28/03/2026
Tonight we close the doors on Centra Ormeau Road for the last time.
To all of our customers over the years, we thank you, it has been a pleasure serving you and being part of this special community.
To our amazing team in store, you gave it your all, you never let us down and we look forward to working with you in our other stores.
To our wholesaler Musgrave, we thank you for the support, particularly in recent years as you helped us fight for survival.
To our governments, both local and national, you have been a big part of our problems.
On a national level you have driven up wage costs aggressively and irresponsibly.
From the 1st of April someone over 21 will be 54% more expensive to employ than they were in 2020.
For someone between 18 and 20 that figure will be 76%.
How many of your government departments would function after such an aggressive rise in wage costs?
We haven’t seen 76% pay rises granted to the public sector workers in the last 6 years. Why? Because it would bankrupt the country.
We have never paid the minimum wage and never will but we use these rises to index our wage costs ensuring our employees wages rise each year.
The rise in Employers National Insurance is crippling every small business- from the 1st of April each employee is £1000 more expense to employ since this rise.
In short, combining wage rises in the last two years and the increase Employers National Insurance each full time employee is now at least £3400 more expensive to employ.
These figures simply crippled us and have crippled many small businesses, be they a cafe, a pub, a takeaway or a small retailer.
At a local level Stormont has failed to support all small business.
Whilst small retailers across the water were sheltered with a 70% business rates reduction from 2021 to 2025 and a 40% reduction this year, you chose not to pass this on to small retailers in Northern Ireland. You gave us nothing in support, yet the money was there, sent from The Treasury.
Our rating system is not fit for purpose, hospitality recently showed this but perhaps you could explain this?
Centra Ormeau Road paying £350 per square meter in business rates.
A well known major supermarket not too far from us paying £200 per square meter.
A well known online retailer in our dockland is paying £170 per square meter.
How can you consider this fair?
Government at a local and national level has failed us.
We survived a pandemic, an energy crisis, an inflation crisis and a cost of living crisis but it was a cost of doing business crisis that beat us.
Now, more than ever, it is so important to support local, support your local cafe, takeaway, restaurant, pub or small retailer.
Big brands and big chains will survive but it’s the small independent businesses that make The Ormeau Road so unique.
As Centra Ormeau Road closes we look forward to welcoming you at Mace Ormeau Road, just up the street, where you will see some familiar faces keen to meet your needs.
Team Centra Ormeau Road.
