An award-winning Bognor Regis soft-play café is set to close, with the business’ founder blaming rising costs.

Little Piggies Café, in Bedford Street, opened in summer 2021 after Jessica Smith left a career in television production to create a family-friendly venue aimed at making life easier for parents.

Within its first year, the café was recognised at the Little Ankle Biters Awards, winning gold in the “best family friendly place to eat in Sussex” category despite having been open for less than a year.

At the time, Jessica told this newspaper that she wanted to create a one-stop destination for families.

Owner Jessica Smith with staff at the Little Piggies Cafe, in Bedford Street, Bognor, which has now closed permanently

placeholder image — Owner Jessica Smith with staff at the Little Piggies Cafe, in Bedford Street, Bognor, which has now closed permanently

“If you’ve got children in Bognor, there aren’t really a lot of places around that have everything in one place,” she said.

“You have lots of amazing little baby groups you can go to, lots of sensory stuff and toddler groups, but they’re all very separate. So I kind of wanted to create a hub, something that puts everything under one roof.”

The café combined food and drink with a soft-play area, allowing children to play while parents could sit and eat. Its Facebook page later described it as a place where children could be entertained with free play items while adults enjoyed a hot coffee.

But after five years, Little Piggies is now coming to an end.

In a Facebook post announcing the closure, Jessica thanked the team behind Just Learn Bognor, who took on the business after she stepped away and attempted to continue her original vision.

“As many of you are aware after I gave up the café the Just Learn Bognor ladies took on the mammoth task of trying to expand their own business and keep Little Piggies going,” she wrote.

“I’m truly thankful for the girls for trying to keep my vision and creation going. It’s not an easy task.”

However, Jessica said financial pressures had ultimately proved too much.

She explained: “Unfortunately things haven’t worked out and that completely boils down to money, with minimum wages consistently rising, with little to no help from the government and with another business for them to run they have had to make a very difficult decision to stop the café and softplay.”

Jessica explained that her lease was also coming to an end, making it a natural point for the business to close while Emma and Frankie, who had taken on the café, focused on expanding their own business.

She wished the pair success, describing their existing business as ‘already an incredible business’.

The closure represents the end of a business which began with Jessica’s aim of filling what she saw as a gap in Bognor's family offering.

Reflecting on the café's journey, she wrote: “I would like to take this time to say thank you for trying to make my vision work, but sometimes things don’t work out and that’s ok.”

She also urged customers to support independent businesses in their local communities.

“Because Little Piggies is a prime example of no matter how hard people work behind the scenes, if you don’t come in and show support they will in time close,” she wrote.

The announcement attracted dozens of comments and reactions from customers, while Jessica said the café's social media pages would be deactivated following the closure.