The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
New cafe is on track for success
Business: Judges line up railway station coffee shop for top awards
A railway station coffee shop on the Aberdeen-Inverness line has captured the attention of judges behind two prestigious UK awards.
Coco Works, run by Jennie and George Lawson on the platform at Inverurie station, will find out later this month if they have won one of the Association of Community Rail Partnerships’ (ACoRP) 2013 Community Rail Awards.
Their business is one of five contenders in ACoRP’s category for best use of station buildings.
They are also hoping to triumph at the annual National Railway Heritage Awards, being presented later this year.
Coco Works has been a long project for the Lawsons, who started making plans for the business nearly six years ago. Mr Lawson said: “When our daughter moved up to secondary school, we came up with the idea of getting my wife back to gainful employment by opening a coffee shop in Inverurie.”
But their plan to set up shop at the local railway station quickly hit the buffers.
Mr Lawson said: “I got in touch with the landlord/ only to be told that because of a large project about to be started at Aberdeen – Union Square – rail staff had been temporarily moved out to all the spare rooms at Inverurie.”
The Lawsons spent the next two years wondering if they should wait, look elsewhere or forget it, while a dozen little cafes opened in the town.
When an old waiting room finally became available at the railway station, their first impressions were not good.
“It had been used as a storage area and left to deteriorate,” saidMr Lawson, adding: “When we looked beyond the rubbish we noticed an elegant room, with a vaulted ceiling and half wood panelling, and an old toilet... with traditional railway tiles.”
Work started last December and Coco Works opened in May.
Employing two full-time staff, besides Mrs Lawson, and three part-timers, the shop is open six days a week.
Mr Lawson said: “It was an exciting and exhilarating project, watching the scruffy old rooms transform into a beautiful coffee shop. We continue to refine our offering and enhance the surroundings to the delight of our customers.”