Inspirations Cafe Accounts

[Heknocks68]

Various amounts generated by internal orders for meetings, example, team meatings, 1:1s etc so as to demonstrate meeting rooms and coffee/food facilities in use, not neccessarily by the general public. payments charged to relevent departmental budgets. Then hidden in the bigger scheme of things. No matter, we are doomed more job losses to come.

[steveL]

Report to Finance and Policy has confirmed annual losses of the Inspirations Cafe and also states that it is unlikely that the Cafe will ever make a profit. It now employs 1 full-time staff member with and 3 part-time staff supplemented with apprentices in a effort to reduce costs. The council also seems to be in the process of asking the unions 'permission' to reduce working conditions further. The Cafe is also unable to fund any future maintenance costs from its own income let alone recuperate any part of the initial £400,000 set-up costs.

It always was a stupid idea that caused a lot of upset at the time and it has played out pretty much as everyone expected; not least because there was never any real business plan, cash-flow analysis or marketing carried out.

https://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/meetings/meeting/3450/finance_and_policy_committee

[fred c]

The council will look at a number of options, including selling on the whole shebang, we can only hope it isn't another "Give Away"...... the whole 'project' has probably cost council tax payers around half a million pounds.......... I hate to say, we told you so........ But, we told you so 

It boarders on criminal, the sheer wanton waste of public money by the LabTor Mob, I firmly believe they couldn't run a P**s up in a brewery.

Time for a higher independent authority to take a long hard look at the use of public money by this council & the sooner the better.

[Foggy]

Did anyone attend the meeting today?  Any developments? I'm wondering what spin they decide to go with to excuse this disaster 

[Foggy]

CAB - "If that doesn't come to fruition my leaning would be I'm sick to death of defending the indefensible of something that carried over from the previous administration."

Previous administration? Have I missed something or is someone rewriting history?

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/council-run-cafe-could-face-the-axe-after-costing-more-than-300-000-since-opening-1-8383308

[Land Phil]

http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/treat-yourself-to-a-cuppa-at-the-cemetery-gates-in-hartlepool-1-5627505

The previous administration...a picture tells a million fibs.

[DRiddle]

It's worth a re-read of an article on the post written while this whole saga was still in its 'embryonic stage'.

I think it was the American comedian and TV star Bill Cosby who said "Like everyone else who makes the mistake of getting older, I begin each day with coffee and obituaries". Well, thanks to the latest 'brainwave' by some 'business guru' employed by Hartlepool Borough Council, you too can enjoy the delicate fusion of 'caffeine and death' on a daily basis.

Now open, The 'Cafe in the Crematorium' represents quite possibly the most ridiculous waste of money by our council since... since... well, since the last one.

Not satisfied with building another retail outlet in a town already littered with empty ones, at a reported cost of £280,000, our council also plans to fund wages and associated staffing costs of around £50,000 per year. Without wanting to sound flippant, it does not take a genius to realize that the vast majority of people, who frequent a crematorium, are long past the stage where their problems can be alleviated by a hot chocolate or a latte.

Indeed, it also raises the issue of taste and decency. For the uninitiated, there are no gift shops in funeral parlours. As a place associated with death and remembrance, is not a venue one would expect to be able to buy a snow globe or a novelty key ring, and rightly so. Likewise, at a crematorium, most people would not anticipate rounding off a day when they say an emotional goodbye to a loved one, by stuffing their face with a chocolate brownie washed down with a cappuccino. Without even taking into consideration the fact that the three of the biggest 'coffee house retailers' on the planet, 'Starbucks', 'Cafe Nero' and 'Costa' have, as yet, chosen not ventured into the 'lucrative Hartlepool market', this proposition is bizarre to say the least.

What does Hartlepool Borough Council think it's spotted that the three biggest coffee proprietors in this country haven't? Do they think our town has a demographic willing and able to pay £3-£4 for a cup of coffee? Do they think a small crematorium has the footfall needed to attract a similar number of potential customers as a shopping mall or a city centre hotspot? Perhaps they think 'Starbucks', which has closed 300 stores in America since the recession hit, are missing an opportunity in one of most social deprived areas of the United Kingdom?

This situation actually beggars belief, and in terms of a 'business proposition' the likes of Duncan Bannatyne would be saying "I'm ooot" faster than an Italian could gulp down an espresso. A 'cafe in a crematorium'? Come on Hartlepool Borough Council, wake up, wake up and smell the coffee.

Read more at: http://www.hartlepoolmail.co.uk/news/treat-yourself-to-a-cuppa-at-the-cemetery-gates-in-hartlepool-1-5627505

And don't even get me started on the 'previous administration' thing. He's let the whole sorry situation trundle along for 3 years on his watch loosing money hand over fist.

[Land Phil]

I have just gone through the comments on the story again.

Coffee. Up among the graves, how coulld it ever have worked.

[steveL]

""If that doesn't come to fruition my leaning would be I'm sick to death of defending the indefensible of something that carried over from the previous administration."

After at least 4 blocked attempts to get this council to publish the accounts for this always doomed venture, this contemptible cretin tries to blame 'the previous administration'. Can someone tell me when the Tories were last running Hartlepool Council?



The Mail Blurb at the time of the photo-opportunity:

"Labour councillor Stephen Akers-Belcher, chairman of the council, officially opened the coffee house. He said: "This is innovative and it shows that the local authority is thinking outside the box. "This coffee house is based within the cemetery, but is part of wider plans for the garden centre. "It means visitors to the cemetery now have a warm and friendly place to go and shelter from the cold and it is quite a comforting place, especially with the pleasant garden area."

""The coffee house is called Inspirations and it shows that we as a council are looking at different ways to make income. "We are doing our best to create much-needed jobs and although it is not a massive amount we are still trying to do our part."

[DRiddle]

I think we all anticipated some spin when this finally came out. Initially I was surprised by the 'not my fault governor' type quote.

But then I remembered quotes regarding WCNE, MRA, the gypsy site, the town plan, Jackson's landing, the domes money . . .

We live in the era of 'alternative facts' . . .

[steveL]

I suppose this would be a REALLY bad day for CAB if word got out about the new carpets 

http://www.hartlepoolpost.co.uk

[Land Phil]

New carpets ?

[fred c]

A previous administration ?

More lies committed to print by Clowncillor Cwissy Akers B.... Nolan Principles.... My A**e


Ok, what about the carpets, come on, we are all agog....... Axminster,  or What ?

[DRiddle]

I'm sure it'll all come out in good time about the talk in the civic about the carpets. The funny thing about instructing people not to say anything is . . . The more you do that, the more inclined people are to get the word out there.

[steveL]

http://www.hartlepoolpost.co.uk

I gather that replacing the carpets is all part of a Feng Shui phase that Calamity Chris is going through. He's already redecorated his office to his own style and is working on clearing out all unnecessary clutter from the Civic - either way, it's not looking good for Allan Barclay.