I visited the West Sussex café with delicious home-made cakes, a gorgeous village location and the warmest of welcomes

Dee Dee’s, in Findon, is in fact open six days a week, serving hot and cold meals, home-made cakes and hot and cold drinks.

Run by Daisy Hargreaves and supported by her mum Sam Scotts, Dee Dee’s has been open for six-and-a-half years.

It survived Covid, having only been open for nine months when lockdown first started, but Daisy said the current economic crisis has caused the most difficult trading conditions she has ever faced.

She added: “We are quiet enough as it is, we really don’t need people saying we’re closed when we’re not. This year has been one of the worst years we have ever seen. We have seen hard times, because we opened in Covid, but this is the hardest – I have never seen a December like it.

"When people come here, they love the food, the décor and the atmosphere, but it’s trying to get people to remember that we’re here as we’re a bit off the beaten track.

"Fridays and Saturdays used to be so busy here that we’d be turning people away, but that’s changed this year. I think it’s because more than ever people really don’t have the money. And because of that, we’re seeing behavioural changes in people and they’re being a bit more money-conscious. It’s incredibly tough as some days we only have a few customers, which doesn’t even cover paying for the staff, let alone myself.”

I visited Dee Dee’s to chat to Daisy and I was greeted warmly. The café has an Americana theme, with brightly coloured diner-style seating and retro wallpaper. There’s delicious-looking cakes – all home-made on site by Daisy – filling the cabinets, and a menu offering sandwiches, jacket potatoes, salads, burgers, a full English and other brunch dishes.

Daisy has regulars who love to come in and tap their feet to the 50s and 60s music they play, and she’ll often put on their favourites, such as Elvis.

Having left her corporate job to pursue her dream of running a café, seeing a post on a social media page suggesting Dee Dee’s had closed down was tough to take.

She said that, plus the decline in customers, had taken a real toll on her mental health, but that she was fighting to keep open and protect the jobs of her seven part-time staff.

It started with a post on the business’s Facebook page, letting people know the café was still open for business and that they should ‘use it or lose it’.

The Facebook post read: “We want to address a rumour that’s been circulating that we are closed! WE ARE OPEN!!!

“We have no intention to close unless we are in a position where we cannot afford to carry on. This is where you come in…..the response to our original post was absolutely astounding and the support was second to none! But, we need that support to continue! Businesses like ours can only survive and thrive if customers keep walking through the door.

“We are small, but we are mighty and we don’t want to give up!

“For those of you who don’t know where we are, we are based in Findon Village. We open Monday to Saturday and we offer an extensive selection of hot and cold meals, homemade cakes (made on site) and delicious hot drinks. Our welcome is warm and our café is vibrant. We just need a bit of extra support. We hear the music is pretty good too!

“This post is not a request for anything other than for customers to support our business. We’ve worked so hard to keep going and don’t want it to go to waste.

“Whilst the feedback about opening later are great, in a climate where customers are few and far between, we have to be sensible about our ongoing costs. We never dismiss any feedback and always value what you have to say.

“Please help us spread the word that we are here, we are open for business and we welcome you with open arms!

“#support #cafe #findon”

Some feedback has suggested the café should open later, but Daisy said it is a balancing act as she can’t afford to pay staff if only a couple of customers will be coming in later in the day.

She is also thinking of ways to get the café more known, such as investing in signage to attract people into the village.

Daisy moved to Findon 14 years ago, and her parents live in the village, too. She is passionate about using local produce, and high-quality ingredients.

She said: "I used to be able to open the doors on a Monday, and have at least one or two people waiting to come in, but now I open on a Monday and the first customer might not come in until 10.30am. It’s such a worry as you don’t know what you’re going to get every day.

"I’d love people to come and try us because we’re unique. We have a good atmosphere in here and we pride ourselves on our 50s and 60s music. We get quite a lot of customers coming in saying they like to reminisce and sit here tapping their feet.

"The staff are brilliant at customer service and our reviews speak for themselves, they’re always really good. We’re not a Michelin-star restaurant, we’re just a humble café with good food.

“Findon has a lovely, community feel, and all the businesses help each other out. I want to bring the life back in here – we say to people, use us or lose us – it’s a lovely place to see and we’re ready to welcome people in.”

Dee Dee’s, at 5 The Parade, Nepcote, Findon, Village BN14 0SE, is open from 9am to 2pm, Monday to Thursday; and 9am to 3pm, Friday and Saturday. It is dog-friendly.

For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/DeeDeesFindon/