Earlsdon restaurant owners scotch rumours after making retirement announcement

[dutchman]

Millsy's has been at the centre of online rumours after its owners announced changes



The owners of popular Earlsdon café bar and r estaurant Millsy’s have spoken out to clarify the situation after their business faced a social media backlash. Jon Sharp, Howard and Sandra Grundy will shortly celebrate 24 years at the helm of the successful Earlsdon Street establishment during which time it has consistently been rated as one of Coventry’s best bars and eateries.

The local trio recently decided it was time to step aside, allow new owners to take charge and steer Millsy's into the next quarter-century. However, according to Mr Sharp, once this became common knowledge, Millsy’s became the subject of a social media-driven rumour-mill.

As a result the owners have decided to speak out in order to protect the restaurant’s reputation and reassure staff and regular customers who are being confronted by new rumours on an almost-daily basis. “This is very straightforward; we are all of retirement age and so have decided that now is the time to start the process of selling “ he said.

“But much to our horror this decision almost immediately generated all kinds of speculation which quickly went from ‘Millsy's is for sale’ to ‘Millsy's has closed down’ and worse.

“Nothing could be further from the truth – this is not a forced sale but a rational decision by three people who love being part of the Earlsdon community but feel now is the point to have some quieter time and in my case to concentrate on running Coventry Rugby Club.”

Mr Grundy emphasised that after 24 years the trio of owners are in no rush to sell and that finding the right buyer, rather than exiting quickly, is their principal objective. He went on: “We obviously have a deep attachment to the place and Earlsdon as a whole and will only sell to someone who we believe is the right person to take over.

“Earlsdon is our home and we want Millsy’s to develop and continue to thrive under a new owner, but until then we will continue to care for our customers and staff as we always have. It is very much business as usual.

“We also want to make it clear that Millsy’s is being sold as a going concern. All of the staff will remain and the only change will be new directors.

“Any sale will not be an overnight process and customers' bookings are 100% safe. If anyone doubts it is business as usual they should come and visit – we have just invested £70,000 in refurbishing the kitchen which is hardly the act of a group of owners seeking a quick exit.”