I left my job in Costa to start my own ‘little jewel’ coffee shop
WHEN Maurizio Pozzi sat down in a Costa Coffee e shop after being praised by an operations manager with the chain, he stared at the front doors and asked himself if he could do better.
The 37-year-old had a history of over 13 years with the company, transforming poorlyperforming branches in south Wales into thriving stores.
Having received praise for his s latest revitalisation of one of the e Costa Coffees in Swansea, the Italalian-heritage coffee fanatic decided ded he wanted to do more.
Armed with years of knowledge edge and a passion for creating an “experiperience all for the customer”, the Penllernllergaer resident wanted to take a risk and start his own independent space. ace.
“I was just tired of working for or a chain. I loved the place but I just t felt standards slipped, especially when en I was brought in to fix poorly-run -run stores. My family always encouraged aged me to start my own and it just clicked on that day.
“I wanted more. I had all the experience of starting up these successful stores but all I had to show for it was the satisfaction. I wanted a place that I could call my own,” he said.
One Sixty Coffee Bar in the heart of Port Tennant, Swansea, has been described as “a little jewel of a place” in an often forgotten part of the city, born out of Maurizio’s desire to do his own thing.
“I wanted to create a little hidden gem, somewhere people wouldn’t necessarily look, and it brings that shock factor to the area and makes people think twice about this location,” he said.
“When you look at places like Haystack Cafe [in Brynhyfryd], people will travel for good-quality food and drink. I like to think we offer that here. Location isn’t everything.”
With his father being Italian and his mother
Welsh, man y expected the owner to draw on
Italian influences when creating the coffee bar.
Instead he wanted to create an independent brand, something people wouldn’t associate with Italy but rather with the unique experience he wanted to offer, with a particular emphasis on brunch.
With their own created brand of coffee taking inspiration from Italian blends, the owner argued there was a huge gap in the location.
“I noticed the gap in the area for this kind of shop and the community around it were hugely supportive of me. I want to show that location isn’t everything, you can make it work as long as the service is there.
“People might have judgements surrounding the place, calling it ‘rough’, but that isn’t the case. I would argue the centre of Swansea is ‘rough’ but I can’t say a bad word about this area or the people,” he said.
With a loyal group of regular cus
tomers attracted by the service and food offered, the brunch-centred space has grown in popularity since its creation three years ago.
The independent coffee bar has had to increase its operating space and recruit more staff to help out.
“When we started out three years ago we were serving around 10 customers at a time,” said Maurizio.
“Now we’re at a stage where we’ve had to open another floor and outside area to help people through the door.
“I didn’t think it would grow at the rate it has. We are having to turn people away because we are just so busy. It’s why we don’t offer bookings – we have to turn over tables as soon as possible because someone is usually waiting.”
After fully reopening following the most recent lockdown, the demand has grown to such an extent that the coffee shop is having to turn people away and work is now being done to drastically alter that.
With people prepared to travel for the goods on offer, alongside a growing social media following, the business has had to employ four new staff members as well as looking for an additional set of hands for the kitchen. All the new staff are from the surrounding area.
“I’m the only one who isn’t from the area,” said Maurizio.
“Everyone new has ties in or close to Port Tennant and it’s really great that has happened. We’re also making use of the Kickstart scheme in the kitchen so that our chef can help develop the skills for any youngster in the area wanting to pursue it as a career.”
Alongside new staff, work is being done to develop the cooking area, with future plans for more equipment to help accommodate the growing demand for food so that no-one has
to wait a long time to eat.
Despite many businesses being stifled by the pandemic and still suffering from the after-effects of lockdown, Maurizio argues they were never in doubt about their own future.
“We have such a loyal following,” he said. “When we were forced to close, people supported us through it with takeaways and still do today.
“Social media has had such a huge impact for us. We get people who travel all over Wales for hours to come based on what they’ve seen online,” he said.
Because frequent lockdowns due to the pandemic prevented people from being able to venture out to new places for food and drink, social media has been a huge contributor to the success of the Eastside business.
“We’ve been supported through everything,” he said. “I think social
media has such a huge importance in the success of businesses in the hospitality industry today.
“We have food bloggers visit us all the time. They have such a huge reach and we’ve found people visit us due to the pictures and reviews they’ve seen online, and I can’t show appreciation to them enough. They’ve helped us grow and I can’t speak highly enough of them.”
New staff in addition to further improvements to the coffee bar show that success can be found in overlooked locations.
Plans for expansion and new stores are in the works, but Maurizio wants to ensure standards do not slip before venturing out into new territory.
“I’m at a position now where I can think about pursuing new locations,” he said. “That’s my goal.
“However, I don’t want to be in a
position where one place suffers from opening another.
“Ideally I would like to be in a position where I could take a step back and focus on another area, but I need to do work to get to that stage,” he added.
With his eyes set on a more popular footfall location, like Uplands, he could soon be competing directly opposite his former employer, but he wants to stress a very important message to anyone thinking of taking a gamble in opening a business.
“I know countless people with experience stuck in a position where they are comfortable but not happy,” he said.
“I took that risk off the advice of other people, and I would love to invite anyone else thinking of doing the same to do so. I want to give back in the same way that I was helped.”