Award winning Devon hospitality company announces it's the end of an era for their Venus operation at Blackpool Sands
Internationally multi-award-winning hospitality business, The Venus Company (loving the beach®) with four stunning beach café locations across South-Devon, announces from January 2023, The Venus beach cafe business at Blackpool Sands will close for good, as commercial terms to continue could not be agreed to mutual advantage.
A well-respected and renowned environmental champion, Venus operates its beach café business across glorious Devon all year-round including Bigbury-on-Sea located opposite the iconic Burgh Island, and recently acquired dog-friendly Broadsands in Paignton. East Portlemouth just a short and picturesque ferry ride from Salcombe, opens throughout the summer season.
In 1995, Michael Smith and his wife Louisa Newman, together with Lee Porter, opened the doors of its first Venus Café, loving the beach® at Blackpool Sands. They set up a beach café, take-away, and shop on the site of the original ‘The Venus Tea Hut’, a small wooden hut selling tea and ice-creams that Louisa’s pioneering mother, Lady Newman started in 1958.
The Newman family can trace its history back to the 1400s, a time when Dartmouth was a renowned shipping port. In 1797 Richard Newman bought the land around Blackpool Sands which included the beach and house. In more recent times, Sir Geoffrey Newman, as the eldest son, inherited the estate and has been leasing the beach site to The Venus Company for nearly thirty years. In November 2022, Sir Geoffrey has plans to set up a new Limited Company business venture on Blackpool Sands, which he will operate under the Blackpool Sands brand.
Louisa Newman reminisces: “My father Sir Ralph Newman ran a wine merchant on St James’ Street, London, and Blackpool Sands was our family’s summer holiday residence. When I was three years old, we moved to Blackpool Sands permanently where I grew up; I have so many fond memories – it was an idyllic childhood. My mother was inspirational and ahead of her time, setting up the new café and shop business in an old wooden shed on the beach, where I loved to help her serve the customers and sell our fresh home-grown vegetables and homemade marmalade and Ann’s handmade crafts.”
She adds: “Michael, Lee, and I work so well together. We wanted to set up the Venus Cafe in 1995 with the same philosophy as that of my parents keeping the beach unspoiled, serving the best, locally sourced high-quality ingredients with many of our dishes coming from the nearby land or sea, making it more sustainable.”
Michael Smith – M/D of The Venus Company said: “It’s a sad time, particularly as Blackpool Sands is the birthplace of The Venus Company brand and where Louisa grew up.” He adds: “Circumstances have changed substantially since 1995, and although we were offered the opportunity to work with Geoffrey’s new limited company, we felt his proposed business model did not allow our brand to flourish and develop and, therefore, made the decision not to go forward based on commercial viability; it simply was just not for us.”
Constantly striving to improve its environmental performance, Venus banned plastic straws 20 years ago in a bid to reduce plastics on the beach and in the oceans. It was the first company to use fully home compostable cups and lids, (zero plastic) and to ban single-use plastic drinks bottles and water. The latest innovation of this pioneering company is the introduction of fully home compostable and biodegradable palm plates, rubbish bags, cake wrapping film, and cling film at all of their beach cafes, reducing single-use plastic dramatically. Venus works with like-minded sustainable companies, such as Two Farmers crisps – the only UK crisp company to use home compostable bags.
He explains: “Our mission is to be the greenest café, and It’s fundamental that we stay true to the ethos and values of our established Venus trademark, loving the beach®. Our brand is all about sustainability and we gave up plastic straws in 2000, and straws all together in 2002. We love the beach and water as a habitat, so taking care of it is integral to our business philosophy. Our business remains in a healthy strong position to weather the upcoming economic and supply storm and will continue to grow and expand the Venus company with like-minded landlords.”
Louisa comments: “I am very sad to be leaving my family beach. Hopefully, we are leaving a firm environmental footprint for others to follow. This is where it all started, and we still have our three other popular Venus beach cafes to run at Bigbury-on-Sea, East Portlemouth, and newly acquired Broadsands in Paignton with more in the pipeline. All our full-time staff, many of whom have been with us for over 20 years, will remain under the Venus brand and although it’s the end of an era, I’m really excited about the future of the Venus Company.”
She concludes: “Blackpool is moving in a different direction to Venus but will remain in our hearts as our birthplace. I wish my brother and nephew every success with their new business plans.”
www.lovingthebeach.co.uk
