Chelsea Bun Weekend as Fitzbillies is set to reopen
After 6 months of closure, Fitzbillies has reopened today to offer a Chelsea Bun Weekend in anticipation of its official reopening in time for the August Bank Holiday Weekend.
Fitzbillies, the 90-year old Cambridge institution that fell victim to the economic climate earlier this year, has reopened today after 192 days of closure.
In February, Fitzbillies was forced into administration. The owner at the time, Penny Thompson, said the closure was the “result of the very difficult economic times, especially for independent businesses.”
By April, Pembroke College, the owners of the property in which Fitzbillies trade, revealed that there was much interest from prospective tenants who wished to trade under the same name and same format.
In that month the official receivers sold the name and some of the fittings, meaning it would re-open with its original name in its original location on Trumpington Street.
By May, Pembroke College announced that the new owners of the business were Tim Hayward, food writer for the Guardian, and his partner Alison Wright.
Today, on their website, Fitzbillies has revealed that they will fully reopen for the August Bank Holiday weekend and will be running a Chelsea Bun Weekend over the next 3 days.
From 19th-21st they will be offering a limited menu, which includes the world-famous Chelsea Bun, as a way of saying “thanks to Cambridge”.
The establishment has also been renovated with new signs and Cambridge blue tiling.
Their website goes onto say, “We hope you’ll come and say hello and have a look round new Fitzbillies.”
The reopening should come as welcome news for many Cambridge students. When Fitzbillies closed in February, there was widespread disappointment from students across the university and alumni including Queens’ alumnus Stephen Fry, who tweeted: “No! No! Say it ain’t so - not Fitzbillies? Why I tweeted a pic off one of their peerless Chelsea buns but a sixmonth ago [sic]”.
Reacting to the news, Downing undergraduate Henry Marshall said: "It's great that Fitzbillies is opening it's doors again as the cakes were fantastic. It is such an iconic Cambridge establishment and I'll definitely be heading there once term starts to pick up a Chelsea Bun ... or 6."
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