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The Dovorian cafe and fish and chip takeaway in Dover is up for sale

05:00, 12 December 2022

updated: 14:31, 12 December 2022

The owner of a popular cafe has made the decision to put it on the market as the cost-of-living crisis bites.

The Dovorian, which occupies a prominent location at the roundabout with Folkestone Road and York Street in Dover, is listed for sale on RightMove for £149,950.

Chris Muckell has owned The Dovorian since 2019. Picture: Chris Muckell
Chris Muckell has owned The Dovorian since 2019. Picture: Chris Muckell

Chris Muckell, the owner, had planned to sell up in about five years' time due to family reasons.

However, the 42-year-old has brought things forward due to the rising cost of running the business and his unwillingness to hike prices for customers.

"Margins are tight at the moment," he said.

"I would say if we weren't in the cost-of-living crisis, we probably would make this decision in three to five years' time rather than right now.

"The cost-of-living crisis is probably tougher on the business side of things than Covid was."

The Dovorian is up for sale in Dover. Picture: Google Maps
The Dovorian is up for sale in Dover. Picture: Google Maps

Mr Muckell says although the business' costs have more than doubled in some places, he has kept the prices of food affordable for punters.

"People just don't have that disposable income any more," he said.

"Oil was £16 a drum and now it's £42 a drum. But we don't want to keep pushing that price up to the customers.

"Margins have been squeezed but the business is still very popular and profitable.

"We've put our prices up slightly and have altered our opening hours slightly so we can concentrate all our sales during the peak times."

He says The Dovorian's fish and chip takeaway has thrived
He says The Dovorian's fish and chip takeaway has thrived

Mr Muckell took the site on in 2019, before Covid, and says the business did well despite the challenges of the pandemic.

The cafe has a four out of five rating on Tripadvisor, with one reviewer describing it as a "really good little place".

Mr Muckell added: "We made the decision to find an alternative route to market during Covid because the cafe offered traditional full English breakfasts so there was not route to market there.

"We refurbished the fish and chip counter, we introduced all the delivery platforms including Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eats, and pushed on the fish and chip side of things.

"The fish and chip counter gave us a solid and sensible route to market during Covid and did really well for us.

"We then started doing takeaway breakfasts."

Mr Muckell also owns the two flats above the Dovorian and says currently, just the business is listed for sale, although if a buyer were interested in the flats too, there would be a discussion.

He added that all jobs are secure.

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