Queens Park Café, Bolton shuttered and 'no longer trading'

The Queens Park café, based at the town centre park of the same name, has shut after the operators went into administration.

A note was posted on the building to customers saying the business would no longer be trading.

The café first opened in 2017 after £20,000 building refurbishment works - and the news has come as a blow to customers.

Regular customer Becci Murphy, who visits the café most days with a dog walking group, says that if the closure is permanent the café will be sorely missed.

She said: “On the Monday we just got here as normal for a walk, we went down to the café and it was all shuttered up.”

On returning the next day the shutters were still down and the group heard that staff had been told not to come in.

Shutters have come down (Image: Newsquest)

The day after, Wednesday, the group had heard that staff had been told not to come in to work at all.

Ms Murphy said that given many of her group members are elderly and one is disabled, she does not know how they will be able to go on visiting without somewhere to sit and public toilets.

She said: “We don’t know what we’ll do, we’re in a bit of a limbo.

A customer notice was left on the door (Image: Newsquest)

“Some of us will probably just bring flasks and sit on benches but most of us will probably just disperse to other parks.”

The café is found near the children’s playground on the Spa Road side of the park and was first built on the site of an old playground thanks to funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

It served a range of meals and snacks ranging from full English breakfasts to burgers, cakes and waffles and also hosted conference facilities. 

As of the morning of Thursday February 29 the café was closed with a note left for customers.

The note said: “It is with deep regret that we inform our valued customers the café will no longer be trading under the operation of Deep Beat Entertainment Ltd.

“We would like to take the opportunity to thank you for your support over our time in operation of this unique and much loved café.

“It has been a privilege to be a part of this wonderful community.”

Deep Beat Entertainment Ltd has now confirmed that the café was forced to close after the company went into administration.

A spokesperson for the management team said: “Bolton is one of the cafes that is ceasing to trade since Deep Beat Entertainment went into administration.”

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She added: “This is really upsetting for us and for the team there, they were a very loyal team and we want to send our thanks to them.

“We’d like to thank our loyal customers as well, we’ve had our loyal dog walking customers who have been here every day and have supported us throughout the years.

“We saw varying levels of trade at the Bolton café which is why the site wasn’t viable but they have always been there for us.

“Special thanks as well to the Bolton community at large, they always made us feel welcome.”