Staff keep their jobs as cafe set for swift return
THE site of the former Tynemouth Surf Café is set to reopen under the tenant which has operated the kitchen for more than a year.
Brack Burger has taken over the lease from the previous tenant, SSD Music Limited, and will reopen the cafe under the name Surfers Tynemouth, expected to be in the coming days.
Signage for Brack Burger has already been seen lighting up the windows of the unit, while it appears that work is being done on the interior.
The announcement comes less than a week after Tynemouth Surf Cafe announced its closure with immediate effect on its social media pages (on December 18). The post alleged that the landlord had “forced” the closure of the cafe and that they had had to inform their staff that they no longer had a job a week before Christmas.
However, we saw documents appearing to be correspondence from the building landlord sent on March 1, 2023, informing operators that the lease would not be renewed beyond its expiration date on December 18.
The cafe’s previous operators claimed that this correspondence was not received.
Nevertheless, Brack Burger has confirmed that no staff will lose their jobs and that the cafe will now continue to operate once it reopens, which The Journal understands is expected today.
It has also been revealed that Loungers has submitted a planning application to redevelop the former Tynemouth Toy Museum into a bar and restaurant, following openings in Morpeth, Hexham and Cramlington already this year.
The planning application for this is separate from Surfers Tynemouth,
which is in a different unit of Palace Buildings on Grand Parade.
An extract of the post on the Brack Burger Facebook page read: “The landlord never wanted the venue to cease trading nor for any staff to lose their jobs. We had two options.
“Move out of our kitchen and see the venue passed over to completely new hands or take on the responsibility of helping restore this great premises, along with retaining ALL staff members in their jobs and keeping the soul of the place there, which as we know is the people who make it.”