Popular board game cafe in Peterborough city centre announces closure - ahead of relocation plan
A popular city centre cafe offering customers the chance to play board games while they dine, has announced the closure of its current site.
The Dice Box Cafe will close its Bridge Street premises on Wednesday, September 3 – ahead of plans to move to another location, yet to be revealed.
The business, which has been at the two-storey site for almost three years, offers an impressive library of about 650 board games for their customers to choose from.
The current owners, Dane and Becky Richards, were the first to buy into the Dice Box franchise, which began in Leamington Spa. They opened the Bridge Street cafe in December 2022.
On Thursday, August 28, they put out a post via their Facebook group announcing their relocation plans.
“After an amazing run on Bridge Street, it’s nearly time for us to pack up the dice and move on to the next chapter,” they wrote.
“This weekend will be our LAST weekend at our Bridge Street café, as we’ll be closing the doors for the final time on Wednesday 3rd September.
“But don’t worry – this isn’t “goodbye”... it’s just “see you soon”!”
Speaking to the Peterborough Telegraph, director Dane Richards explained: “We are looking to relocate to a better suited premises. As a family business we have a small dedicated team of game lovers who really enjoy sharing their love for tabletop gaming with the city. Both Becky and I started this here in Peterborough because we wanted to be able to provide a space for people of any age or background to come together, play great games and have something to eat and drink.
“The unit here on Bridge street has been great, but it's not really suited to what we want to do.
"Having two floors was a wonderful addition but we want to consolidate it all together so people can have access to the library no matter where they're sat in the cafe. We do have a couple of locations in mind within Peterborough but we want to make sure they're right for us and our customers, therefore there will be a short period where we are not trading to allow us to get this right.”
For anyone with concerns their departure will leave an empty premises in the heart of the city centre, Dane added: “There is a fantastic new business taking over the premises and will be up and running in a short time.
"The new lease holders have run successful businesses within Peterborough City Centre for many years and are very excited to be doing something else in the city. They've got a fantastic concept that I'm also excited about visiting. I won't steal their thunder and say any more, but you'll likely hear from them soon.”
Regarding their final weekend at the Bridge Street unit, Dane said: “We’d love for you to join us for one more game (or three) at Bridge Street this weekend (August 3-31) – let’s fill it with laughter, memories, and plenty of dice rolls!”
He added: “Thank you for being part of our journey so far – we couldn’t do this without you!”