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Former Little Green Café employee Lucy Nicholl has hired some of her former colleagues as she transforms the now defunct social supermarket into café Ten57.

Lucy Nicholl, a former employee at The Little Green Café in Forfar, will reopen the venue and re-hire staff who lost their jobs in November.

The Little Green Café went into liquidation back in November 2023, leaving several employees without jobs.

But this month, Lucy, who worked in the café as operations manager till last summer, will be reopening the venue as new Ten57.

Plus, she has hired on two of the former staff members and plans to hire on more.

“I felt really bad for the staff,” says Lucy. “There was little to no notice when they were made redundant.

“When they came to me and asked if I would reopen the café, I said ‘yes’.

“They were completely over the moon.”

According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Scottish Parliament met in Forfar in 1057 to “confer titles on the nobility”. Lucy is building on that history with the new café name Ten57.

“It was when Forfar came into existence,” says Lucy, “I thought it would be good to share some history of Forfar.”

Lucy doesn’t believe that re-hiring the former staff makes her a hero, but she is pleased that she has been able to help them.

“I do feel like I have done something great,” admits Lucy.

“I have pulled my employees out of a really difficult situation. And I’m not sure how things would have turned out for them had I not done that.

“So I am feeling super grateful that I have been able to do that for them.

“I want to be able to go above and beyond for them, because I know that they would do the same for me.

“It’s a mutual respect between us.”

29-year-old Lucy has her own business, a HR consultancy.

She has hired on her former colleague, Maj Harris, to help with the day to day running of the café as manager.

Maj, 61, has been unemployed since she lost her job at The Little Green Café in November 2023.

“I felt gutted last year. We had no warning,” she says.

“It has been horrendous.”

The last five months have been a very tough time for her, but Lucy’s good deed has helped to lift her spirits.

“I was really ecstatic when I heard,” she says, “thank goodness for Lucy!

“I can’t wait to be working here again, and to see all the regular customers that we had before.”

The Little Green Café was a social supermarket in Forfar which aimed to tackle food waste.

The new café, Ten57, will not be a community enterprise but will serve a range of typical café fair, like paninis, toasties and home baking.

“I really believe in the purpose,” says Lucy.

“I think there is a need for a café and space for people to come to in Forfar.”

The opening hours are Tuesday-Saturday 9-3pm. Lucy’s long-term plan is to expand the café into a bistro in the future.