A sustainable supermarket in Brighton has paused trading after a “disappointing” Christmas trade.
Hisbe, on York Place, said that it owes money to staff, suppliers and lenders after recovery funding was not secured.
A sign reading “Hopefully back soon” has been posted on its doors from Saturday, 6 January, and a second Hisbe shop in Worthing has also temporarily closed.
A statement from Hisbe on Instagram said: “Following a painful four-year battle through covid and the cost-of-living crisis we had a disappointing Christmas trading period and our recovery funding hasn’t come through.
“So we have paused trading because it’s the responsible thing to do in our circumstances.
“Hisbe owes money to staff, suppliers and lenders and we are exploring all options to raise funds to pay our creditors.
“We hope this is a temporary closure and we can find a way for this social enterprise to go forward and continue its important work. But it will take some time to figure out.
“After 13 years, this is our hardest challenge yet.”
The supermarket, run as a community interest company (CIC), was started by sisters Ruth and Amy Anslow in 2010. Jack Simmonds joined the company in 2013.
The Brighton shop was open from Monday to Sunday, 9am until 8pm.
It sells organic groceries, vegan and vegetarian foods, as well as zero-packaging foods.
At the moment temporary closure, not redundancy. So where does that leave the staff, are they entitled to benefits?
That is a very good question. I have not encountered that particular situation before. It’s a situation I’d be looking to engage my union and ACAS about really, just for clarification more than anything right now.
It’s not a great situation all round.
Small shop I doubt if any union is involved. Employees will join the list of creditors but may get a government payout but will have to be applied for after and if insolvency becomes official
https://www.gov.uk/your-rights-if-your-employer-is-insolvent
These ‘zero-packaging’ shops never seem to last long.
While the ethics behind it are laudable, most people cannot afford the luxury of shopping in such places.
Still, it would be a sad loss for the area, after Bison Beer shutting down just the other day, it’s a very difficult time for these independent niche businesses.
Hisbe had been going for 13 years. Covid hit them really hard when they signed the lease for the store in Worthing less than a month before the first Covid lockdown. They had to pay both leads but weren’t able to open the second store for many months after that and even then the street outside was under construction for another year which lead to low numbers of customers.
It’s a real shame as there were both great stores. Pricier than normal stores, but they paid their suppliers better than normal supermarkets do. Unfortunately all this has left staff and suppliers out of pocket which is never ok.
HISBE was always kinda pricey.
Laudable as it is, this business seems to not be able to sustain itself. A great Shame really but it has had a long run.
I am sure the principals have tried to find ways of keeping it going, but it is also important to recognise that continuing to trade while insolvent is a civil offence.
Hmmm … ‘Trading whilst Insolvent’.
Readers with a forensic mind might care to ponder that such a situation almost certainly applied to ‘I-360 Attractions Ltd’ when it opened for business in August 2016?
Or if not technically on that opening date then almost certainly when its Annual Accounts for 2016-17 were filed with Companies House in 2018?
However, and far worse than a private Limited Liability entity possibly playing fast and loose with Companies Act legislation, are the apparent acts of our City Council using taxpayers money, our money, to conspire with i360 Attractions to permit them to ‘Trade whilst Insolvent’ over at least each of the past 6 calendar years?
And doing so whilst i360’s debt to us taxpayers gradually snowballs, with compound interest, to an ever larger amount!
With that debt to us already so large that there are no realistic prospects of all of it ever being repaid!
Especially with continued operation of the tower appearing to only be feasible/legally permissible up to around 2032, when the health & safety rules for ‘Passenger Lifts’ will require a major inspection, test, and remediation exercise!
Given the nature and size/height of the tower’s structure that is likely to need about a 4-month shutdown, and,to cost some £3m (at today’s prices).
At which point City Councillors will probably need to choose between finding that £3m, or alternatively finding around £1m nett for demolition, cutting-up, and removal.
Which seems to call for an intermediate decision from Councillors this year:
– To reduce some losses to taxpayers, by BHCC seizing the project, and operating it with Council staff or;
– To spend more taxpayers money to subsidise the controlling owner (one Julia Barfield) to run the project up to that expensive H&S deadline around 2032?
And to seize now and auction off?
After all auction expenses and commissions we’d be lucky to get back about £3.5m nett. Plus the new investor would be likely to have to declare insolvency when the HSE demands that safety shutdown – leaving us ill-served taxpayers to fund the costs of demolition and removal of the Tower!
And, just as the well-intentioned founders of the excellent HISBE have discovered, for a business to succeed there has to be enough customers able and willing to pay a price for the product being offered which results in a sustainable true nett profit (not the misleading EBITD figure!).
As was predicted openly, at least as far back as 2012, the Interest + Depreciation burden on the £52m capital cost of the i360 is so great that tickets might need to sell for £35 or more – which too few visitors would be willing and able to pay, either now or from any foreseeable future date!
Therefor one wishes HISBE every success in finding a way to balance overheads against sales – even though our City councillors were clearly told, and should have seen for themselves, that the i360 could never become financially viable!
Top marks for use of the shoehorn. Well done!
Laudable & well intentioned but £14 for a chicken if you can afford to be ethically & morally responsible is just not going to work in the long term . Especially in London rd.
I understand you – but conversely £5.00 for a chicken means bought up in a cage, never walked, pecked by its cage-mates, full of antibiotics and does not taste as good. A chicken should not cost £5.00
£80 for a packet of crisps and a carrot, gonna happen
Wonder how much the Green Council gave them !
What really makes me sad is that the workers have lost pay.
I could afford very little in the store but bought organic potatoes, onions and carrots there, as a plastic free and not too expensive option.
I decided to prioritise my health and buy organic food but not from out of Europe.
I am sad yet hopeful Hisbe will come back.
Can’t believe during Covid nobody had sense to figure out how to negotiate with the Worthing store