Stokes to close its Collection cafe next month

Stokes will close its cafe based in The Collection museum after deciding not to re-tender for the contract to provide catering for the county council.

Stokes staff have been serving customers and visitors for the last eight years, but will leave the premises once the contract ends on October 31.

The cafe will remain open after this point but will be operated by the county council as the museum intends to bring the service in-house.

Stokes employs 12 staff, most of whom are part time. The business will try and relocate the staff within its cafes.

Nick Peel, Managing Director at Stokes announced the decision with “a heavy heart”, but said that its cafe at the Lawn is still “thriving”. The firm also currently hosts several special events in its own event space – The Blue Room.

He said: “With our application for the Lawn to become a licensed wedding venue, we are concentrating our efforts on developing this site further as well as continuing to operate our flag ship store on Lincoln’s High Bridge.

“We would like to thank all our loyal customers for their patronage at the Collection and we wish the county council, who will now operate the café, every success for the future.”

Stokes are working on a collaboration with The Collection to ensure that customers can still get their cup of Stokes tea and coffee at the venue.

James Sharples from The Collection Museum said: “We’re grateful to Stokes for their efforts over the years and will be sorry to see them go. The café at The Collection will remain open to visitors, and we’ll be running it in-house.”

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