The owners of the Newhaven Beach cafe were told to leave and were forced to close. People were also forced to pay £2 to access the beach until 8 p.m., which harmed the new fish and chip van’s business. (Previously, it was 5 p.m. until the van opened)

Customers of ‘Lins Cafe,’ located on The West Beach Promenade in Newhaven, have contacted us to express their displeasure with the way Lins’ landlords, ‘Rosnick Ltd,’ have treated them.

It was a dream to have a little cafe by the seaside, and on July 21 that dream came true when an existing trader at The West Beach Newhaven was selling a catering van with pitch as he was expanding into a larger Portacabin, which was still under renovation.

After consulting with Rosnick, it was agreed that Lin could trade from the location, and they began trading as ‘Lins’ in August 2021.
Lins quickly established a following of both passing and returning customers.
By the end of 2021, it was clear that the person from whom they had purchased the catering van did not have the time to renovate the Portacabin, so they made an offer to purchase it.

They messaged Rosnick before the transaction to see if they had any objections to Lin purchasing the cabin and finishing the renovations.

There were no objections, so Lin purchased the cabin in December 2021 and continued with the renovations while still operating from the catering van.

They claim to have spent around £10.000 renovating the cabin, including the installation of catering grade stainless steel equipment, commercial grade kitchen flooring, and so on.

The dream was realised when the doors opened in February 2022.
They have continued to grow their business since February, with regular customers coming from Hastings, Tunbridge Wells, and even London.
It’s more than just a cafe where you can get a cup of coffee and a piece of cake.

One of the Rosnick Team members came to the new cafe about two weeks after it opened with bad news.

Their landlord (Newhaven Port) had renegotiated their lease, and it was now more expensive, so all of the traders’ rents would have to rise.

Lins Cafe saw a weekly pay increase of £20, or £1040 per year. Furthermore, the communal bin usage that was previously included in the rent has been removed. Private bin hire has increased the monthly rent from £560 to £700.

This is approximately 75% more than what Seaford merchants pay, and they have free parking and toilets at both ends of the seafront.

Lins discovered in the last few days that this was a complete lie. Rosnick did not have, and still does not have, a lease for the area; instead, they have an interim licence that is entirely different.

We have always paid the rent and are not in arrears, despite the rent increase.
The landlords sent a copy of the six-month electricity bill to each trader in May 2022.

They wanted to divide it equally because they didn’t know how much each trader had used.

Lin’s ex-electrician partner had installed an electricity check metre in their business and was able to tell exactly how much energy they had used and thus how much they were paying.

Lins believes that the Rosnick expected them to pay much more but that they could prove how much they had used, which appears to have irritated them.

A few days later, one of the landlords sent Lin a Whatsapp message, but instead of sending it to a private business group, the landlord sent it to an open group with multiple users.

The reason given for asking them to leave was that “communication between us appears to have completely broken down.” This is not how we want to continue; we both have other businesses and are already stressed. Furthermore, you’ve had a falling out with Lorraine at the gate, and we’ve received numerous complaints about your rudeness, opening times, and wait times for people’s food. So, we think it’s best if you leave at the end of the month, when you’ve paid up until the pitch.”

Rosnik has abruptly increased the chargeable parking hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the last few days. This coincides with the opening hours of the new fish and chip van at the beach, which will be detrimental to their fledgling business.

According to Sussex News, Rosnick Ltd could receive up to £4 million from the chancellor’s Levelling up grant to help regenerate the community by building a new restaurant at West Beach.

We believe that the small group of traders already present are doing an excellent job of this while offering a diverse range of products.

We have attempted to contact Rosnick Ltd, but they only have a postal address at a Polegate accounting firm.

According to the harbour master of Newhaven Port Authority, “the west promenade is managed by Rosnick LTD, who are licenced to allow suitable activities to take place on the promenade.” It is their decision to allow or prohibit those activities, and any complaints should be directed to them.”

By email, MP Maria Caulfield informed a number of people that “the land is owned by Lewes Council and she is making urgent enquiries.