Luke Daniels and his partner Emma Smith opened Urban Gelato & Milkshakes in a former tea room on Navenby High Street on June 29. Photo: Arora Marketing
A salon owner in a village near Lincoln is opening an ice cream parlour in a former tea room after the success of his lockdown project.
Local businessman Luke Daniels, owner of Urban Angels in at Courtyard Mews on Grantham Road in Navenby, was forced to close when lockdown started.
It was such a big success that, when the opportunity came up to move into a building on Navenby High Street, which was formerly occupied by The Cottage Tea Rooms for 10 years, he took it on a 10-year lease with his partner Emma Smith.
Urban Gelato & Milkshakes opened in its new location at 11am on Monday, June 29 after an initial investment of £60,000. This will move to £100,000 as the expansion continues and it will create around 10 jobs.
A selection of the range of delights available at Urban Gelato & Milkshakes. Photo: Arora Marketing
It will sell over 20 flavours of artisan fresh gelato including vegan, and even marmite, three fresh sorbets (lemon, mango and pineapple), warm Belgian waffles topped with gelato and fresh fruit, and sundaes.
Dogs can enjoy treats at the parlour too such as peanut butter crunch with ripe bananas, yoghurt and a gravy bone flake.
Urban Gelato & Milkshakes on the High Street in Navenby. Photo: Arora Marketing
Luke told The Lincolnite : “It’s fantastic and something we never envisaged we would be doing. At the start of lockdown we never even thought we’d be selling ice cream, but it grew and grew with more flavours and it’s been a big success.”
In September, Luke plans utilise both floors and move the Gelato section to the other side of the building with a serving hatch.
The move and marketing were a big team effort involving local businesses – Mindy Arora at Arora Marketing, Sam Mcintosh at SGM Construction, Ed Lees at Cook & Sleep and GRS Signs.
The first customers at the new premises. Photo: Arora Marketing
The main area will become a tea room/coffee house, serving Navenby breakfasts, with locally sourced ingredients, New York deli style sandwiches, homemade soup, cakes, afternoon tea and more on a simple and fresh menu.
He added: “I think it’s important to keep the tea room element as the tea room belongs to the village and myself and Emma will be the custodians for the next 10 years. We will let the village decide the tea room’s name.”
The Cottage Tea Rooms at Navenby confirmed its closure earlier this month.
Urban Angels
Luke will reopen his salon Urban Angels on July 4 and he said the recent government announcement came at the right time for the industry.
The salon is currently being sanitised and it will have clear barriers between clients and styling stations.
Staff will wear face shield and if customers want to, there will also be masks available for them, but this will not be compulsory.
Luke Daniels and his partner Emma Smith are the owners of Urban Gelato & Milkshakes in Navenby. Photo: Arora Marketing
In addition to hand sanitising stations, there will also be extra seating outside for any customers waiting. Door handles, lights and toilet flushes will be sanitised every 10 minutes.
Luke said: “I am really looking forward to getting back to work at the salon and my team coming back together again to get a slight bit of normality back to people.”
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City of Lincoln Council has approved a 1.9% tax hike despite a series of cuts for 2021-22 due to the financial uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 1.9% rise will take city council’s share of council tax for a Band D property in Lincoln to £285.39 – an increase of £5.31.
The executive committee agreed on increasing allotment charges, council house and garage rents.
Council bosses predict a budget gap of £1.75 million and said it must close the hole for financial stability.
Allotment charges will also see most tenants pay between £58.70-£78.30 per year from 2022, an increase of between 38p and 51 pence per week.
Council housing rent will increase by an average of 1.5%, while council garage rents will increase by 3%.
Attendees at City of Lincoln Council’s executive on Monday.
The authority said it faces a number of ongoing challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic and requires a substantial reduction in all of its budgets.
Cllr Ric Metcalfe, Leader of City of Lincoln Council said: “It’sareasonablymodestincreaseformostpeople,andwewill support lowincomegroups stillwiththeconcessions.”
