V-ATE restaurants this past 7 years. Thank you.

 

So this Sunday, the 23rd of June, will be our last day of trading. Our team would love to go out with a bang, so I ask that you please support them, book a table, and give them some great shifts to go out on.

 

If you have a table booked after this date, our team will be reaching out to you today, and I apologise that we will be unable to fulfil your booking; no one would love to be open more than me.

 

I know many would love to know what will happen to all of these wonderful vehicles; the honest answer is that I don’t know. We will pop them carefully into storage, and maybe one day, the world will be ready for another go; who knows, maybe we will find another custodian who will make V-ATE their own. I personally would love to see V-ATE thrive once again, even if it’s not under our ownership. So if you know of anyone who would treasure our brand and our themed décor and tables as we have then please ask them to get in touch as we would love nothing more than to see the legacy of V-ATE continue.

 

So that’s the end, the end of the race; let’s make this last week a celebratory lap and spread that last little bit of magic as the chequered flag falls on V-ATE Sutterton.

 

Yours sincerely,

Victoria Burden

Managing Director