The owners of a Blackheath restaurant that was “part of the community” has announced its closure – here is the full statement.

Copper & Ink first opened its doors in 2018, run by MasterChef 2015 finalist Tony Rodd and partner Becky Cummings.

But after five years in business, Tony and Becky announced Copper & Ink’s “immediate” closure yesterday (January 2).

In a statement on Copper & Ink’s social media yesterday (January 2), Tony and Becky announced the decision to close the restaurant with immediate effect.

The pair wrote that the decision to close had been an “agonising” one, after the pair had spent time working to find a solution to save the business without success.

The decision was made as a result of “continued” financial difficulties brought on by the effects of Covid, increased energy costs and price increases from suppliers, along with the ongoing cost of living crisis that the business had been battling for the last three years.

They added that the decision had been an “agonising” one to make, with time spent over the Christmas period exploring options to keep the business running.

Tony and Becky explained that in recent times they have seen less guests visiting, making running the business “untenable.”

On the Copper and Ink website, Tony and Becky confirmed that the business has closed with immediate effect and is currently in the administrative process.

In their statement, the pair wrote that they would “dearly miss” seeing their customers and were “privileged” to be part of the Blackheath community.

In a statement on Copper & Ink’s social media, Tony and Becky wrote: ““It is with heavy hearts that we announce the immediate closure of Copper & Ink.

“We have agonised over making this decision and spent much of the Christmas break trying desperately to find a way to save the restaurant, but to no avail.

“The decision to close is borne out of the continued financial difficulties caused by COVID, increased energy costs, the cost of living crisis and price increases from all our suppliers that we have had to bear the brunt of for the last 3 years.

“All of which we know you have felt too, which has resulted in less guests coming through our doors, making running a business untenable.

“We have had a wonderful 5 years, and we want to thank each and every one of you from the bottom of our hearts for the warmth, love & support you have bestowed upon us during this time.

“We know there will be many questions and we will attempt to answer as many of them as we possibly can, however, we are also in a period of grief for the loss of the place we have called home for all this time, so we would appreciate some respect for our privacy whilst we process everything and go through the procedure of winding everything up.

“In the meantime, we have put togethers some FAQs which we hope might go some way to answering the pressing questions some of you may have.

“We have been privileged to be such an integral part of the Blackheath Village community and we will dearly miss seeing all of you on a regular basis.”