STAFF from two popular Inverclyde cafes have been left jobless after the owners made the decision not to reopen following the Covid-19 shutdown.

The Tele reported on Wednesday that social enterprise Stepwell Consultancy, who own Fresh coffee houses in both the Oak Mall and Kempock Street in Gourock, had said they were 'considering all of their options' with regards to reopening.

Both cafes had been been shut since March, despite the First Minister giving the go-ahead for the hospitality sector to recommence trading in July.

Now Stepwell, the social enterprise which runs Fresh, has pulled the plug.

The blow comes shortly after the Telegraph reported how Stepwell had been handed a £70,000 grant from the Scottish Government's Pivotal Enterprise Resilience Fund to help it through the coronavirus crisis.

It is now believed this money will go towards new 'Cookschools', schemes aimed at those who are unemployed and suffer from anxiety or long-term health conditions in a bid to supporting them into employment.

Long-standing cafe staff say they are angry about what has happened.

They say they've been left unemployed for financial reasons while the social enterprise is simultaneously aiming to help others into employment.

One former staff member who wishes to remain anonymous told the Tele: "Considering that new 'cookschools' are being rolled out by Stepwell, one would think that just a little bit of that cashflow in funds could go towards support for an already dedicated team of cafe workers.

"Perhaps they should focus on keeping the jobs of their 'family' as they call it."

A spokesperson for Stepwell said: "Like many other companies in the hospitality industry, Covid-19 has had a huge impact on our business over the past six months.

"We closed our Fresh coffee houses in March prior to lockdown coming into effect as a safety precaution for our customers and team and continued paying our staff their full wages prior to the government’s furlough scheme being announced.

"All of our team have been kept on furlough throughout this period and this will continue until the end of October.

"It is with great sadness however, after looking at the viability of re-opening during the current economic climate, we have made the very difficult decision not to re-open our coffee houses in the Oak Mall and Gourock.

"We would like to thank all of our customers for their loyalty and support over the past 10 years.

"We would also like to thank our wonderful team, they gave our customers a huge welcome at each and every visit and we wish you all the very best for the future."