Moka Pot cafe has changed hands after a failed branch in Bournemouth town centre left the company owing money.
For its customers, nothing will be changing at Moka Pot in Seamoor Road, Westbourne after its registered company Moka Pot Ltd was put into voluntary liquidation.
However, while that company is being wound down, a new company set up by Andrew Muir in November bought the cafe.
Mr Muir said the cafe was an “asset to Westbourne” and didn’t want to see it close down.
Moka Pot expanded its business with a branch in Burlington Arcade in Bournemouth town centre in May 2022, however, around a year later it closed.
The Bournemouth town centre branch sank the whole company, according to the new company director.
“If they hadn’t gone into Bournemouth, we wouldn’t find the situation we have now,” Mr Muir explained.
He said the town centre saw a string of problems after the country emerged from the pandemic, not helped by the council.
A statement of affairs published by joint liquidators Marco Piacquadio and Alan Coleman shows Moka Pot Ltd owes £278,789.
But Moka Pot, under the new company Delicious Food Ltd, will remain open and trading in Westbourne with the same successful business model and staff.
Mr Muir added: “I’ll be working to ensure the cafe doesn’t lose its character and remains successful and popular.
“The reality is we are pausing [any expansion plans] while the economy is the way it is but looking forward to the future because it’s a good model.”
Moka Pot has enjoyed a reputation for excellent hygiene standards, having been awarded a five-out-of-five rating by the Food Standards Agency.
Moka Pot was created by Giuseppe and his brother Flavio Pappalardo, two Italians who partnered with UK-born Nathan Muir, a relative of Andrew’s, to bring together flavours of Sicily and England.
Its menu has homemade choux pastry with hazelnut cream, almond and praline, a Sicilian pistachio cookie with white Belgian chocolate, as well as a popular chorizo and egg breakfast served with sweet potatoes, courgettes and onions.
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