The owner of Smoak in Didsbury has described the past two days as an 'absolute nightmare' after an energy provider cut the power to his cafe, forcing it to close and costing thousands of pounds in lost revenue.
Jonathan Barnett, who opened the Barlow Moor Road branch earlier this year following the success of his Chorlton cafe, said the power was cut on Monday (August 3) after a 'mix up' with the building's previous energy provider.
Power cut blamed on former tenant's account
Barnett said he was told that EDF Energy, the building's old provider, had still been supplying energy under a former tenant's lease and had switched off the power due to a lack of payment. He claimed he was informed it could take at least 48 hours to reconnect the electricity.
"It's just been an absolute nightmare," Jonathan told the Manchester Evening News. "For any business, keeping your door shut just for one day when you don't need to can cost an absolute fortune."
Owner pays £6,000 bill to speed up reconnection
In an attempt to get the business open again as soon as possible, Barnett said he paid the outstanding bill of close to £6,000. He said the financial impact has been severe: "I've lost thousands in revenue, staff have lost wages, we've lost thousands in stock. We can't just get that back again."
"It's all just been really heartbreaking, to be honest," he added. "It's incredibly frustrating. It's just the weight of not knowing how long it's going to take to sort out."
Power restored, but recovery will take time
Earlier today (August 4), Barnett said EDF contacted him to confirm the power had been switched on, allowing him to reopen on Wednesday (August 5). However, he said the disruption has "thrown the business out by a couple of weeks at least" and will require rebuilding his customer base.
"We will have to rebuild our customer base because our regulars have gone elsewhere and might not come back now," he explained. "There's going to be a big job in the kitchen."
In a statement, a spokesperson for EDF Energy said: "We investigated this as a priority and power was restored this morning."
Impact on a tough hospitality market
Barnett said the stress and extra costs have added to the challenges of running a hospitality business in Didsbury, which he described as a "tough market" with "a lot of competition".
Despite the setback, he remains proud of what Smoak offers: "We make our own salt beef, we get fresh bagels delivered in from a couple of miles away and I genuinely do feel like we have some of the best coffee in Didsbury."
Smoak, which first opened in Chorlton in 2022, has been nominated for Coffee Shop of the Year at the Manchester Food & Drink Festival Awards every year since 2023. Its menu features in-house salt beef brisket cured for up to 30 days.
