02/02/2026
This is so sad! Never has there been a time when supporting small independent businesses has been so important as it is right now. Our so-called government and council need to hang their heads in shame!
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts, to our friends and family who have reached out over the past few weeks to check in on us. It has meant more than we can ever properly put into words 🧡
If you ever come across petitions or campaigns supporting the hospitality industry - whether that calls for VAT reform or broader support - please, please consider signing and sharing them. Every voice matters. This past week alone, we’ve heard from so many hospitality business owners across Aberdeen who are at breaking point, and the number of closures we’ve seen in our city this month is genuinely heartbreaking.
Hospitality is an industry built on genuine passion, care and resilience, yet so many of us are underpaid, overworked and carrying pressures you’ll never see beyond the smile we still put on when we welcome you through our door.
When we quit our jobs to pursue our dreams we really felt like we found our lifes purpose. We do this because we love it - we love feeding people, creating warm, welcoming spaces, and giving our community somewhere to come together and switch off for a while. But right now, the wider state of the country and the continued disregard from those in power for one of the UK’s biggest employers is draining that passion and making it harder and harder to survive, let alone thrive.
Small, homely, community-driven businesses like ours are hanging on by a thread. Without meaningful change, our future looks incredibly uncertain.
If you can support hospitality in any way, it truly does make a difference - sharing or engaging with posts from your favourite local spots, choosing independent cafés and restaurants over tax-avoiding multinationals, and adding your name to petitions calling for fairer taxation and support. These small actions add up, and they give us hope when we need it most.
Thank you for standing with us.
It means everything.
Corey & Lindsay - Team Smoke and Soul 🧡