The council has saved more than £9 million annually over the past decade, however will have to increase savings by £850,000 next year, rising to £1.75 million by 2023/24.
Due to the pandemic’s impact on government funded reliefs, empty properties and business closures, the authority estimates it will only retain £5.1 million of the £42 million of business rates generated in the city.
The draft budget will go to consultation and return before the council later this year for a final decision.
There have been 372 new coronavirus cases and nine COVID-related deaths in Greater Lincolnshire on Monday.
The government’s COVID-19 dashboard recorded 325 new cases in Lincolnshire, 30 in North Lincolnshire and 17 in North East Lincolnshire.
Some nine deaths were registered in Lincolnshire and none in North and North East Lincolnshire. These figures include deaths both in and out of hospitals, as well as residents in hospitals outside the county.
NHS England reported nine new local hospital deaths at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust and one at Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust on Monday. Hospital deaths have now surpassed 1,000 since the pandemic started in Greater Lincolnshire.
National cases increased by 37,535 to 3,433,494, while deaths rose by 599 to 89,860.
Leader of South Holland District Council, Cllr Lord Gary Porter, put the spike down to outbreaks in two care facilities, one being a children’s care home.
A group of urban explorers who travelled from three different counties to look around derelict buildings were caught and fined in Grantham for breaching lockdown rules. Two groups of revellers in the woods near Woodhall Spa have also been fined.
In national news, Public Health England have confirmed 4,062,501 people have received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Those in England aged 70 and over, as well as the clinically extremely vulnerable, will begin receiving offers of a coronavirus vaccine this week.
Ten hospital trusts across England consistently reported having no spare adult critical care beds in the most recent figures available.
It comes as hospital waiting times, coronavirus admissions and patients requiring intensive care are rising.
All UK travel corridors, which allow arrivals from some countries to avoid having to quarantine, have now closed until at least February 15.
Travellers arriving in the UK, whether by boat, train or plane, also have to show proof of a negative coronavirus test to be allowed entry.
Supermarkets face increased inspections from local councils to ensure they are COVID-secure amid a push from the government to clamp down further on coronavirus transmission.
Local governments have been asked by ministers to target the largest supermarkets for inspection to ensure companies are enforcing mask wearing, social distancing and limits on shopper numbers.
Here’s Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate up to January 17 according to the government dashboard:
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Jan 11 to Jan 17. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Monday, January 18
Greater Lincolnshire includes Lincolnshire and the unitary authorities of North and North East (Northern) Lincolnshire.
44,374 cases (up 372)
30,784 in Lincolnshire (up 325)
6,927 in North Lincolnshire (up 30)
6,663 in North East Lincolnshire (up 17)
1,686 deaths (up nine)
1,196 from Lincolnshire (up nine)
268 from North Lincolnshire (no change)
222 from North East Lincolnshire (no change)
of which 1,006 hospital deaths (up 10)
612 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (up nine)
30 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
363 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (up one)
3,433,494 UK cases, 89,860 deaths
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF the latest update. postcode data includes deaths not in healthcare facilities or in hospitals outside authority boundaries.
Eight people were fined for two separate COVID-19 rule breaches over the weekend, after being found partying and camping near Woodhall Spa.
Officers were called to two different incidents at Ostler’s Plantation, a woodland area near Woodhall Spa on Saturday, January 16 and on Sunday, January 17.
Five people were issued with £200 fines after a report of partying at around 11.08pm on Saturday.
The next morning, police were again called to the area at 8.21am after people were seen camping at the location.
Three people were fined as a result of this, again valued at £200 due to being first time offenders.
If these fines are paid within 14 days of the offence, the cost will be cut in half to £100.
On the same weekend, but this time in a different location, six urban explorers were fined after travelling from three different counties to try and gain access to an abandoned hospital in Grantham.
The behaviour of COVID-19 rule breakers has been described as “dangerous” by Lincolnshire Police’s assistant chief constable Kerrin Wilson, who referred to them as “Covidiots”.