Sheffield landlord says he tried to save cafe from closure during Covid crisis

Gerties Cafe on South Road in Walkley announced in July that it wouldn’t be reopening after the easing of lockdown measures, saying it couldn’t come to an agreement with the property’s owner, Rashed Hassen, over a ‘sensible’ rent.

But Mr Hassen has now told how he offered to waive a rent review and freeze the monthly payments until the cafe’s owners could find someone to take over the business, which he said they had been trying to sell.

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He says he faced online abuse after Gerties Cafe claimed on Facebook that negotiations over a new lease had started off with a 40 per cent rent increase – something he insists never happened.

Mr Hassen, who is tying up a deal for the premises to become a Turkish cafe/restaurant, said: “They (Gerties Cafe’s owners) were trying to sell the business so I had been negotiating a new lease with the prospective buyer.

"When that buyer said they were no longer interested I went back to the owners and said I don’t want you to lose the business so I will keep the rent at £500 a month until you can find a new buyer.

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"I tried to be as supportive as possible and offered to waive the rent review because of the circumstances, but they decided not to take up the offer.

"I suffered abuse on social media as a result of what they said about me trying to put the rent up, which wasn’t accurate, but I wish them good luck for their future.”