Have you heard the rumours doing the rounds in Little Chalfont, that Rex Bakery is up for sale?
Well one or two of you have spotted that 4 Chenies Parade, the home of Rex Bakery is indeed on the market but don’t worry – we are NOT on the move!!
When we started this business around 4 years ago , we were concerned that we might struggle to establish ourselves because of the exorbitant levels of rent demanded by professional investors, who by the way dominate your high street and mostly have no feeling or interest in the area. It is one of the reasons many independent businesses struggle to establish themselves ( and chain businesses do not !)
On top of rent, another small business killer is council tax ( which provides us with ZERO services , it does not cover rubbish collection or anything else, it is just a straight tax for operating in a shop) which means a small business has to pay costs of £3 – 4,000 pm before even worrying about staff costs , ingredient costs, power cost and the plethora of new indirect taxes (sick pay, pension, census surveys etc), perpetually being pushed out to all employers, regardless of size. The Rex Baker met Cheryl Gillam MP in #4 Chenies Parade shortly before the election to put some of these business owner frustrations to her and we’ve blogged more about these challenges here
So to balance this out, we took the decision 4 years ago to buy a shop, which is 4 Chenies Parade, even though we didn’t particularly want to be professional investors in a retail shop.
So, some 4 years later, with the business now established, we are looking to sell the shop , with Rex Bakery as sitting tenants for a very long period. It’s a good deal for an investor, they get a property with an established business who can pay the rent which is their main concern ( to hit their return target) , and we get our money back, which we will use to grow the business .
Rex Bakery is very healthy and we want to take the company to the next level, without any compromise whatsoever on quality or taking money from a third party such as a bank , so we need to re-arrange the deck chairs so to speak, so we can move forward.
Rex Bakery will be in Little Chalfont for many many years to come. It’s our home, both personally and business wise, and whilst it appears Chiltern District Council is considering turning our community into Big Chalfont, potentially quadrupling the population and changing the whole nature of the high street, we intend being a feature offering our own personal idea of bakery heaven. We want to deliver World Class Bread and Cakes made by hand with the best ingredients, so please do not worry, our shop at No. 4 Chenies Parade is not going anywhere.
We expect change will happen eventually, in both local government agendas as well as the building plans in fact “Change is the only constant” is a mantra of the Rex Baker’s life.
Who would dream to go from City to setting up a Bakery otherwise?!
We hope this clarifies and reassures anyone who heard the gossip. We love your ongoing support, THANK YOU ❤️
