A couple have turned lockdown stress into commercial success with the launch of their own mobile coffee business.
Husband and wife Barbara and Richard Weir brewed-up the plans during the first 海角视频-wide coronavirus lockdown.
And having found the perfect blend the pair have now launched the Black Middens Coffee Company based in their home village of Tynemouth.
Working from a converted 1978 Citroen HY van nicknamed Connell after the hero in the hit BBC drama Normal People, Mr and Mrs Weir have taken on a permanent pitch in Tynemouth’s Sea View car park overlooking the River Tyne and the notorious Black Middens reef their business is named after.
And despite launching in the midst of the coldest winter for a decade, business has been booming, with the couple taking more in sales on the first day of opening than Mrs Weir earned in a month in her previous job as a receptionist.
Mr Weir said: “It was -2C that first day and we really didn’t know what to expect. But we had done our homework, spent many hours at all times of the day and night at the car park watching the footfall, canvassed walkers and drivers on whether they would welcome the addition of a mobile coffee van, and established there was a market.
“Despite the cold weather people have been continuing to get out and about and the support has been phenomenal.”
The couple have tapped into a growing craving for caffeine during lockdown. Whilst many hospitality businesses have struggled over the past 12 months, Brits have developed a lust for coffee on the go as they take their daily exercise.
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It was seeing the number of socially-distanced walkers with take-out drinks that first sparked the idea in Mrs Weir’s mind to launch a mobile coffee van when she was put on furlough last March.
“I thought the Sea View car park would be the ideal spot, so I contacted North Tyneside Council to see if we could get a trading licence, but there weren’t any available. I decided to apply anyway, and then in August last year the council got back and said we could have one.”
The couple spent £15,000 on buying the Citroen van which Mr Weir fitted out, saving them as much again in labour and equipment costs. The pair also undertook barista training with Tynemouth Coffee Company, whose Black Midden coffee they serve.
The business supports other local artisans, most notably North Shields-based cake firm Baked with Love by Laura and Byker’s Belly of the Beast.
The Black Middens Coffee Company is open seven days a week and Mrs Weir says it has quickly established itself as more than just somewhere to buy a hot drink on a cold day. “We have become a meeting place for locals. What has been apparent from the lockdowns is how many lonely people there are who have no-one to talk to.
“We now have our regulars and it’s obvious that for many those few minutes chatting with us as they buy their coffee is a highlight of their day. The van gives us the chance to be compliant with the lockdown rules while still bringing people together over a coffee or tea and a slice of cake. I think we’ve been a bit of a lifeline for some people.”
Mrs Weir has now left her pre-lockdown job and together she and her husband are concentrating on growing their fledgeling business, which has already taken on its first part-time employee to help cover weekends.
“Without lockdown, it would be fair to say we would never have taken the plunge and launched our own coffee business,” Mrs Weir added.