Grounds for optimism as coffee shop chain bucks downturn
COMPANY TAKES ‘A BIG RISK’ AND CONTINUES EXPANSION DURING LOCKDOWN
THE boss of an independent coffee shop chain says it has bucked the downturn in the hospitality sector and come back fighting as the UK opens up again.
The owner of Leicester-based Bru Coffee and Gelato said it was reaping the rewards of the determination shown over the past 18 months and its ability to adapt the way it works since.
As well as making improvements and streamlining operations at its store in Granby Street, Leicester, Bru has continued with its national ambitions.
Since the first coffee shop in 2014, it has opened five more across the UK and has bold ambitions to increase franchises over the next few years.
The group even opened two stores during the pandemic – in Reading and London’s Docklands – something managing director Junaid Makda accepts was a big risk.
He said: “We had big ambitions for the expansion of Bru and we decided early on to remain committed to driving forward with our plans.
“We completely refurbished two of our stores – in Leicester and Walthamstow – and we also brought forward maintenance work at our other stores to utilise the downtime, turning the challenge into an opportunity.
“The experiential element is important to Bru and customers are loving the newly refurbished stores.
“There is a real buzz around Bru in Granby Street and I think this will only increase as more and more people start coming back into the city centre.
“In addition, we invested in our head office team to better support our stores through the challenging times. We also invested heavily into product development, technology and packaging tailored towards the changing consumer habits and trends.
“This allowed us to adapt our stores to offer a delivery and takeaway service rather than just eating or drinking in.
“This service remains a strong income stream for the business.
“People asked me – are you mad? And I responded, well, yes – I suppose we are! But actually, it was the absolute right decision for Bru.
“Our store at Canada Water, London, opened in August 2020 and Bru Reading opened in December.
“Both are doing really well and are proving that sometimes in business you have to take the risks to reap the rewards.
“If you look back seven years to when we opened our Leicester store, Granby Street was full of closed or closing shops.
“It is now a popular destination for cafes and restaurants and has a real European street cafe culture.
“We like to think that we have contributed to this.
“But if we hadn’t looked past the negatives and driven forward with our venture then we wouldn’t be where we are today.
“We now want to replicate this success across the UK and we didn’t want the pandemic to stop us from moving forward and expanding our business.
“One of the things that we have noticed is that there has been a massive increase in customers visiting as groups or families from across multiple households.
“People are enjoying the return to normality and are choosing to socialise in larger numbers.
“There have also been differences across the different outlets. Our store in Cardiff in particular has specific challenges to face as the regulations are different in Wales but they also are responding well.
“Having stores across the UK gives us a much greater level and understanding of market intelligence.
“The more we grow, the stronger we seem to become.
“Time will tell what the future holds but if we can come through the past 18 months in a stronger position then I think we can get through anything.”
If we can come through the past 18 months in a stronger position, I think we can get through anything Junaid Makda