Inside 'Just Coffee' - former art gallery becomes Chester's newest co-working space
Tucked away along Commonhall Street lies Chester's newest co-working coffee shop, clad with exposed brickwork and wooden beams.
Having opened just seven months ago, Just Coffee offers a bright and cosy space to hot desk, or simply enjoy a cup of quality coffee.
Sister company, 'Just Content' which specialises in content creation, is also based within the building on the top floor.
When it looked to downsize offices, the team found the Commonhall Street site, formerly owned by The Arc art gallery, and 'fell in love' with the place.
Its previous owners shut its doors in March 2022, after nearly 30 years in the spot.
With plans to open their own coffee shop, but no concrete plans in place, Just Content recruited Theo, now head of coffee, to help make the dream a reality - making use of both businesses under the same roof.
Chester Nub News spoke with operations manager, Nick, to find out what the space adds to Chester's thriving coffee shop culture.
Comprising of a small team of five, the independent coffee shop received a warm welcome following its opening back in August.
Given their slightly hidden location, Nick explained the importance of spreading the word, as he said: "People are still finding out about us, but we're happy with our reception.
"Obviously, we always want to be busier. But with that, we've only got a small team at the moment."
Theo, head of coffee, brought over an americano, reflecting the attention to detail he puts into every cup he serves.
The operations manager shared how Theo often devotes time to customers who want to learn more about coffee, answering their questions and teaching new coffee techniques and set-ups.
He added: "Theo will spend a lot of time with people who want to learn more about coffee and he's more than happy to teach them.
"We're more happy to help people here."
Explaining the co-working space concept, he said: "You could say that there wasn't really a gap in the market because there's lots of coffee shops in Chester.
"So that's what sort of made the gap in the market, what we saw as the co-working space."
The way it works is guests can either pay upfront to book a space, which entitles you to a coffee and a pastry.
Alternatively, you can show up on the day and just pay for what you have.
Serving coffee, food and providing somewhere to work in comfort, Just Coffee also offers a space that can be hired for events.
Nick said: "It's a small space, but it's a space that we can utilise and use however we want to do it.
"You can design it however you want to. There's flexibility with the space as well.
"What we can do is we can tie in Just Content as well, because they're based on the top floor and they do photography and videography.
"We can build that packaging with them as well, which is quite nice. So when people sort of have the event space, they want to get them in the thing, like a photographer or videographer, we can do it all in-house."
Whilst the space is open to everyone, the vision began with a passion for good coffee.
Nick highlighted how this passion and commitment to quality food and drink distinguished the team from an already thriving coffee shop culture in the city.
"It's high-end coffee, which we like to think is served high-end as well. You get a very good end product", he said.
"All that is combined with the service you get, with fresh daily-made bakes and pastries."
Just Coffee serves food seven days a week and is launching a brand new menu this week.
Follow their socials here to keep up to date with news and upcoming events.
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