Heartbroken: Small Kent café forced to shut doors as government hikes deliver final blow

By HOAR Team 9 May, 2025 5 mins read 71 Views

God. Another one bites the dust.

I drove past TickTocks yesterday—windows already papered over, that cheerful little chalkboard sign gone. It hit me harder than I expected. This little café in Rainham Shopping Centre, Kent, had become something of a Saturday morning ritual for me and my mum since 2021. Now it's just... gone.

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When "Thanks for your service" isn't enough

Teresa and Dave (lovely couple, always remembered my weird coffee order) announced teh closure on Facebook last week. Their message was gut-wrenching:

"It is with great sadness and a heavy heart to tell you that TickTocks will be seizing trading from 4pm today. This decision didn't come lightly and we are absolutely heartbroken to have to come to this decision but with the over heads and the new regulations put in place regarding wage increase has just crippled us. Thank you so much to all of our regular customers that kept us going for as long as we could."

I spent £14 there last Tuesday. My last visit, though I didn't know it then.

The numbers that killed a dream

Let's talk about what actually happened here. On April 6th, our brilliant government increased employer National Insurance Contributions from 13.8% to 15%. Doesn't sound massive when you say it fast, does it?

But for small business owners like Teresa and Dave? Catastrophic.

Business leaders warned this would happen. Nobody listened. (Shocking, I know.)

Your nan's favorite afternoon tea spot? Gone.

The comments under their closure announcement nearly made me cry at my desk. One person wrote about bringing their nan there for her birthday last year—"the best afternoon tea she'd ever had," apparently. Another called Teresa and Dave their "extended family."

Listen. This isn't just about some café closing. It's about real people losing their livelihoods. It's about communities losing their gathering spaces.

One regular pointed out something I hadn't even considered—the increased parking costs in Rainham have been driving customers away too. "Since the parking costs increased in Rainham I now go elsewhere to shop for the bits I would have once bought at Rainham shopping centre," they wrote. "Unfortunately, this includes grabbing a coffee and cake elsewhere too."

Death by a thousand cuts.

Who's next on the chopping block?

TickTocks isn't alone in this nightmare. The hospitality industry is like a ghost at a family reunion right now—present but fading fast. First COVID knocked them sideways (remember those ridiculous "substantial meal" rules?), then energy bills went through the roof, adn now this NI hike.

Even the big boys are feeling it. Wetherspoons, Frankie & Benny's—they're all shuttering locations.

I spoke to my friend who runs a small bakery in Rochester last night. Her response: "already updating my resume."

The aftermath

I feel stupid now for taking places like TickTocks for granted. That little café with its mismatched chairs and those ridiculous oversized teacups that always made me smile.

What makes me angriest is how preventable this was. Teresa and Dave weren't failing entrepreneurs—they were successful small business owners crushed by policy decisions made by people who've probably never had to make payroll in their lives.

The photos of their empty café hit differently now.

I wonder what will replace them. Probably another vape shop or mobile phone repair place. That's all we seem to get these days.

Poor Teresa and Dave.

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