Chatwins says town centre ‘no longer tenable’ following incident where “individual threatening violence caused significant property damage”

Chatwins have ‘ceased trading with immediate effect’ following a disturbing incident in the town centre store.

The bakers have ended their nine years on the High Street, with the shop being there prior to that date under the Village Bakery brand.

In a damning indictment of the town centre Chatwins have said they are looking for opportunities to stay in Wrexham, but outside the town centre, after a specific incident – as well as referencing ongoing problems with having a High Street shop.

In a statement to Wrexham.com the baker told us, “Here at Chatwins we are fortunate to have been well placed to react in a timely manner to the post-pandemic challenges of which your readers will no doubt already be aware.

“Our retail and bakery teams have had to work incredibly hard to ensure that the overwhelming majority of our shops continue to trade successfully, but unfortunately our shop in Wrexham city centre has faced some specific circumstances which mean we are no longer confident in our ability to trade effectively while keeping our staff and customers safe. As a result of this the incredibly difficult decision has been made to cease trading at the site with immediate effect.

“Almost every employer in the UK has faced recruitment issues since the pandemic, and Chatwins is certainly no different, but we have found Wrexham to be more of a challenge in this respect than many of our other locations. In addition to this we have faced ongoing issues including the continued discarding of rubbish and other waste by unknown parties in the alleyway to the rear of our premises, creating unsanitary conditions which our shop and maintenance teams have faced an ongoing battle in clearing.”

One specific incident was also detailed, “Following a recent incident in the shop where an individual threatening violence caused significant property damage, jeopardising the safety of staff and customers, we felt our presence in the city centre was no longer tenable.

“Regrettably this affects not just our customers but also the shop team for whom we now seek relocation opportunities in our other nearby shops.”

In more positive news they added how they are keen to stay in the area, and are actively looking for new premises, “While we are saddened to leave the immediate area we would like our incredibly loyal Wrexham customer base to know that we continue to look for other local opportunities outside the centre; in the last eighteen months we have opened three highly successful new shops in other areas which have created over twenty new jobs, so don’t be too surprised to see the Chatwins name appearing over a new door somewhere near you soon.”