Croydon eatery holds fun day

Surrey StrEatery, a restaurant that is designed for food enthusiasts in Croydon, has celebrated six months of operations by hosting a fun day.

People interested in becoming street food traders were given the opportunity to work at the StrEatery, which launched at a vacant unit in Surrey Street last November. To celebrate the project, a fun day took place on April 30th.

The event featured live music, food demonstrations and a host of other activities. The Surrey StrEatery was launched after it received funding from the mayor of London’s Regeneration Fund and Croydon Council.

All of the traders were backed with grants of up to £3,000 from the mayor’s Regeneration Fund, which went towards the cost of the stall. People were also given six months’ support to build their company. This included a package of free space including no rent or utility costs.

Thanks to this support, StrEatery was used as a facility for six food companies, with this generating a total of 16 jobs. 

The council worked with Retail Revival to support the traders after the closure of the StrEatery. Each trader will take cooking units with work surfaces with them, which will allow them to continue working in a new environment.

The council has worked with Retail Revival to find new opportunities for StrEatery companies, along with brokering introductions at Wandle Park pavilion cafe and Exchange Square.

The council’s executive director for place Jo Negrini said: “This was a fantastic initiative, which took over an empty shop space and transformed it into a world street food destination.

“Over the last six months, the Surrey StrEatery has hosted a range of fun events and served up a variety of tasty treats. We’ve been really pleased with how it has provided the platform for six budding food entrepreneurs to launch their businesses, which we at the council are passionate about supporting.”

Published 7th May, 2015

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