Eviction hearing court date for Vaults & Garden cafe staff

Will Pouget, who runs the popular cafe in Radcliffe Square, and cafe operators Fresh Connection, are facing an eviction notice from the Parochial Church Council of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin.

They are contesting the notice - an initial county court hearing took place last year.

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Now a follow-up hearing in the county court is due to take place on September 24.

Mr Pouget said: "The church’s solicitors have informed us that they will press for immediate possession of the cafe at a hearing in Oxford County Court on 24th September.

"We had been under the impression that this hearing would be only for the judge to give directions about the various legal issues to be decided but the church has not accepted this.

"Our own solicitors will contest the church’s claim and seek to have the case transferred to the High Court because of the value of the cafe business, the large redundancy liabilities of the company for long-serving staff and the  public interest."

(Image: Andy Ffrench) Mr Pouget said the Vaults & Garden has operated as a small family business with many environmental and social benefits to the community.

It pioneered sourcing local organic vegetables and meats, supporting the network of Thames Organic Growers since 2005, especially buying from Worton Kitchen Garden and from organic local market gardener David Blake who grows at Hampton Gay near Oxford - the cafe buys 80% of his crop.

Another local business 'at risk', according to Mr Pouget, is the wholesale arm of the Oxford Cheese Company as the Vaults cafe accounts for more than 20% of its trade.

Mr Pouget added: "Our solicitors also intend to  bring to the attention of the court the local suppliers who will be seriously affected by the closure of the cafe and may even be threatened with closure as a result."

(Image: Ed Nix) The Vaults cafe was also instrumental in establishing the award winning Flo's cafe and community centre in Florence Park, a social enterprise that in turn supports many grassroots businesses and local initiatives.

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A spokesman for Flo's board of trustees said: "Will designed and implemented Flo's original cafe provision, which was at the heart of the social-enterprise model that underpinned Flo's financial viability. Without Will's participation, encouragement and enthusiasm, Flo's would not have got off the ground so quickly and successfully."

A spokesman for the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, said: "We can confirm that sadly a dispute we have been trying to resolve amicably with Mr Pouget is set to be heard in county court on September 24th. 

"At the heart of our disagreement is a desire by the churchwardens and PCC to take vacant possession of the area of the church currently occupied by Mr Pouget’s business, following the ending of his licence on 31st August 2023, in order that we can carry out necessary and urgent repairs to this historically important building, and at the same time bring disabled access to the church up to an acceptable standard.

"We continue to urge Mr Pouget to avoid the necessity of a legal process. We will not comment further until the legal process is completed.”

A petition from supporters of the cafe calling for the business to stay open has now attracted more than 10,000 signatures.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

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