Beans means boom as coffee shops report roaring trade

Published on Thursday 29 October 2009 21:06

IT IS an empire built on froth but impervious nonetheless to the effects of the recession.

The number of coffee shops across Britain has grown dramatically over the past year, with Edinburgh now boasting the largest number of outlets outside London.

The number of coffee-shop chain outlets has grown by 47 per cent in the past 12 months, while the number of independents is up 12.5 per cent, according to research published today.

The study found that with 182 coffee shops, Edinburgh was, quite literally, full of beans, with owners reporting a roaring trade.

Analysts say that while the recession has cost many people their jobs, coffee chains are benefiting as business people use them to drum up possible employment and network with contacts.

Dr Eric Laurier, a human geography specialist at the University of Edinburgh, said it was no surprise the culture of caffeine and comfortable sofas should prove so popular during a recession. History, he explained, was simply repeating itself.

"Starbucks rose to prominence during the last recession, so we are following the pattern of the first wave of coffee shop arrivals," he said.

"I think that, during the hard times of a recession, people are more likely to go out for a consoling cappuccino. If someone has been made redundant, and is spending most of their time at home, a coffee shop is the ideal place for them to get out of the house and catch up with people.

"It's a venue where business people can discuss possible jobs and discuss new companies. Meeting up for a coffee is far cheaper than hiring office space, and the fact they are more women and child-friendly than some pubs is a factor."

Curzon Property Investment director James Moss said even those people still in employment appeared to have switched meetings from restaurants to coffee shops.

He said: "Because of the recession, many more business meetings are held over coffee rather than expensive meals. With a growingly mobile workforce, the rise of wi-fi has meant that more and more people can spend their days working in coffee shops."

The new research, by the Local Data Company, demonstrates just how significant a presence coffee shops – once crucibles of conversation in the 18th century, – have come to assume on our streets.

The market is expected to be worth 12 billion by 2012, with strong growth forecast for the next several years.

In Edinburgh, 58 new independent coffee shops have opened in the past year, with over 70 per cent of all outlets now "indies".

Asked by The Scotsman how business was, the capital's independent coffee shops offered glowing reports. Kilimanjaro Coffee in Newington said tables were full "90 per cent of the time", for example.

Elsewhere, David Taylor, owner of the Elephant House, where an aspiring young author called JK Rowling used to sit with pen in hand, said:

"The past year has been just great for us. It's been a bumper time.

"I think that during a recession, people have less money to spend, and so they are looking to make their income go further."

CAFFEINE CULTURE

THOUGH the rise of Starbucks and Costa is a phenomenon of the late 20th century, coffee shops have long occupied the heart of society.

The first London coffee houses opened in the 1650s. By the 18th century, there were more than 2,000 in the UK capital alone.

Famously, Lloyd's and the Stock Exchange both have their roots in coffee, with insurance underwriters meeting at Lloyd's coffee house to make themselves available to seafarers, forming Lloyd's of London.

Philosopher David Hume wrote his essays for the delectation of Edinburgh's coffee-house philosophers, while his friend Adam Smith used them for theorising the social relations he observed into a moral and economic philosophy.