A new joint venture partnership plans to bring a new coffee house concept to Manchester, creating over 20 jobs for the city.
The Foundation Coffee House will launch in the city centre this autumn and is the result of a longstanding relationship between Northern Quarter based design studio NoChintz and regional entrepreneur Adam Chapman – founder of the Heald Green based QDos Fitness gym. Together, the team will invest over £0.4m in the creation of the business.
Fusing of skills
Outlining the venture and proposition, NoChintz and Foundation Coffee House’s operations director Dominic Beardwell said: “This is the perfect partnership and one which will bring a new café concept to Manchester. It’s about taking the best of our skills from NoChintz – strategy, interior design, branding and communications – and fusing them with Adam’s own business prowess along with his extensive coffee knowledge – thus, creating the perfect business blend.”
Identifying best in class
Since embarking on its venture, the team have researched extensively including travels across key cities over the world to identify the best in class and refine its proposition, as Adam Chapman explained: “I have always had a great interest in coffee, the making of the drink, the cultures and history behind it, so it’s been an absolute delight to extend my knowledge with this project. I look forward to implementing what I’ve learnt.”
Meanwhile, the project’s creative director Natalie Gray has been exploring the best of the world’s café concepts, something which has helped refine the distinct plans for the inaugural 3,500 sq ft space: “While Adam’s been expanding his knowledge of coffee, my team’s been exploring the environment and process in which it should be served,” she said.
“We’ve visited some of the world’s best cafes and social spaces – taking the lead from those
in New York, Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen and London. This has helped us fuse new ideas with concepts already established internationally; I can’t wait to unveil the completed space.”
Location and team
The team is now focusing on finalising the location of the inaugural coffee house as well as assembling its management team, as Dominic continued: “We’re at a pivotal time for the business. We’ll shortly be able to announce the location of the first Foundation Coffee House and we’ll be launching our recruitment programme – I expect it will create up to 12 jobs in the first instance but look forward to recruiting more great people as we grow and look to new locations”
The Foundation Coffee House will launch in Autumn 2014.