The coffee business making a difference in the community – one cup at a time

Founded with a vision to do more than just serve great coffee, Conscientious Coffee aims to make a real difference to people's lives.

Through its award-winning Supper Club and Work First programmes, the business – led by owner David Verschoor – is able to serve its community while building a sustainable business model at the same time.

The Supper Club initiative provides nutritious meals and friendly conversation to combat social isolation and loneliness, especially among the elderly, disabled and minority communities. It's having a significant positive impact on people's physical and mental health.

Meanwhile, the business' Work First Programme aims to remove the barriers that prevent people from getting into employment, by offering career paths through its strategic partnerships, sponsorships and grant funding.

How Grow London Local helped David

Conscientious Coffee was seeking assistance with landlords and rent negotiations, so Grow London Local put David in touch with Property Advice Services (PAS). PAS offers a comprehensive one-stop-shop commercial property advice service.

Watch the video to find out about David's story. 

Transcript

Tell us about your business.

Conscientious Coffee is a small business. We've got one shop. It's me and a partner. We've been running it for almost 10 years.

We're in an NHS environment. And over the years, we've developed a Supper Club. So we cook dinner for between 20 and 30 residents every other week on a Thursday afternoon. Everyone comes in, it's free. And it's a way of engaging with our community.

What are some challenges you face as a business owner?

So we've had lots of challenges over the last few years. Ours is a footfall problem really. Keeping it sustainable, making enough profit to pay staff.

How has Grow London Local helped your business?

Grow London Local has helped us in a sense of… We had an online meeting – myself, Ahu, who's my business partner, and Geoffrey. Geoffrey's linked us in with a couple of different organisations.

Because we were looking for another unit, another property, he's introduced us to a property company that specialises in helping small businesses. And also we would like to find some grant farm funding if we can for the Supper Club.

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