THE founder of York Cocoa House has revealed why she has closed the business suddenly - just days before Christmas.

The chocolate-focused cafe in Blake Street shut its doors at the weekend, as reported by The Press, so that the business could concentrate on production and supply of chocolate at the company’s other site, York Cocoa Works in Castlegate.

Founder Sophie Jewett has now revealed that the decision was taken quickly because the lease was coming to an end and because of the success of the manufacturing side of the business.

All staff have transferred to York Cocoa Works and no-one has been made redundant.

“When we started Cocoa House seven years ago, we always started with the notion of wanting to make chocolate,” she said.

She said it had opened at a time when there were fewer cafes in York and the business didn’t have the technical abilities to manufacture chocolate.

Once York Cocoa Works started up, the business was constantly having to transfer products and chocolate back and forth between the two sites, said Sophie.

She said the business has also started up projects with other partners in Britain and abroad.

Demand for its services and products has grown so much that it was too stretched running the Blake Street cafe as well.

“The response across the industry has really been quite overwhelming,” said Sophie.

The business is also preparing for European legislation which is set to come into effect in the New Year.

York Cocoa Works opened in Easter this year.

Both sites included cafes. Sophie said the Cocoa Works cafe is less formal than the Cocoa House establishment and enables customers to see chocolate production in progress.

In the autumn, the Castlegate site featured in the chocolate episode of the BBC2 series Made in Great Britain, along with other chocolate related venues in York.

It has also featured in an ITV4 programme.