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We like to keep things as relevant and accurate as possible on TrustedPlaces so when I noticed that my review of Coffee@ on Bermondsey Street in SE1 was a tad out of date I popped back in and amended things. I had complained that it was a shame such a great place charged for its wi-fi access and now happily got to change that by using my laptop over their FREE wi-fi network. I noticed that other review sites had as recently as last week made the mistake of stating the wi-fi here wasn’t free (despite the switch happening quite few months ago) so I sat down with the owner and founder of the Coffee@ chain to find out if small independent places find us helpful and learn a little more about how the place ticks.

Read on after the jump…

Adrian Jones is a funny guy.

He runs the Coffee@ chain from an office just across the small courtyard at the rear of his Bermondsey Street store. When he’s in the store he exchanges jokes with the staff and customers alike, but online he mostly sits back and takes stock of local opinion. I ask him what he thinks of sites like TrustedPlaces and happily he likes the work that review sites do and is especially keen on the very local SE1 Forum:

“They’re good fun. But for me it’s like having mystery shoppers. I keep quiet on there and just listen to all the comments because I think they’re all valid.”

Grumbling online about the lack of free wi-fi in Coffee@ led to a change of policy, not just here on Bermondsey Street but across the expanding chain.

Adrian was keen to let me know that more Coffee@s are on the way. There’s a new one opening this year on White Cross Street in Islington and one in New Cross, close to Goldsmiths College - bound to be a money spinner and a welcome addition to student life. There are already two stores on Brick Lane and two in SE1, with another in Clerkenwell.

Adrian founded the Coffee@ business in 1999 after a stint running pubs. He worked his first coffee shop during the “coffee revolution” of ‘97 and decided then that he just preferred the atmosphere.

One thing that gets commented on up on the Bermondsey Street store’s message board (the very real type complete with drawing pins although a website is on the way) is that the stores seem to be the antithesis of Starbucks and I ask him how intentional this is:

“Yeah, we’re the absolute opposite. When I first started in 1997, I was lucky because I didn’t know what a Starbucks was. Which was great because the amount of people that copy them is silly.”

He’s particularly amused by other chains, which try and mimic the Starbucks success right down to copying their prolific use of glass in-store. As he points out, the only reason that the Seattle chain does that is because Seattle is famous for its glass industry, and yet now we have British companies copying the look.

I ask him about a typical Coffee@ customer:

“Our customers are flexecutives. For six months of the year they have loads of money so they can buy a banana frappuccino, but for the other six months they have no money so they buy a chav filter.”

They really do have a nice cheap brew called ‘chav coffee’. But he’s right about the customers and that explains the lack of a lunchtime rush in favour of a steady stream of thirsty/hungry freelancers and web designers. You get a lot of laptops in Coffee@, but there’s also a small bank of computers at the rear of the store too.

You’re as likely to see the staff checking their mail on breaks here as you are behind the counter and I ask Adrian how he finds such laid back and happy people to work for him:

“For every person that works here we get 250 applications and we hire them on their abilities alone.”

You don’t want them to wear little uniforms?

“Never!” he says, “Over my dead body.”

The staff may come from far and wide, but I ask him about the food and drink next. Is it all sourced locally?

“The coffee is all from Papua New Guinea.” He points to a photograph of himself looking hot but happy under a large brimmed hat, surrounded by greenery. “I went over there last year. It’s all organic and free trade. The bread, though, is local and comes from the Ticino Bakery just up the street and the meat comes from Smithfields. Where we are different from everyone else is that we also try and source all our equipment from the UK. So when you look around one of the shops, 90% of it is made in the UK right down to the electrical fittings and the plumbing. All UK made.”

It’s also a quirky place to hang out. Along with newspapers, magazines and the occasional book the place has toys and chalk graffiti. You’re as likely to see a business meeting being conducted over Lego as you are a mobile phone. You can tell why the locals love the place.

Bermondsey Street and the surrounding area has a village feel to it and Adrian confirms that it’s just as friendly business-to-business. While he has no time for Starbucks, he’s happy to reveal himself a fan of the nearby Monmouth Coffee and also suggests I check out Flat White on Berwick Street.

I remember that pinned to the notice board was a complaint that the stores were ‘too ethical’ right down to their choice of newspaper.

“We don’t take the Daily Mail or The Mirror. I don’t agree with them and the stuff they put on their front pages… Some brands we don’t stock like Coca Cola and Nestlé. If a brand gets taken over like San Pellegrino did then we don’t stock them anymore.”

It’s a refreshing attitude, but I ask him if he’s worried about growing too big? Starbucks after all started small…

“No, I want to do loads and the ethical side will get easier if anything. Better! Big time!”