The Coaching Inn Group has launched a debut standalone coffee shop as the company bids to grow a “fourth income stream”.
Last year the company purchased The Feathers in Ledbury, Herefordshire, which had a meeting room, that has now been relaunched as a dedicated coffee shop.
The site produced a 300% increase on coffee sales for the first full seven days of trading.
Chief executive Kevin Charity said: “We wanted to create a fourth income stream to go alongside the wet, food and accommodation, something more than just an add-on. We’re aiming for £10,000 a week turnover on our standalone coffee shop concept and, regarding acquisitions, we’re looking for sites that can house a coffee shop. The idea is to push a premium coffee offer. We’re at the higher end of proposition in our market towns, our drink and food offers are premium and that’s the way we want our coffee. We want to steal back the heart of the community and be the number-one choice on the high street.
“We have the perfect venues and the best square footage in every market square, plus our teams are already there preparing breakfast service so to sweat every daypart makes sense, bringing in coffee has solved that problem. We’re now as busy in the mornings as we are at lunchtime and we’ve created an afternoon tea trade on the back of it. If people enjoy their coffee experience with us they can come back for the other experiences we offer. Afternoon tea, for example, has gone massive since we launched the offer, far bigger than we thought possible. It’s getting people to come back and use us as a one-stop-shop, whether that’s coffee in the morning or after school, weddings, parties, christenings, we want to provide that community offering – and coffee will contribute massively.”
Charity said the company’s two-year review of its coffee offer had led to a 20% increase in coffee and patisserie sales across the estate, with sales 1,100% higher than the pub market average.
