'It would be morally wrong' - Shrewsbury coffee shop owner rejects crowdfunding campaign to save it
A coffee shop owner says he won't be launching a crowdfunding bid to try to save it from imminent closure.
Tom Matthews says he has been "blown away" by the amount of support for Nerdy coffee shop in Shrewsbury after he announced last week that it would be closing.
An electricity bill that jumped from £2,500 to £5,000 a MONTH has proven to be the last straw for the Mardol business. It has also been hit by flooding over and Tom calls it a "perfect storm of a bad financial situations."
The £60,000 annual cost of energy alone put on top of other rising costs for ingredients like cheese that has gone from £7 to £14 a bag means the business has become unsustainable.
Tom, aged 36, who is married to Rachel and has three young sons is also having to move out of the flat that comes with the business.
Tom said: "We could do crowdfunding but it would be morally wrong to ask the community to do something to make my life easier. It is not a fair thing to do.
"From day one we said we did not want to make money but to create a safe, inclusive, and comfortable space. I am so proud of what we created. We did it for all the right reasons."
Nerdy was opened in August 2019 and had, as Tom said, "three or four months before the world went wrong."
But he said they they survived for four years which is one cause for celebration. And he added that it feels "anticlimactic" to have to close because of a simple electricity bill after all they have survived.
And they plan to celebrate during the time they have left at the venue, which is remaining open.
Tom added in a statement on Facebook: "We are not too proud to turn away money, we just want you to know that it would be supporting the team through the process of closing now, as opposed to keeping us open.
"The absolute best way to support us at the moment is to book yourself a table and pop and see us. We are doing our best to ensure that service isn't disrupted too much and we will post about it when it is. Booking can still happen at our website www.nerdycoffee.co"
Tom also says on Facebook that they are enjoying seeing comments people have been leaving about "friendships, memories and best bits.
"We are going to try and have a bit of a leaving party when we know a bit more about timings and make sure we go out with a bang, not a whimper!"
