Harry Potter cafe left in limbo after fire damageon July 29, 2022 at 5:10 am

A cafe where JK Rowling wrote parts of her Harry Potter books cannot reopen because the building’s owner has gone into liquidation, the BBC understands.

The Elephant House cafe was one of several properties badly damaged in a blaze on George IV Bridge in Edinburgh in August last year.

Cafe owner David Taylor said no work had been carried out to repair the building and he was left in limbo.

Liquidator Mike Solomons said it was “addressing issues” around the fire.

Mr Taylor, who has 12 years remaining on his lease at the property, said his insurance company had signed off £350,000 to renovate the cafe after the fire.

But he cannot proceed with the work until the structure of the central Edinburgh block has been made safe.

The five-storey building damaged by the fire houses a number of other businesses such as the Oz Bar, Merchants restaurant and rental flats. They all remain shut.

The part of the property which housed the Elephant House cafe and the Patisserie Valerie next door was owned by the family-run Tonstate Group, which went into liquidation shortly after the fire last year.

Mr Solomons, the liquidator, told BBC Scotland his company would try to help the building owners and tenants “as soon as possible”.

But it has left the business owners worried about when they will be able to reopen.

Mr Taylor told BBC Scotland the situation had “become a nightmare”.

He said: “I’ve been inundated with emails and letters from Harry Potter fans asking when the cafe will be reopening and I don’t know what to tell them as the liquidator hasn’t returned my calls.

“I’ve also sent a lawyer’s letter to them but I’ve still had nothing back from them.

“Nobody in the building can start refurbishing until structural engineers are appointed by the building owner. The building owner has done nothing for almost a year now.”

Currently Mr Taylor has metal scaffolding holding up the ceiling of his cafe, which was put in as an emergency and temporary measure by City of Edinburgh Council.

It is believed the fire started in the Patisserie Valerie cafe – which also has a basement that runs underneath The Elephant House.

The alarm was raised shortly after 06:00 on 24 August by a cleaner at The Elephant House.

A firefighter was taken to hospital following the blaze, flats were evacuated and the street was closed for a week.

The front room of Elephant House was gutted in the blaze and the back room, which included Rowling’s table, was damaged by smoke and water.

JK Rowling’s table was later salvaged and has now been restored.

The Elephant House was one of two used regularly by Rowling when she was writing the stories of the boy wizard in the mid-90s.

She wrote in The Elephant House in 1996 and 1997, after her first Harry Potter book was published, and often sat at the antique wooden table.

The company which owned the property went into liquidation following a serious family dispute involving property executive Edward Wojakovski and the Tonstate Group, which he owned with his former father-in-law, Arthur Matyas.

The dispute between Mr Wojakovski and his ex-wife’s family is over funds they claim he took from the Tonstate Group.

High Court rulings show Mr Wojakovski admitted to extracting money from the group but argued it was with the extended family’s agreement.

In 2019, he was ordered to repay almost £13m. A freezing order was imposed in 2020 and he was declared bankrupt.

Mr Matyas, also admitted to taking money from the Tonstate companies and agreed to repay the money in 2020.

Mr Taylor said: “I feel really angry and upset that we can’t start refurbishing works because we’ve been caught up in a wealthy family dispute.”

A spokeswoman for Mike Solomons said: “The liquidators understand that the fire at George IV Bridge has left the property owners and tenants in an extremely distressing and frustrating situation.

“Unfortunately, the fire occurred prior to the liquidators’ appointment, however the liquidators have and are continuing to seek to address the issues surrounding the fire to try and assist the property owners and tenants as soon as possible.”