Member Article

Rugby players turned entrepreneurs bring coffee concept to Manchester

Warrington-based Jon Wilkin and Manchester-based Mark Flanagan are both professional rugby league players who decided to make their second love of coffee into a business.

Their new venture, Pot Kettle Black, has seen them combine a full rugby training schedule for St Helens with 50 - 60 hour weeks in their shop.

Aiming for a turnover of £250 - £300k in their first year they are ambitious and want to grow year on year.

Their plan is to have 2 to 4 sites within years 4 - 6 of the business.

Jon became interested in coffee when he visited a roasting house and realised that the ‘coffee’ he’d been drinking hadn’t been good coffee.

He decided that he wanted to educate others on the merits of good coffee and realised that as a popular beverage there was a great business opportunity to be had.

The idea brewed for two years, with a pop up shop in Spinningfields.

His business now offers speciality coffee from ethical sources specially dried and roasted.

Pot Kettle Black cost £80-£100k to set up, the budget is still ongoing as they have only been open now for five weeks.

Despite such a short time, business is going well with turnovers better than expected and a constant stream of customers.

They are very fortunate to be located in the Barton Arcade in Deansgate, not only is the building itself full of personality but it is right next to the two largest footfall areas in Manchester.

Their free wifi and 40 plug sockets are meant to encourage people to work from their shop or conduct meetings while enjoying coffee that they feel is superior to high street chains.

Jon said, “Manchester coffee scene is over run by chains, for a city this size you’d expect there to be more coffee shops.”

He added that he really admired the work that their direct, competitors, other independent coffee shops do.

Jon and Mark both see Pot Kettle Black as “everything we wanted in a coffee shop in Manchester, a comfortable place with real warmth and superior flavour coffee.”

When asked about whether visitors came because of who they were, Jon said he was conscious not to leverage his sporting side, he felt it was uncool to talk yourself up too much.

While rugby fans have travelled to visit the shop and they are grateful for their support their main clientele is people who work in Manchester.

Mark said it was his passion for coffee and hospitality that combined to make a good business decision.

He saw a gap in the market in a heavy footfall area and saw the chance to bring something different.

He went on to say “I believe we are serving the best coffee around, we wanted a place with character away from the coffee chain feel that saturate the market.

“We want the Barista to remember your order and be after more than the money in your pocket”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Taha .