The family run business has taken to social media in the hope of shaming the customer
Slattery cake shop and tearooms in Whitefield(Image: Manchester Evening News)
Famous Whitefield chocolatiers Slattery has slammed a customer for leaving a £12.5k bill unpaid.
The well-known bakery and tearoom says staff completed a large order for ‘a very well-known Manchester organisation’ but is still waiting for the invoice to be paid.
Taking to social media in the hope of shaming the organisation into action, Slattery said: “As an independent family run business, we’ve spent nearly 60 years doing what we love: creating handmade chocolates, cakes and all the things that make Slattery what it is today and we genuinely love creating for other Manchester businesses. From one-off bespoke orders to larger corporate projects, we’re incredibly proud when another local name chooses to work with us.
Click here to keep up to date with the latest Family news in our newsletter
“Supporting small businesses means more than just saying you do. We currently have an outstanding invoice of £12,500 from a very well-known Manchester organisation. The work was completed, the order delivered, and the agreed 30-day payment terms have now passed by more than 60 days.”
Slattery’s post about an unpaid bill(Image: Slattery / Facebook)
It went on to explain how much the money means to independent businesses, adding: “Now, £12,500 might be small amount to a large organisation. But to an independent family business like ours, it’s a significant amount of money.
“It’s ingredients, materials, staff hours, wages, electricity and the many other costs involved in producing and delivering an order. It’s money we’ve already spent fulfilling this commitment, and money that should have been back in the business weeks ago.”
The post on Facebook explained how the family had had a ‘big debate’ over whether to name the organisation publicly and ‘whether making the situation public is actually the right thing to do’.
“We have a much more direct post sitting ready to go,” it said. “But we don’t want to create a social media storm, generate gossip or turn this into a public argument. We’d much rather resolve it professionally and move on, quite simply we just want paying.
“So, this is just a reminder, when you support small please pay on time, it just makes us happy and we can work on something else rather than chase payments.”
Slattery is renowned for its occasion cakes and expertly crafted chocolates (Image: Manchester Evening News)
Slattery added that it works ‘with some fantastic Manchester businesses’, most of whom ‘value what we do, pay within their agreed terms and make working together a pleasure’.
Just last year we reported how Slattery issued a stark warning to customers that ‘no one is safe’ amid the rising costs crippling the hospitality industry.
Bosses said the combined challenges they are now facing are ‘the worst we’ve ever experienced’ in 57 years of business.
They pointed to cocoa prices soaring to record highs, the cost of flour rising by 40 per cent, and said their own electricity bill ‘now exceeds £10,000 a month, and energy costs continue to rise’.