Help me to Help People Heal - please share the story!

Hello

The photos are a mix of before and after!

My little health food shop in Fitzrovia, London is in danger of being closed down and I have only been trading for a few weeks. When I bought the business, we knew it needed some TLC and some cleaning. Three days were allocated for cleaning and then aimed to be open to trade. Instead it took over 3 weeks before I could open.

The day after taking the keys, I found a cockroach infestation in the kitchen, a rats nest in the drain, the drains blocked with cooking fat, leaks, no hot water for handwashing in the toilet and many other problems. It meant I could not continue to serve hot food, as the previous business was doing. The toilet hadn’t been cleaned and it was contaminated with faecal matter and had to be replaced. The floor had old cooking oil dripped all the way out to the back drain. The floor in the kitchen had water underneath and was the perfect breeding ground for the oriental cockroaches. Everything had been hidden with boxes and furniture.

All appliances, fridges and freezers were condemned by pest control because of the cockroach eggs (which are not effected by fumigation) so I lost all the assets I had purchased (12 appliances in total). The costs of clearing all the items behind, clearing the rats, cockroaches, drains, leaks, fixing everything, and the time lost trading amounts to over £20,000. I am weeks behind my daily target sales because of this situation.

The previous business/landlord didn't tell me about the cockroach infestation or any of the issues, and the shop was serving hot curries until the day they closed. There is no way I could serve food knowing about the pest issues and everything else. After one month and multiple pest control visits, there were still cockroaches popping up. Pest control company told me the problem was extensive and long standing.

I am so far behind in trading now, all the money I had to start up the business and pay my inital rent has gone on everything described above. It was the correct action to make the building clean and up to regulatory hygiene standards in order to serve food. I asked for a rent reprieve or some help with the costs, which ultimately is improving the asset of the building. The landlord kindly sent BAILIFFS on Fri 16 May to remove assets from the shop. An incredibly stressful day.

I just want to pay the rent as I always intended to, get the stock levels up to start trading properly and do what I intended to do with the shop, which is to help people get healthy and heal themselves.

I don't want this ugly situation and I don't want to have to fight with the landlord and previous business as it will take time away from me working on my business and helping people. If they had told me about the problems beforehand I could have factored it all in.

There are patients in UCL hospital next door who come to my shop for healing fresh cold pressed juices, herbal remedies and well being. Patients love the space and it gives them a chance to nourish and heal. I have cancer patients that come for supplements, healing tinctures and the healing space. I want to focus on this and build the business up.

Please, please share my plea and if it reaches a good amount of people who can all chip in £1, to help me put this ugly situation behind me and move forward. Come to the shop for some healing.

Thank you

Dolly at Health Foods London, 10 Warren Street. W1T 5LF.

Contact me if you have any other ideas on how to move forward.

Update: Today Friday 16 May the landlord sent bailiffs. . Please help with any amount!