‘Amazing’ first few months for Northampton coffee house since opening in July

A Northampton coffee house has had an “amazing” first few months since opening in July.

No. 68 Coffee House, in King Edward Road, has been on a “massive learning experience” since it first opened its doors to customers, and has spent time getting to know the needs of the Abington community.

25-year-old Kraig Bailey, a barista at the coffee house, said: “We’ve absolutely loved getting to know the locals and with a background in hospitality, I have loved working at No. 68 so far. We have been welcomed in by Abington with open arms.”

The coffee house’s main aim was to “sell great coffee and cakes” and now that has been achieved, they are looking to introduce a new food menu early next year.

The success of the business has seen the number of staff double from three to six and as a food offering is on the horizon, No. 68 will be expanding the team even further.

“Without the locals’ support, we wouldn’t be here so we want to thank them,” said Kraig. “They want to watch us grow and succeed, and we are now a pillar of the community.

“We see neighbours come and meet up in our coffee house and as I’m out on the floor, I serve a lot of the same people time and time again – they love coming back.”

The team’s fondest memories so far have been the opening day, which Kraig described as a “special time where all the hard work came together”, and their Halloween event.

Opening day saw between 200 and 300 people join them and the Halloween event, where families were welcomed for balloon making and face painting, saw over 100 visit the venue.

Kraig says the biggest challenge when starting out was “finding exceptional people to look after customers” and now they have a strong team, the next challenge is putting together the food menu and finding chefs to make it a reality.

Setting up a business during a difficult time financially for the country has seen “complications” for No. 68 Coffee House, but they will “always keep costs low so customers can enjoy themselves without any guilt,” said Kraig.

The coffee house has a number of exciting events coming up, including wreath making, cocktail masterclasses, and baby first aid, which you can find out more about on their Instagram.