Ancoats Coffee Co is opening a second city centre venue

Ancoats Coffee Co is opening a second venue in Manchester city centre within one of Bruntwood Works’ Pioneer buildings, at 111 Piccadilly. Following a major refurbishment, the building on Piccadilly Approach, will unveil its new look in Spring 2020. Ancoats Coffee Co will be located on the ground floor serving wholesome food and coffee to the customers in the building as well as the general public. 

It’s definitely more than a coffee shop. They’ve built a community around a love of real coffee and wholesome food

Ancoats Coffee Co has been operating from a single dedicated roastery-cafe in Royal Mills, Ancoats since 2015. The company, founded in 2013 as a small batch independent roaster, began after the founder fell in love with Melbourne cafe culture, after having worked there as a barista. 

Their philosophy is to source and roast ‘speciality’ grade coffee beans from accredited importers, who share their ethos for sourcing ethically, sustainably and in season.  A member organisation of the Speciality Coffee Association (SCA), the team supply and work with numerous cafes, restaurants, bars and offices across the North West, UK and EU. Ancoats Coffee Co also retail coffees globally through their website, distribute and install coffee equipment for several major manufacturers, and offer consultancy and training services. 

The team is looking to replicate the success of the cafe-roastery within Royal Mills and continue their mission of making better, locally-roasted coffee available to the people of Manchester with the same level of detail and high-quality food and drink offerings. 

Bruntwood Works creates, owns and manages inspiring workspace environments across Manchester, Cheshire, Leeds, Liverpool and Birmingham. Adding retail and other amenities to the ground floors and shared areas is a key principle of Bruntwood Works’ Pioneer building transformation project to support to wellbeing, work/life balance and to create welcoming arrival experiences. 

111 Piccadilly is on target to achieve Platinum standard WELL certification - the first co-working space in the UK to be recognised with this accreditation. The building will feature advanced technology at its core with sensors monitoring air quality, space utilisation and energy usage. Customer health and wellbeing will be improved with features including a cutting-edge circadian lighting system, which is designed to create a natural environment regulating a 24-hour cycle of sleep, wake, hunger, alertness, hormone release, and body temperature. 

Andrea George, director of retail and leisure at Bruntwood Works said: “Ancoats Coffee Co will enable us to open the building’s doors to the public and help create a vibrant and welcoming space for people to enjoy. We love what they’ve created in Ancoats, it’s definitely more than a coffee shop. They’ve built a community around a love of real coffee and wholesome food.

“The wellbeing of our customers is a top priority and the amazing communal spaces at 111 Piccadilly have been designed to support this. We wanted to partner with an independent coffee operator that shared our ethos for sustainable practices and enhancing wellbeing. 

“We know that embedding hospitality in our buildings gives people a whole new experience of work and lifestyle. We don’t want to purely offer a space for food and drink, we want to work with vibrant hospitality companies that will offer something unique within Bruntwood Works’ spaces. Ancoats Coffee Co will most certainly do just that.” 

Jamie Boland from Ancoats Coffee Co said: "We’re thrilled to start the next phase of growth for the company and at the opportunity to work alongside Bruntwood Works within this exciting project.

“Being positioned within Bruntwood Works’ 111 Piccadilly will enable us to reach out to another part of the city from within an innovative and iconic building. The area around Piccadilly train station has historically been dominated by chain-operations and we're really excited to bring an alternative, local and independent choice to workers and commuters alike.

"Sustainability is at the core of what we do and to be located in a building with WELL accreditation further emphasises this. As a company, Bruntwood Works understand what we’re about and they want to help bring our ethos and enthusiasm for coffee to their customers and beyond.”

All of the new features within 111 Piccadilly, including the 200ft interactive lighting scheme, have been designed to innovate and improve customers’ experience. 

111 Piccadilly is part of Bruntwood Work’s £50m customer-focused Pioneer programme, aimed at reinventing a number of key buildings across the North and Midlands, from meeting spaces to full floors of workspace with a focus on providing a hospitality-led arrival experience and improved community spaces with unique features at each location. 

Bruntwood Works focuses on improving the experience of work and helping create a better work life balance with access to high quality wellness, retail and leisure facilities. It has more than £1bn in assets under ownership across more than 100 properties, including buildings and spaces such as Neo in Manchester, Cotton Exchange in Liverpool, Booths Park in Cheshire, 3 Sovereign Square in Leeds and Cornerblock in Birmingham.