Save our speciality coffee shops campaign

This is a moment for independents to stand together.

This is a moment for independents to stand together. Your voice matters and adding it to the growing chorus could help save our speciality coffee shops.

SOS Save our speciality coffee campaign — Nick (left) and Peter (right)

Join the fight

As you’ll be aware, there’s been a lot of noise in the media about making business rates and VAT fairer for pubs, but independent cafes and roasteries lack a voice in this debate despite facing the same business struggles.

That’s why we’ve launched the SOS campaign (Save our Speciality Coffee Shops). We know that, as a hub for independent cafes and roasteries across the UK, we can be a point of focus to help them work together to make their voices heard.

The speciality industry working collectively

The story began when our founder Nick Cooper and Peter Dore-Smith of the Kaffeine group of speciality coffee shops in London had a conversation about how crazy it was that the government was supporting pubs yet not giving coffee shops the same support. The result is that some of these cafes will, inevitably, go to the wall.

The network of small, independently owned coffee shops across the UK is run by local people who provide employment, pay tax, support local producers and are community hubs themselves. They’re competing with the likes of Costa Coffee, which is propped up its owners The Coca-Cola Company. It’s not a level playing field.

Barren high streets

Once independent coffee shops have disappeared from our high streets, all we’ll be left with are cafes serving commodity-grade coffee, run by multinational corporations whose objective is to make money for their shareholders while avoiding paying tax.

Make some f*ing noise!**

The SOS campaign encourages independent cafes and roasteries to make some noise. We’ve created a letter template to send to local MPs, highlighting the real pressures that independent speciality coffee businesses are facing and inviting them to visit, listen, and help drive meaningful change.

Calling cafe and roastery owners!

If hundreds of small, owner-operated cafes and roasteries send a personalised version of this letter to their MP, it becomes impossible for them to ignore the reality of what’s happening on our high streets.

The letter explains:
· The challenges independent cafes face daily
· The vital role businesses like yours play in your community
· Why urgent action is needed on business rates and VAT
· An invitation for your MP to visit your cafe and hear directly from you, your customers, and your suppliers

A moment for independents to stand together

All you need to do is personalise the highlighted sections of the letter with your details, then print and post or email it to your MP. Of course, feel free to tailor the email to your own specific concerns – but the template is a starting point.

It only takes a few minutes, but the collective impact could be huge. You can look up your MP’s contact details here.

This is a moment for independents to stand together. Your voice genuinely matters and adding it to the growing chorus could make a real difference.

You can access the letter template and instructions here.

Follow the campaign on Instagram and use #soscoffeecampaign and #saveourspecialitycoffee – check in regularly for campaign updates as things are developing all the time.