‘Challenging conditions’ force Bay cafe to close

A CARDIFF cafe has suddenly shut down citing “challenging” business conditions in the capital.

Caffi Sio in Cardiff Bay announced early yesterday that it would be shutting for good at 2pm, just hours later.

The independently-owned offshoot of Chapter Arts Centre offered quality local food and aimed to be a hive of activity with live performances.

It was renowned for its bottomless prosecco afternoon teas.

A statement on social media thanked all of their customers and said: “We are sad to announced that Caffi Sio is closing on Friday, September 14, at 2pm.”

Chapter CEO Andy Eagle said: “These are extremely challenging times for arts funding with public investment on the decline and costs increasing.

“18 months ago Chapter took the decision to be entrepreneurial, as we are encouraged to be, and launch Caffi Sio in the bay.

“The intention was to replicate our hugely successful cafe bar operation at Chapter Canton, creating a new income stream that would support our artistic and educational work.

“Despite all efforts by staff and consistently great customer feedback we have not been able to grow the offer as we had hoped for.

“It is a particularly challenging business climate for the food retail sector in Cardiff and across the UK and so the decision has been made to consolidate our efforts back in Canton and further develop our food and beverage offering there.”

In June the cafe celebrated its first birthday with the launch of a new summer menu that included takeaway options.

The 40-seat restaurant operated from the Craft in the Bay building located at the south end of Lloyd George Avenue.

At the time of launching, the cafe said all of the profits from the venture would be reinvested back into Chapter’s diverse arts programme and its support for artist development and opportunities.

The cafe took its name “sio” from the Welsh translation for “buzzing like a bee”.

Any customers who require further information are asked to contact enquiry@chapter.org