Sunderland restaurant D'Acqua goes up for sale as owners 'test the water'

Taking to the business’s social media pages, the owners of D’Acqua in John Street, Jimmy and Hannah Shadforth, issued a statement to say they are “testing the water” by putting the restaurant on the market with specialist estate agent Christie & Co – but have reassured customers it’s business as usual until any potential sale is made.

The announcement from the restaurant, which specialises in English, French and Italian cuisine, reads: “We would like to announce this news personally before any gossip/rumour mills start happening. This will come of a great shock to most of you, but we are offering our business which has been trading over 11 years to be up for sale.

“This has been a really hard decision to make but we feel we need to at least 'test the water' to see if we can. We have been talking about our future plans for a while and we feel now is the right time to put those in motion. The business is doing great and the restaurant will be put to the market as a 'going concern'.

“We aren't in a hurry to sell and by no means are we failing or anything like that. We just feel the time is right to start planning for our future. We will continue to put 110% into what we offer at d'acqua.

“Ourselves and the team will never want to change that. The staff whom have been informed of this decision can be rest assured their jobs are secure. We want to hopefully find suitable new owners to take over and keep d'acqua being the success it is.

“Myself and Hannah will be eternally grateful to all of you for your custom. We hope this decision will not put you off supporting the business as you always have. We will still be here offering what we always have until such time of change. You will all be updated with any further information.”