‘Raid makes me think, why am I bothering’
CAFE OWNER DISHEARTENED FOLLOWING BURGLARY
A burglary at a mobile catering unit in Loughborough has made the owner question whether it’s worth keeping the business going.
Cash and stock were taken from Café Express, in the car park at B&Q in the town.
Michelle Evans, 38, who runs Café Express with her husband, has been left demoralised following the latest incident.
The break-in overnight on Friday, April 5 was the fourth at the unit over the last few years.
“We try and put a lot back into Loughborough but at the moment it is proving difficult,” she said.
“They took anything that was to hand. The girl that works there left her bag, [so] the float was left on site.
“For the float they took £50 and they also took the cash flow. They took stock, you can see them filling up their backpacks on CCTV. It’s just really disheartening.”
No arrests have been made in connection with the incident and inquiries are continuing, said a spokesman for Leicestershire Police.
Michelle said the burglary had set the business back “ten-fold”.
She said: “It’s hard enough running a small business in this climate.
“It makes you think ‘why am I even bothering.’
“With the cost of living everything is going up, it’s really hard at the moment.
“The takings are going down and the expenses are going up.
“The public cannot afford as much.
“It’s getting to a point where it will be impossible to run a small business. It just won’t make sense.
“The way things are going at the moment, we will be lucky if we will get to next year.
It’s getting to a point where it will be impossible to run a small business. It just won’t make sense Michelle Evans
“And things like this just set you back ten-fold.
“This will be the fourth time we have been broken into in the last three or four years.”
The business posted a video of the break-in on Facebook.
In the CCTV video seen by the reporter, the suspects can be heard talking to each other and sounding excited after finding cash. Following the release of the video, Michelle said they have had “a really good response from the public” which “restores your faith in humanity a bit.”