Ferret along with others, welcomed the closure of the Lakeside over the Christmas and New Year period, believing it may lower the losses it is experiencing each week.
The loses of this, must have, cabal inspired establishment now stand at nearly half a million pounds in less than four years.
Ferret is a little puzzled, well no not really, that the food orders do not seem to match the reduced opening hours as you would expect them to do so.
In December alone, there were food purchases from Brake brothers of:
- 14/12/2022 DD BRAKE BROS 3,328.07 3,328.07 FOOD ORDER
Yes it does say £3,328.07.
Unfortunately that is not all, here are some other food purchases during December:
- 02/12/2022 DD TESCO 32.81 32.81 FOOD ORDER
- 07/12/2022 DD BOOKER LIMITED 4.19 4.19 FOOD
- 07/12/2022 DD BOOKER LIMITED 528.55 528.55 FOOD
- 13/12/2022 DD TESCO 82.71 82.71 FOOD ORDER
- 22/12/2022 BACS PREMIER 182.08 Food for lakeside café
- 22/12/2022 BACS PREMIER 143.19 Food for lakeside café
- 22/12/2022 BACS PREMIER 161.52 Food for lakeside café
- 22/12/2022 BACS SUNPAK 53.59 Food for lakeside café
- 22/12/2022 BACS SUNPAK 31.38 Food for lakeside café
- 22/12/2022 BACS SUNPAK 65.30 Food for lakeside café
Well you may be saying, perhaps they put some away in their new very expensive walk in Fridge/freezer for use in January, after the New Year but take a look at these food costs in January:
- 6/01/2023 DD BRAKE BROS 3,015.21 3,015.21 FOOD ORDER
A further £3,015,21 from Brake Brothers alone plus the following:
- 03/01/2023 717787 LAKESIDE PETTY CASH 637.10 – 39.45 FOOD
- 11/01/2023 DD TESCO 60.80 – 60.80 FOOD ORDER
- 11/01/2023 DD RIJO 42 INGREDIENT 115.80 – 115.80 FOOD ORDER
- 11/01/2023 DD RIJO 42 INGREDIENT 278.22- 278.22 FOOD ORDER
For a loss making establishment, these are staggering amounts of money by any standards month on month.
Some months food costs are considerably higher, yet still a loss.
Ferret wonders if the food bill will increase further, now the rent free flat has another occupant?
Once the monthly accounts as requested in the recent finance meeting and agreed by council are to be displayed on the long awaited community NOTICEBOARDS the entire community can look and view the extraordinary amounts spent and not just on food.The accounts are available on the HTC website and the monthly expenditure can be viewed and soon by everyone.
They show just how many thousands of pounds each month are actually spent on food for the Lakeside cafe even though footfall is low especially during the winter months and the drinks expenditure is also high.Hopefully in May this will all stop and the communities precept money can be better utilised and definitely better control of HTC and its spending is required.
Please can you post on Facebook Thankyou.
I can’t understand how some of the councillors think that it is acceptable to accept these losses as acceptable and even want to continue on wasting our money. The wouldn’t throw their own money away like this l bet!
Well Vickie it’s not theirs it’s the communities so spending ludicrous amounts as been easy as pie.So much that as been wasted hundreds of thousands of pounds could have done so much to help so many in our community .Food banks,warm spaces,clothes bank,school uniform recycle the help required is enormous and so too as the wastage from the HTC been.
Hopefully come May a full overhaul of the councils finances and budgets will take place if not bankruptcy will be on the horizon and once again our community will suffer.VOTES for the true community councillors are the only way to help rebuild and give back to all the community and not a certain few.
By now without shock we should expect to see these figures for the lakeside cafe. For one thing they are consistent if nothing else (high) .Personally I think they are way to excessive for the footfall that uses the place but let’s be clear here, it’s for council to instigate a audit if they think there’s something wrong. Have they?.
Council should put a feasibility study together to see if its feasible to carry on in it’s present form I think I know what the answer to that would be , but parishioners remember this is our greatest asset so we have to make it work. somehow.
One thing has evidently become very clear to me is we need to take financial matters away from sub committees and let full council make any financial decisions.