Tesco-owned Harris + Hoole closes Ruislip site
Coffee shop chain Harris + Hoole, which is part-owned by Tesco, has closed its Ruislip site after it struggled financially.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>
The shop on Ruislip High Street closed yesterday, less than a year after opening.
A total of 11 staff will keep their jobs but be transferred to one of the company's 21 other sites.
Harris + Hoole is run by chief executive Nick Tolley, along with his younger siblings Laura and Andrew. Tesco owns a 49% stake in the business, which launched a year ago.
The company has plans to double in size. It is currently thought to generate around £5m a year in sales.
Nick Tolley, co-founder of Harris+Hoole said: "After careful consideration we've taken the tough decision to close our shop in Ruislip. We'd like to thank everyone in the team there for their dedication and hard work making it a great shop and providing our customers with fantastic coffee right from day one. Unfortunately, although we are really proud of our shop in Ruislip, it hasn't proved viable. We will be offering all our people in the Ruislip shop roles in other Harris+Hoole shops nearby and we hope they will be able to stay with us. We're beginning the process of finding a new tenant for the unit and will be actively marketing it to try to ensure a new occupant can be found as soon as possible".
