Gonzo’s Tea Room saved and set to reopen following funding agreement

Gonzo’s Tea Room, a student favourite, has been saved and reopened yesterday. After going into liquidation earlier this year, it has announced it will be remaining open and taking bookings.

Despite using the furlough scheme during the first lockdown, and investing heavily to follow government regulations, Gonzo’s Tea Room went into liquidation in November.

Although the bar adhered to coronavirus restrictions after the first lockdown, the 10pm curfew proved “fatal” for Gonzo’s, its liquidator said.

However, the day before Norfolk went into tier two of the government’s restrictions, Gonzo’s made an announcement on Facebook.

The post said: “Jesse Fulton, ex-pro snowboarder and Canadian Olympic coach who started the 5k Foam Fest Fun Run is now saving our bacon! All our suppliers are paid and the grinch will not be stealing Christmas… We’re back!”

The owner Mike Baxter said they had been rescued ahead of lockdown by a friend from Canada, Jesse Fulton, a retired professional snowboarder, business owner and Olympic coach.

Mr Baxter said: “Covid caught us at the wrong time. We were financially extended, but we thought in a good place to honour all debts with our suppliers, many of whom we had happy payment plans with.

“However when Covid struck it stopped the world but it didn’t stop our commitments. Despite having no income, we did our best, but we simply couldn’t keep up.”

Mr Baxter insisted his top priorities were to protect staff and their jobs, and honour payments to suppliers.

He went on to say: “Covid has been a real nightmare, but now with a vaccine on the horizon all I have is hope that we can all have normality again soon, and that we can all smile over a beer and a burger again soon”.

Brix and Bones, Mr Baxter’s steak restaurant, which fully opened in September, is unaffected and will reopen on Friday.