Cafe Coco is a famous restaurant in Oxford (England). The owner, Clinton Pughnone other than the father of Florence Pugh, who rose to fame from her starring role Midsummer, in which she plays a girl kidnapped by a cult. The 27-year-old actress and Valentino muse recently used her own earnings to save the family business, the newspaper revealed. Daily Mail.

Shortly before Christmas 2022, Café Coco’s entry dropped drastically. Of course, it’s not because of the food: this place on Cowley Road has been famous since 1992 for its food. Tzatziki and its Greek-inspired cuisine. But customers stopped coming because of the city’s new policy, said Clinton Pugh, 64.

About a few months ago, Oxford has implemented measures aimed at reducing road traffic in the city centre. This experimental measure called Reduced Traffic Neighborhood (LTN) introduces a road filter around the historic center that only allows the circulation of taxis and ambulances. The city council decided to make it permanent, causing a real uprising among merchants. About a hundred people gathered in front of the city hall to protest the move, which they said was responsible for reducing the attractiveness of their business premises.

When invited to speak at the meeting that decided to retain the act, he stated: “I have seen a huge decline in my shops and businesses. I was one of the oldest businessmen on Cowley Road. I had to get rid of one of my businesses because I was late with payments rent and lost hundreds of thousands of pounds. We are still struggling, and if you walk around Cowley Road and St Clements you will see that almost 10% of businesses have closed, many of them being replaced by others hoping to try their luck and who in the end will also close.

The new city policy impacts one of three Clinton Pugh-run restaurants in Oxford. Kazbar and Cafe Coco remain open, but have experienced a decline. In his speech, the businessman told the city council that he could no longer afford to pay his employees in time for the 2022 holidays. To everyone’s surprise, he stated that his daughter “already paid the bill for him,” according to Daily Mail.

Florence Pugh herself worked at Cafe Coco when she was 17 years old. Some time ago, the actress encouraged her Instagram followers to visit her father’s restaurant and try his tapas and mojitos.

Original article published by Vanity Fair France. Access Here.