DDC's Leader, Cllr Trevor Bartlett, with Margaret Baluta (owner of Margheritas)
Dover District Council has helped a new Mediterranean-style restaurant/deli open its doors to Deal residents and visitors with a £10,000 business grant.
The fully licenced business, called Margheritas, is located on the corner site of Middle St/ King St in Deal.
The cuisine is Italian and Mediterranean and has a wide range of plant-based and healthy eating options. Margheritas will serve hand crafted pizzas, traditional Italian hot food, Deli and Italian gelato ice-cream for ‘dine in’, ‘take-away’ and evening home delivery.
The grant contributed towards refurbishment of the dilapidated windows and fascia structures, internal renovation, flooring and lighting, turning an empty shell into a fully compliant commercial premises. The premises also benefitted from Kent's No Use Empty loan scheme which is available for both residential and commercial properties.
Margheritas is a unique family business and plans to employ six local staff. The owner is Scottish, and previously worked as an NHS nurse, health visitor and for Public Health Project before moving to Deal with her school age daughter in 2018. This helps explain why Haggis also features on the menu!
Margaret Baluta, owner of Margheritas, comments: “I am so delighted to open the new restaurant/deli in the heart of Deal. The business grant provided by Dover District Council has contributed to the renovation of this old newsagent building and has brought it back to life.
I’ve been open for just over a week now and I look forward to warmly welcoming local residents and providing them with an authentic taste of the Mediterranean”.
Cllr Trevor Bartlett, Leader of the Council, said: “DDC is pleased to be supporting another local business start-up with a £10k business grant. The Deal community has provided much needed custom and support to its local businesses this year, recognising how important it is for our district’s economy. I wish Margheritas every success as they welcome their first customers.”
DDC’s Town Centre Business Grant Scheme offers grants of up to £10,000 to bring commercial properties back into use, or to upgrade or improve the appearance of commercial properties in designated town centre areas in Dover, Deal and Sandwich. New applications are currently suspended while the council works on the Coronavirus schemes but it hopes to relaunch the grants soon.
Posted on 17 July 2020