By Angela Chicken.
I just found out that on Sunday (9/8/26) Mettricks Guildhall closes its doors for the last time. I have to tell you that I find it heart-breaking. It’s going to be a huge loss for me and I don’t know how the rest of you feel, but I’m sure some might see it as another simple business issue.
Businesses come and go, right? We’ll all get over it.
Except that Mettricks has been much more than a business to me. I’ve lived in the city for over 40 years and lost count of the enterprises that have come and gone. I always believed that if you love a place in Southampton, you’d better spend your money now and keep spending, because it will probably be gone soon. So many great places start up, give us hope and then disappear in the blink of an eye. Even when they survive, a threat comes from somewhere, as with the latest cloud hanging over Harbour Lights Cinema.
And I know that working in hospitality has never been easy. Hard work, difficult hours, slim margins. I could mention many other places I’ve had to say good-bye to over the years. So why the fuss about Mettricks and why now?
This is a personal story. I found their cafe down in the old town when my son went to St. John’s school. A great place to stop with other parents and kids after a long day, somewhere calm and friendly at the weekends to meet up, somewhere to stop for a quick cuppa in the wait to pick up my son after work.
What first touched my heart was an ice-cream Spencer (the owner) gave my son when he found out it was his birthday. There was something old-fashioned and human – something basically kind in the gift. Something that is often missing from the way business is going now. Somewhere without security guards and scanners, vigilance and mistrust.
The place became a regular haunt and through it I found out about their Bargate, Guildhall and other locations. As a working mum, trying to write, the cafes were a calm place to grab a coffee and get some work done. The staff always friendly. Usually time for a brief chat, then get on with the work.
Guildhall it was a great location to get to work and later, when I became really ill, it was part of my physio after cancer treatment. If I could manage a walk in the parks, I could reward myself with a coffee. My cancer made me look very different. People would stop me in the street and ask the nastiest questions about why I still went out. People in shops would put their change down on the counter rather than give it to me in my hand.
But Mettricks knew the old me, treated me just the same, gave me a chance to relax and build up the confidence to start going into town again. I always knew there was one place that would treat me like a human being.
I’ve been a regular for a long time and used the place to meet with friends or just to sit with a drink and read when I’m not feeling great. I could go to the John Hansard Gallery or the library with a friend and then meet up for lunch or a drink. I see people coming from Saints matches or cycling groups and events in Guildhall Square. I know people use the place for business meetings from organisations in the area. For staff lunches, too. And freelancers and students can often be seen working in there. It’s clearly a popular place. Just looking at the statement they made about their history here and you can see that they will leave a huge hole when they go.
I can’t understand why a city of our size doesn’t have more established places like this. Places with their own personality, where you feel like more than cattle when you are spending.
And I’ve been wondering overnight what it says about a cultural quarter that a place where you often can barely find a table, a place that is loved and where you see new faces and old and a really varied clientele, a place with a heart that clearly cares about showing up for our city events, can’t get a bit of support to continue.
What do I mean by support. I understand that the rent rise was a huge factor in the decision and that VAT charges have also taken their toll. If you read the Mettricks statement, I think there are things we should be asking ourselves about our own commitment to our city.
Maybe I’m naive, but how much branded slop and how many empty facades do we want here? If we are proud to come from Southampton, should we not try to stand up for the places that make it feel different? Make it feel better? Years ago we were told that no-one wanted Harbour Lights here. That Southampton wasn’t the sort of place that could support an independent cinema. We proved them wrong. These days we can’t even support a cafe.
It seems mad to me. If we are serious about culture, people need places to meet up, get to know each other, build new ventures. We have to invest in these little places, where the heart of the city is and where new ideas have the breathing space to start. Or does the cruise trade just rely on people visiting port after port with multinational shopping malls in it?
This place frustrates me sometimes. Why would we let gems like this go? In the end I don’t know whether there will be a reprieve or whether Spencer is happy to move on. Let’s imagine it’s the same old story and we all look the other way while the ship goes down.
If that’s so, the least we could do is let him and the team know what Mettricks Guildhall meant to us and say a proper thankyou for everything they contributed.
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