More and more “nomadic workers” equipped with laptops, mobile phones and wi-fi access are setting up office in coffee shops. In America they have been labelled the “new Bedouin” and now the trend has spread to Britain.
The number of wireless hotspots in London has increased 160% over the last year, turning hundreds of coffee shop into working environments. Managers at Starbucks, Costas, Caffe Neros and Coffee Republics all report a growing number of customers who go there to work.
But now some coffee shops, like The Breakfast Club in London’s Soho, are so fed up with customers clogging up their tables over a couple of coffees that they are thinking of scrapping their free wi-fi services.
The Times 23/02/08 page 3
