Florence Pugh’s dad sells café amid £900K losses

Clinton Pugh is a renowned business owner having run several famous names over the years including The Lemon Tree and Kazbar. 

But he has had to move on after almost 32 years from Cowley Road’s Café Coco in Oxford due to major financial issues.

“It's been emotional, Café Coco was sold in April after [over] 31 years,” said Mr Pugh on Instagram this week.

Café Coco on Cowley Road.

“1.5 miles of road closures, removal of 600 parking spaces and no buses from the park and ride.

“Thank you Oxfordshire County Council for your ill-thought-out traffic calming disaster.

“Thank you to all the wonderful stars who helped make Cafe Coco so special.”

In a chat with the Oxford Mail, he revealed estimated losses of £900,000 which he partially blames Oxfordshire County Council for.

His daughter Florence, who starred in Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, lent him money.

Clinton with Florence Pugh, Toby Sebastian and Rafaela Pugh. (Image: Instagram.)

“I’ve lost around £900,000 and have had a huge amount of money from Florence lent to me to try and keep it going,” he said.

“Oxfordshire County Council has contributed to this when they could have helped us by making sure buses got here and by stopping our business rates completely.

“A lot of the traffic issues that have been in the city for the last 32 years have been caused by the county council who have been removing single yellow lines.

“There used to be single yellow lines directly opposite but once the stupid cycles were lanes were introduced, the night-time economy was hit.

“I’ve always said that I am happy for a greener, cleaner Oxford but let’s do it properly.

Clinton Pugh has sold the business after almost 32 years in charge. (Image: Clinton Pugh)

“Encourage people to park their cars in the park and ride, freeing up the roads a bit rather than sticking horrible wooden boxes everywhere.

“LTNs are supposed to be flower boxes but they have weeds growing in them which is pathetic.

“We need them to be made out of furniture that will last rather than something that looks like it has been made out of a pallet.

“I’m a designer and I find these things quite offensive when they’re not done properly.”

An Oxfordshire County Council spokesperson responded: “LTNs are intended to make residential streets safer, quieter and more comfortable for walking, cycling and wheeling.

"They are designed to work with other measures to make it easier to get around and improve the health and wellbeing of our communities.”

Oxford's LTNs have caused further problems for Clinton.

Despite the financial issues and problems with the council, the 66-year-old looks back fondly at his time running Café Coco and is happy with the new owners’ impact on the business.

“The team at Café Coco were amazing throughout and that was an important part of managing to keep a business going like that for over 31 years," he said.

“It will retain the name but its logo will change and they [the new owners] have had a clean-up and it’s good, I like it.”

The sale means Mr Pugh is now in charge of just one Oxford business, Kazbar on Cowley Road.