14/09/2026
OPEN. FOR NOW, AT LEAST.
We’re in a bind and, quite honestly, unless something changes, we may not be able to continue at the Farm Shop.
When we took over the café last March, we were told HATCH and the Farm Shop needed to have separate business rates bills.
Fair enough.
While we waited for that to be sorted, we carried on paying what we believed was our share of the existing bill.
We expected the new figures to come through within a few months. We expected and planned for a marginal increase.
They took more than 18 months and more than doubled.
And worse still, the new figures are being backdated by 18 months.
That means HATCH and the Farm Shop could each be facing backdated bills of around £50,000.
That’s the part we simply cannot understand.
How can a business be expected to suddenly find tens of thousands of pounds for a bill it had no idea was coming, especially when the delay was completely outside its control?
Had we known, we could have planned for it. We could have adjusted prices, staffing and made proper decisions about whether the site was viable.
Instead, nearly two years of hard work could effectively have been for nothing.
Unless the backdated element is reconsidered, this could realistically mean the end of the farm shop and in turn HATCH at Smallford Farm Shop.
Two businesses at risk. Around 40 jobs affected. Future plans gone. A community space potentially lost.
During our time here, we have contributed about £400k in VAT and National Insurance alone.
Surely it is better for everyone to keep businesses trading, employing people and paying taxes than land them with retrospective bills they had no chance to plan for.
We’re challenging it and asking for help.
For now, we’re open.
And we very much hope we can keep it that way.
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