A popular cafe which reopened just 16 days before the first lockdown was forced to close after Covid-19 hit the independent business.
Sami Mannings took over The Willow Tree café based in Wirral last year.
The Willow Tree has stood in Liscard high street, just behind the Cherry Tree Shopping Centre for three decades, with some staff members working there since its first day.
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Sami’s husband Jay has worked at the popular café as a chef for eight years and Sami has done many shifts on a temporary basis in that time too.
She said staff members arrived for their shifts in February last year to discover the locks had been changed and the owner had 'disappeared'.
Sami, 33, told the ECHO: “It was a massive shock, the staff just turned up to find the locks had been changed and found a note from a bailiff.
“When that happened I said to myself and my husband that I could run a café.
“We spoke to the landlord and it was settled that we would take over nearly right away.”
However, just 16 days after reopening the 'cherished' café, all hospitality businesses in the UK were forced to close their doors as the country entered its first lockdown after the Covid-19 outbreak.
As the couple had only just gained ownership of the business, restrictions in place prevented the four members of staff from being eligible for furlough, leaving all four as well as Sami and Jay without an income.
The mum-of-four said: “Over that time my father-in-law helped us through the lockdown and keeping the business open.
“While we were closed I put thousands into it - to decorate it and update it.
“I spent night after night going delirious getting it ready for when we were able to reopen.”
When given the green light to open again, all the staff returned on a part-time basis and Sami was optimistic.
The Willow Tree gained attention from locals in October after they said they would provide free packed lunches for school kids in the half term after Conservative MPs voted down a Labour motion which planned to provide free school meals to the nation’s poorest families over half term..
Sami said: "I'm very community spirited - I like helping the community and I always want to help anyone who needs it.
"When we announced we would be doing the free packed lunches it just blew up. The amount of messages I got from mums, dads and grandparents saying 'you don't realise how much of a help this is', it broke my heart.
"We have four kids ourselves so I can't just sit back knowing other kids are going hungry."
Sami said over the half term they done around 280 packed lunches a day for people in the community, extending the meals to both parents and their children.
But despite the positive attention and respected reputation, Sami said the café had never been the same since reopening after the first lockdown.
She said: “A lot of our footfall has always come from people who walk through Wilkinson's and exit through their back door to get to the café.
“After the lockdown, Wilkinson's door seemed to always be locked, so we went to them and asked if they could reopen it but we were told by their head office the door would not be reopened.
“This was a massive detriment to our business and from there we’ve just struggled on and struggled on - with the high rent and the decreased custom.
“I went as long as I physically could - I would convince myself if we got to summer it would get busy, if we got to autumn it would get busy, I even said if we get to Christmas it will get busy, I just couldn’t do it anymore.”
Sami, who is originally from Scotland and moved to Wallasey when she was 15, said the decision has been ‘gut wrenching’ and if she was to win the lottery keeping the Willow Tree open would be the first thing she would do.
Aside from herself she said it is ‘heartbreaking’ for the staff, particularly their other chef who has been with the business since day one.
Sami said: “It has been really hard on my husband and our other chef who have been there and worked together for so long.
“I tried to keep going for as long as I could because I felt so responsible and guilty if the staff were to lose their jobs, especially this close to Christmas, but I couldn’t prevent it or stop it and when I spoke to them about it they were really understanding.
“We are such a tight group, I love those guys - they’re family and I’ve known them for so long - that's one of the hardest parts.”
Announcing its closure on Wednesday, Sami posted on The Willow Tree Facebook page how she had ‘struggled through’ and ‘tried her hardest to stay open’ despite the continuous lockdowns and restrictions that battered her financially but in the end it simply wasn’t possible.
Sami wrote: “It is with a heavy heart that we let you know, as of Saturday Dec 4th 2021 at 3pm we will close our doors for the last time.
“As most of our customers know I took over the café 16 days before the first lockdown, I have struggled through and tried my hardest to stay open throughout a number of lockdowns and restrictions.
“Unfortunately I am at a point now that Liscard is such a quiet place and the café has become so quiet that I just can not stay open any longer.”
Sami added that herself along with all the staff are ‘going to miss' all of their regular customers.
She told the ECHO: “We've got customers whose grandparents used to bring them in, and people who have been coming for years who come at the same time on the same day every week and eat the same thing - people have memories here and it will be missed.”
Customers swarmed to the comment section to wish the team the best of luck with the future and express their ‘devastation’.
Laura J Friess said: "Omg absolutely devastated for you, I’m so sorry. Sending you all so much love, will never forget how kind you were whilst making all of those lunches for children that needed them."
Jenni Ward said: "I'm so disappointed for you. You did an amazing job for our local community it's such a shame. I'll forever be grateful for the kids lunches when I was struggling the most. I hope you and your staff all the best for the future."
Despite her heartache, Sami said if there is a positive she can take away from her experience as The Willow Tree owner it is that she had had the opportunity to make a difference to the community.
She said: “The little time I did have it I helped people and that means everything to me, knowing we will always be known as the café that helped the community.
“I’d love nothing more than to wake up Monday and be able to open the doors, it would be a dream come true but I’ve been blessed enough even if it was for a short period of time."
