DANIEL Nechita from Neki Cafe has been speaking to Sandra Curties, Town Centre and Marketing Officer for Knutsford Town Council, for the Knutsford Lockdown Diaries.

Tell us about your business

Neki Café is an independent family-run café. Many customers are keen to know where its name comes from. We wanted the café’s name to communicate that it is a family-run business, hence why we named it after our surname.

My wife and I were delighted to open our doors in October 2019 following a long, yet enriching hospitality and catering learning journey.

Prior to opening Neki Café I had the chance to administrate several independent coffee shops in and around south Manchester.

During these years I developed a passion for speciality coffee and fine food, but my dream was to ultimately open my own coffee shop where I can provide coffee, fine food and cake lovers a seamless experience. This dream has come true in the delightful town of Knutsford.

How have you been helping customers during this time?

When we went into full lockdown we followed the government’s guidelines and we reluctantly closed our doors the following day.

Prior to this we made sure that there would be no food waste, so we got in touch with some of our regular customers in Knutsford, especially with the most vulnerable ones, to distribute stock that otherwise would have been wasted such as scones, soups and cakes.

We obviously maintained contact with our lovely customers through social media as well as phone calls.

We have some elderly customers dear to us, and we wanted to make sure they are all well while checking if we could be of any assistance to them. We believe it is essential to keep in touch with our customers during these unique times.

Where are you up to with putting plans in place for when Knutsford re-opens?

We have re-opened our doors this week for takeaway only following our customers’ requests.

We are trying to be flexible in terms of taking orders and pre-orders and we do our best to accommodate every customer’s need. We hope we will also be able to offer a delivery service soon.

We do not know when or how the UK lockdown will be lifted but we are closely monitoring the government’s advice.

We may carry on as we are now for some time. We are still mindful of social distancing to ensure the safety of our staff and customers, while making sure we follow the highest sanitary standards as always.

What message do you have for other businesses?

We would encourage the other businesses to maintain contact with their customers as they are partners in our mission.

Last week when we celebrated the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe, I believe that we should reflect upon the fact that victory over Nazi Germany was the result of many nations working together with a shared purpose.

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That spirit of co-operation is more important now then ever. I believe this is still reflected in our dedicated community despite these uncertain times and we are extremely proud that Neki Café is a part of it.

What do you miss most about not being open?

We miss our lovely customers and neighbours, our daily chats as well as the whole town community, which has proved to be so supportive, encouraging and appreciative since the first day we opened. We feel honoured to belong to such a committed community.

When lockdown is over where will we find Neki Café team?

You will find us working hard in our café hopefully with more social interactions with our lovely customers.

We are keen for the rest of the staff to return to work, and we are looking forward to welcoming our customers in and serving them our own brand speciality coffee, our homemade scones and our famous smashed avocado.