We have some extremely sad news: it is with a very heavy heart that the Henderson family took the decision earlier this month to close the doors of Hendersons of Holyrood & Hendersons of Hanover after 58 years in trading.
As a family-run business since the beginning, the shop/deli first opened in 1962, driven by Janet Henderson who 30 years earlier had discovered during her travels in Europe about the benefits of an organic and vegetarian diet. She and her husband Mac then brought this to life on their farm with an organic market garden in East Lothian. Mac Henderson lived to the ripe old age of 101.
As Covid 19 took hold in February/March 2020, this had a very detrimental effect on the business in terms of both footfall and revenue. Covid 19 hit us at a hard time, as we were just coming out of the quieter winter months, looking forward to Easter, summer trading and Edinburgh Festival.
The Government’s resistance to close hospitality businesses until late March meant that by this time our restaurant & deli business closed, we had haemorrhaged a serious amount of money leaving us in a very weak position.
The furlough scheme was a life-line with some hope but still came at a cost with 40 employees, plus we still had essential fixed operating costs, insurance, rent, utilities – with very high monthly outgoing costs and no income coming in – the current situation was unsustainable.
We opened the shop/deli for a month, providing a food/vegetable box delivery and click & collect service. Unfortunately, the city centre is bereft of footfall as virtually no passers-by, tourists or office workers, thus it was impossible to continue operating at a loss.
If our location was in a neighbourhood area it might have been a different story and if we had more of a strong online presence or wholesale trade, perhaps we could have pushed through and come out the other side.
Due to the uncertainty of the future of hospitality, lack of guidance from the Government and ongoing restrictions, there was no realistic prospect of us returning to any kind of normality in the foreseeable future.
As a family, this has not been an easy decision and we are absolutely devastated to be in this situation, outwith our control. The three restaurants and deli will not re-open.
Our family has been privileged to play our part in Janet and Mac Henderson’s great adventure that has been so well supported over the years.
It has been a very difficult decision for us and the Henderson family would like to thank our loyal customers, brilliant suppliers and lovely staff over the past 58 years and we will miss being part of what was Edinburgh’s bustling restaurant scene, which we hope will return in the not too distant future.