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19
Feb
Harrogate chip shop closure: Landlord responds to legal claims
A Harrogate fish and chips shop has claimed it was ‘forced to close’ by its landlords – the directors of a rival business.
Yorkies Fish and Chips, on Knaresborough Road, opened in the unit formerly occupied by Drake’s Fish and Chips, which closed in 2024.
Yorkies had been operating for less than a year, having opened in mid-April.
But a notice appeared in the window recently, revealing a landlord dispute had triggered its closure.
The notice said:
Despite all of our efforts and hard work to bring this shop back to life, our landlords have refused to allow us to trade any further, despite signing a lease, and are wanting to remove us without any notice at all.
This is not how we do business and how we have built our brand to be shut down. We have prided ourselves on building a great business and bringing life back into fish and chips, which is our passion and has been for a long time, even before the Drake family were in the industry.
The notice went on to say legal action was being taken against the landlords.
'We have exercised our right to take the property back'
Drake’s director, Sara Drake, and co-landlord Karley Thompson retained ownership of the premises after Drake’s Fish and Chips closed.
They rented the premises to Yorkies.
Ms Drake told the Stray Ferret yesterday (February 18), that there are two sides to every story.
She added:
The situation with Yorkies concerns a private commercial dispute about Yorkies’ right to occupy property which we own. It is our position that Yorkies no longer has any right to occupy the property in question and, based on legal advice, we have exercised our right to take the property back and have followed the appropriate process in doing so. We dispute entirely the assertions that have appeared on social media about the action we have taken and the underlying facts.
There are two sides to every story, but we acknowledge the fact that the legal process is ongoing and so, it would not be appropriate to make any further comment at this stage.
Drakes in Knaresborough
Drake’s Fish and Chips closed in Knaresborough and Ripon last year, along with the Harrogate site. The York business is still operating.
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