Venus team and founders raise a glass to say goodbye to Blackpool Sands
The Venus Company team at Blackpool Sands together with founders Louisa Newman, Michael Smith, and Lee Porter, raised a glass in fond farewell to 28 happy years at the birthplace of its first Venus Beach Café.
Internationally multi-award-winning hospitality business, The Venus Company (loving the beach®) announced that from 5th January 2023, its Venus beach cafe business at Blackpool Sands will be closed for good. The three remaining stunning beach café locations across South Devon at Bigbury-on-Sea, Broadsands in Paignton, and East Portlemouth are unaffected and still fully operational under the Venus brand, and there are more opportunities for further cafes in the pipeline.
Michael Smith – M/D The Venus company says: “It is a bittersweet day leaving Blackpool Sands where the Venus company first began in 1958 at the Newman family home where Louisa grew up, and where her mother Lady Newman, originally set up ‘The Venus Tea Hut’, selling tea and ice-creams, fresh home-grown vegetables, homemade marmalade, and handmade crafts. Louisa, Lee, and I took over the company in 1997, and have grown the business exponentially over the years.” He adds: “All our full-time staff, who have been with us for many years, will remain under the Venus brand and the operations team will be moving to work at our beach cafes based at Bigbury-on-Sea and Broadsands. We plan to extend our opening hours over the summer until 8 pm offering local seafood and evening dishes.”
Louisa Newman reminisces: “We set up our first Venus beach cafe at Blackpool Sands with the same philosophy as that of my parents keeping the beach unspoiled, serving the best, locally sourced high-quality ingredients with many of our dishes coming from the nearby land or sea, making it more sustainable. It is our legacy and will always have a special place in our hearts, so we wanted to be with our wonderful team at Blackpool Sands to raise a glass to the many thousands of amazing customers who have enjoyed the Venus experience over the last six decades. Venus looks forward to welcoming everyone to our three lovely beach sites located across glorious Devon.”
