Bagelman is a well loved local Brighton business. Last week we were given just 14 days to vacate our unit at Brighton Station. We had rent arrears caused by the pandemic which we can now pay. They did not care. They did not listen.

Caroline Lucas MP is helping us but we need your help too! Please sign this petition in support of us continuing to trade from our unit at Brighton Station.

The immediate priority is to ask GTR for an extended notice period. We were only given 14 days to vacate our unit which has placed the business under considerable strain and means that, currently, the last day of the tenancy is next Thursday 14 April. An extended notice period will give time for negotiations to take place with a view to, hopefully, securing a new lease.

Just this week, we were voted in the top 3 of the Good To Go category in the Bravo Awards and in the top 5 of the Best For The Family category. This was out of a shortlist of the top 20 restaurants in Brighton and was voted for by the public. Our prominent position in Brighton Station makes us one of the first food and drink experiences visitors have when arriving in the city.

Our unit was advertised before we had time to speak to our staff. This shows a complete disregard by GTR for the mental health and wellbeing of our staff, many of whom worked through the pandemic serving food and drink to the staff and passengers at Brighton Station at personal risk to their own health. It is utterly soul destroying that we might have to tell them that they will lose their jobs now, just at the point in time we had turned a corner and the business was entering a period of recovery.

We are an ethical company. Examples include, taking part in the Pay It Forward scheme to feed the homeless, working with the Real Junk Food Project to reduce food waste, supplying breakfast bagels to the local NHS food bank and, most recently, working with local charity Audio Active to provide free lunches to disadvantaged young people. We sell a high quality, hand made product, we use local suppliers, we treat our staff well, we use a green energy provider and I believe we make a valuable contribution to the local community.

We believe it is part of the Sustainable Recovery Plan to support businesses like Bagelman, and that we form an important part of the local economy. Thank you for your support xxx