Coffee #1 is a British

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

chain that originated in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 2001, and since 2019 has been majority owned by

Caffè Nero Caffè Nero is an Italian-influenced coffeehouse company headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1997 by Gerry Ford, currently the company runs more than 1,000 coffee houses in eleven countries: the UK, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Cyprus, Croat ...

. Coffee#1 has outlets along the

M4 corridor The M4 corridor is an area in the United Kingdom adjacent to the M4 motorway, which runs from London to South Wales. It is a major high-technology hub. Important cities and towns linked by the M4 include (from east to west) London, Slough, Brackne ...

, with others in Wales and southern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

History

Coffee #1 was co-founded in 2000 by James Shapland, Anthony Shapland, David Jones, and Maryanne Tagney Jones. James Shapland was appointed Managing Director in 2002 and was majority shareholder when the business was sold in 2011. Jones and Tagney Jones, both based in Washington State, USA, remained minority shareholders and non-executive directors until the sale in 2011. Coffee#1 opened its first coffee shop in 2001 on Wood Street, Cardiff, and had three shops by the end of that year. Shapland grew the company to become a market leader across

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

and

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities and ...

. The company won the Cafe Society's Coffee Bar Chain of the Year award in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 and the Beverage Service Association's 'Best UK Coffee Chain' in 2009. Coffee 1 - Wood Street, Cardiff - 19279125176 38b566aa9a o

Coffee 1 - Wood Street, Cardiff - 19279125176 38b566aa9a o

In the autumn of 2011, Coffee#1 was bought by the Cardiff brewery company SA Brain, who wished to diversify from their pub business. The move was seen as a symptom of the tough trading conditions in the beer market. Brains had previously had

Costa Coffee Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Dunstable, England. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. ...

outlets in several of its pubs. In 2013 another nine outlets were added and in 2014 sales grew by 55%. In April 2015 the company opened their 50th outlet, in

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufac ...

, Hampshire, giving them a total workforce of 380. At the end of 2015 the chain included 57 coffee shops across Wales and parts of southern and central England. The company planned to open another 15 in 2016. In mid-2018, SA Brain announced that they wished to sell a majority stake in Coffee#1, after a strategic review. In January 2019,

bought a 70% stake in the business, which at that time had 92 outlets.

References

External links

* {{UK Food Coffeehouses and cafés in the United Kingdom Restaurants established in 2001 Companies based in Cardiff 2001 establishments in Wales