Member Article

Espresso firm from York increases turnover fortyfold in just over 2 years

A York artisan coffee roaster has achieved fortyfold turnover growth in just over two years with help from York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce.

York Coffee Emporium has increased its turnover from £11k, when husband-and-wife business partners, Laurence and Philippa Beardmore, acquired the business in 2011, to a projected £500k turnover this financial year.

£80k of this has already been re-invested to acquire the latest coffee roasting technology, a packaging machine and to upgrade the premises to enhance customer service.

Now the enterprise is planning to expand its five-strong team by recruiting a part-time coffee roaster and a full-time administrator.

York Coffee Emporium imports and hand-roasts coffees from around the world and sources and sells loose speciality teas to retail customers throughout the UK, including hotels, theatres and tourist attractions in York and North Yorkshire, to wholesale buyers and individuals from as far as Cornwall and Scotland, who buy through its e-commerce site.

Laurence Beardmore, a former engineer and full-time coffee enthusiast, says: “We are growing rapidly but are not arrogant. The market for high-quality artisan coffees is expanding and we’re capitalising on this. We know we’ll have to keep doing things better to continue our expansion.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .