27/09/2026
There are always two sides to every story.
Until now, I've made a very deliberate decision not to publicly discuss what has been an incredibly difficult business situation. I've watched a narrative develop without responding, even when important context was missing and the resulting impression of both me and my business felt deeply unfair.
Now that the arrangement has ended, the business concerned has moved into its new home and the keys have been returned, I feel there are a few things I need to explain before finally drawing a line under this chapter.
The original arrangement was a fixed six-month Licence to Occupy.
It was always six months, with no automatic renewal. Any continuation beyond that would need to be mutually agreed.
Those first six months were deliberately offered at a reduced level to give another small business the opportunity to find its feet, establish itself and grow. Before occupation even began, we had discussed the financial level that would be needed from the six-month point onwards if the arrangement was to continue.
That wasn't something introduced unexpectedly at the end of the six months. It had been part of the conversation from the beginning.
When we originally took on the building, our plan was to use the upstairs for dog training and the basement for a dog swimming pool.
Then an opportunity arose to help another small dog business get established.
We were happy to put our pool plans on hold and give that business the opportunity to grow instead. And we really did want it to grow.
Over the following six months, we actively encouraged that growth and the business expanded considerably beyond the much smaller footprint originally requested.
Our hope was that, if the shop grew enough to make the basement financially sustainable for us as retail space, we wouldn't need the pool at all.
We would have been perfectly happy with that outcome.
So this was never really a choice between another business and a swimming pool. It was about finding a way of using the space that allowed everyone involved to build sustainable businesses.
As the six-month point approached, we sat down together to discuss whether and how the arrangement could continue.
The same financial level discussed before occupation began was reiterated, and we invited a proposal for a further period.
A written proposal was subsequently received. It was for considerably more of the basement space than had originally been requested, but at less than the financial level we'd discussed from the outset.
At the same time, we were in the middle of an extraordinarily difficult summer ourselves. Repeated periods of high temperatures throughout May, June and July had already badly affected our ability to operate, with yet more hot weather still to come. It had forced us to take a serious look at how vulnerable our existing business model was to increasingly unpredictable weather, and what we needed to change to make our own business more resilient.
Unfortunately, when we looked at everything together, we couldn't make the proposed arrangement work financially for our own business.
And that left us with an incredibly difficult decision.
We decided not to enter into another six-month arrangement and to return to our original plan for the basement.
It wasn't a decision we enjoyed making. It wasn't personal, and it certainly wasn't made because we wanted another small business to fail.
Quite the opposite.
When we explained that we couldn't accept the proposal for another six months, we also offered additional time until at least Christmas to find a suitable new home. We made clear that if more time was genuinely needed to facilitate a move, we were open to discussing that too.
I want to make that particularly clear because I think it matters:
The additional time until Christmas wasn't offered later because we'd changed our minds. It was offered at the very same time that we explained we couldn't enter into another six-month arrangement.
We knew how difficult the news would be and genuinely wanted to give as much time and support as we reasonably could.
Sadly, what happened afterwards changed things considerably.
What followed became far more upsetting, unpleasant and toxic than we could ever have anticipated.
A difficult business decision somehow became deeply personal, and the atmosphere surrounding it became incredibly difficult to live and work alongside.
It reached the point where we no longer felt comfortable simply being in and running our own businesses from the premises we're responsible for.
That's something I never imagined would happen, and something I never want to experience again.
Eventually, it became clear that the additional period we'd offered simply couldn't continue, and the arrangement returned to its original six-month end point.
I've heard a great deal over recent weeks about how much someone's business means to them.
Mine means just as much to me.
It's my livelihood. It's something I've spent years building and something I've poured an enormous amount of myself into.
I genuinely wanted another small business to succeed. We gave it an opportunity to grow, encouraged that growth and were prepared to change our own plans if we could find a way of making the arrangement sustainable for everyone.
Sadly, we couldn't.
And however difficult that was, I also had a responsibility to protect the future of the business I'd worked so hard to build.
I shouldn't have to apologise for that - but I have, repeatedly.
I could share correspondence, written proposals, private conversations and a detailed timeline supporting everything I've written here.
I won't.
I've never wanted to conduct a private business matter through social media, and I still don't.
But neither do I want my decision not to speak publicly to be mistaken for agreement with everything that has been said, or for anyone to assume that my silence meant there wasn't another side to the story.
There was.
I've simply chosen not to shout it the loudest.
Despite everything that's happened, I genuinely wish the business concerned every success in its new home.
I have never wished otherwise.
There doesn't need to be a winner and a loser. There doesn't need to be a hero and a villain.
There can simply be two businesses moving forward separately and, hopefully, both succeeding.
The keys are back. The door is closed. And, for me, so is this chapter.
I won't be discussing it further.
Here's to a fresh, happier and considerably less complicated future.
