Owners of Withington’s Café Blah found their business shut unexpectedly on October 7, after they arrived to find their locks had been changed.
In August of 2023, Café Blah and the landlords began a series of negotiations after the rental contract was switched to a monthly rolling contract.
Two months later, landlords H Homes indicated that there would be a 65 percent increase in rent and 7.5 percent increase each year afterwards. Café Blah told the BBC that the increase was “unaffordable”.
In March 2024, after they invoked Section 26 to request a new lease, the tenants were then served a Section 25 notice on the grounds that H Homes wanted use the property for their own business. After the locks were changed the property was found listed on a now-deleted listing on Zoopla as a ‘restaurant to let’.
Tenants Adam Porrino and Tess Parkinson told The Mancunion that they had never been served an official eviction notice.
Once they were allowed to enter the premises the following day to pick up some musical instruments for third parties, they remained inside the building. They told The Mancunion that they weren’t necessarily staging a sit-in, but were “legitimate tenants in our business”.
They broke the news to their Instagram account the same day they had been locked out, and in response Café Blah received support from the local community and frequent patrons.
Café Blah opened a JustGiving fundraiser. At the time of writing it had raised £10,065 out of their £14,000 goal.
‘Party of the People’ held on October 5
Leah Newton, owner of neighbouring establishment Ice Shack, held a demonstration on October 12 in Withington Square.
Newton explained her support for the café to The Mancunion, saying, “It is one of those third spaces, we are losing them”.
A fundraiser concert with local bands organised by ChuffinHellMag was held in The Peer Hat on October 17.
The premises after Café Blah moved out
They are currently looking for new premises to continue Café Blah.
Café Blah told The Mancunion: “The last week has been a whirlwind. It still doesn’t feel quite real what has happened to our café. It was whipped away from us so quickly and unfairly. This week has been busy meeting people and trying our best to plan for the future and be proactive. The community has really given us belief. The love and support they have shown to Blah has been beautiful. A difficult few months lie ahead, even with the incredible amount of money raised so far we still need to find the right spot, something which is both affordable but works with the Blah vision. For now all we can say is thank you.”
