The cafe, which opened last Friday, had taken a lot longer to fully refurbish than was anticipated.
Charlotte, from North End, began her project a month before the last lockdown was finished, but she realised it needed a lot more work than originally thought.
She said: ‘I started redecorating about a month before everyone was able to open back up, but it took way longer than we thought.’
Full English. Moggys Yard cafe, Clarendon Rd, Southsea Picture: Chris Moorhouse (jpns 250821-09)
The mum of two explained how she had owned it for years but because she was raising two children with her husband and running The Chippy, it was not feasible to try and run the cafe as well.
Now that her children are older, she is excited to have a family-run cafe and her daughter, Mia Rose, who has just left school, has been working in the cafe since it reopened.
Charlotte said: ‘My daughter is down here with me, obviously like I said when we closed, my kids were young and I couldn't do it all on my own but now my daughter has left school, she is working with me and she has been really excited about opening it and getting everything ready.
Moggys Yard cafe
Picture: Chris Moorhouse (jpns 250821-08)
‘My son comes down here with us, so it is a nice family-run business and I've got nice staff that have been with us for ages so everyone has been really excited about opening it back up.’
The project to get the cafe back up and running again cost the business owner approximately £6,000 in materials and labour across the three moments of refurbishment.
Moggy’s Yard, which sells breakfasts, lunches and jacket potatoes, now sports a sign outside, with a completely different interior, featuring a trendy neon sign and vibrant coloured tables.
She said: ‘I didn't want to rush it, I was going to get it done properly and if it took longer that was fine, that’s why it took us longer to open it.’
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