Commons at Old Street Works
An innovative speciality coffee concept on City Road, East London
Commons
Commons
Commons is designed both as a public-facing coffeeshop and also as an amenity for a large office complex, operated by Riverside Capital
In the first month, pre-launch, it generated £15,000 in revenue
Our Initial Role
We were brought on by Cavendish Studios, the design firm that Riverside Capital partnered with to deliver the project. Our initial focus was delivering a menu, designing food service areas and ensuring optimal flow of the Barista area
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Our task was to provide a food menu that could work in a space without a full-service kitchen (i.e. no extraction) and could be prepared by baristas (i.e. no chefs)
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We had to select the right equipment to deliver the menu and ensure easy operation for the barista team and food safety
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We were tasked with ensuring that the flow of all service areas, especially the barista section, would ensure the most efficient operations. This way we could create an effective work environment to ease pressure on staff and increase speed of delivery of product to customers
What We Delivered
A full operations package
After our initial food presentation we were approached by the client, Riverside Capital, to take a more active role
Staff
• Conducted search, recruitment and onboarding for full team
• Set up accounting + HR support
• Training
Suppliers
• Partnered with Dark Arts for coffee and all coffee equipment
• Ensured ethical supply chains
• Working with Snapery East, Belazu, Idyll Drinks, Rare Tea Company and more
Operations
• Daily management
• Setting up PoS and ordering systems
• Ensuring compliance with DHO requirements for food safety
• Branding + Social Media
Commons: Next Steps
Given the success of the first branch Riverside is planning to rollout multiple branches
We have now been given a stake in the holding company, Commons At
We will rollout the concept to new sites, tweaking the offering to suit each location
Mad Cats
Our next project is working with Edgard Khoury & Daniella Andriesz to bring their project Mad Cats to life. It is a listening bar/restaurant in Dalston, opening q2 2024.
Stay tuned