FLIRT – the cafe bar whose success was credited with transforming Bournemouth’s Triangle – was closed yesterday as staff were briefed by new owners.

Adam Jackson said he and Michael Gelardi had bought the assets of the business out of administration and that it would be open today.

The cafe had been owned for around 18 months by Shaan Hussain, who said he had been losing money on the business.

There have been signs on the premises for some time saying customers could only pay in cash.

Mr Jackson said yesterday that the business would continue, with all the staff kept on.

“We’ve taken a new 10-year lease on the premises and the store premises over the road,” he said.

“The reason we had to shut today is because we had to do a stock-take and we wanted to reassure staff that their jobs were safe.”

Flirt was started in 2011 by Rob Hazell and Peter Moody, who had run the cafe bar Legend in Bourne Avenue before going on to found the Shakeaway chain.

The success of the venue, in the space under Bournemouth Library, was credited with helping rejuvenate the area, with Starbucks subsequently moving in a few doors away.

Mr Jackson said: “People love Flirt. They love the business and love the quirkiness of it.

“We aren’t going to be taking away from what Flirt is at its heart. We really want to position it back in the centre of the community. I hear a lot of people saying they loved it when Peter and Rob were here.”

Mr Jackson, who grew up in Dorchester and has been in Bournemouth for around 10 years, has worked in entertainment and marketing.

He was featured on the BBC Three series Young, Dumb and Living Off Mum in 2010. “It was a scripted reality show 10 years ago. I’ve done a lot of other shows,” he said.

Mr Gelardi has been involved in the Boisdale restaurants and jazz cafes in London.

Last December, Flirt closed suddenly for two days, with a sign on the door warning: “These premises have today been seized on the authority of the landlord.”

But the notice was addressed to Flirt Cafe Bar at 15 The Triangle – another premises which the business was using for storage. Mr Hussain said the debt collectors had confused the cafe with the storage unit, on which he had been withholding rent because of a dispute.