Shropshire Council to better market loss-making Ellesmere restaurant

Bosses of a north Shropshire restaurant today vowed to fight back after news emerged that the premises was operating at a loss of almost £35,000 in its first year in business.

The Boathouse Restaurant beside The Mere, in Ellesmere, is run by Shropshire Council and councillors have pledged to spend more time marketing it.

The taxpayer-funded restaurant underwent a £2 million revamp last year before reopening after being jointly bought by Shropshire Council and Ellesmere Town Council.

Ann Hartley, Shropshire councillor for Ellesmere, said: "We will be looking at opening the restaurant in the evenings, doing a lot more marketing and trying to hire out the premises more. It was bound to take time to get the restaurant up and running and we are confident next year will prove to be more successful.

"We were very proud of the revamp."

Figures show gross expenditure between July 2009 and July this year was £250,571, which includes £123,371 on staff costs.

But restaurant sales were just £212,610, while venue hire bought in a further £3,201 – leaving a net loss of £34,760.

Council officials said despite the financial loss, the restaurant was going "from strength to strength" and had seen income rise by 70 per cent in recent months.