Café owner Tracey Hall is responding to the spirit of Austerity Britain. Her business on South Street, Wellington, has just re-opened as the Hard Times Café. Nothing on the menu costs more than 99p.
“The first few days have gone really well and we’ve had very positive feedback from customers,” said Tracey. “One lady even brought us in a cartoon that shows the spirit of 
what we are doing.”
Tracey explained that the café, formerly known as The Chocolate Box, had been losing money for some time. “I read on the internet about a 99p café in Cheltenham and I thought this could be it.”
“No one has got any spare money at the moment but it doesn’t mean they don’t want the chance to go out and eat occasionally,” she said. Here are some of the Hard Times menu items:
Jacket potato & one filling 99p
Soup & Crusty Bread 99p
French Bread pizza 99p
Plus a large assortment of delicious –looking cakes. “All our cakes are home made. People can come in and see me baking most days,” added Tracey. “If 20 people a day come in and spend £2 each that’s a small profit. And a small profit is better than no profit.” Her next stage is to start a daily lasagne or cottage pie and sell good-sized portions for 99p.
As well as its bargain food offers, the Hard Times Café has free WiFi and three laptops available for customer use.