Episode #002: Starting a Social Business; community cafe

Nick & Linda Castle chat about how they got into founding and running a social business: CLO coffee. Starting in 2008 with a local community cafe on their local High Street. What were the key motivations and why a social business.

“Q. If money were no object and you were completely fearless, what would you do?”

It started with the question; If money were no object and if you were completely fearless, what you want to do with your time? For Nick & Linda Castle, Co-Founders of CLO coffee, the answer was coffee and community. The local high street has for many years been highly contested. From the pitfalls of local retail shops competing with online and mega-brands, to the challenge of many out-of-town swanky shopping centres opening and shifting the centre of gravity.

Coffee is a tool. Its an accessible (affordable) way of keeping connection in a fragmented society. CLO coffee began life as Baraka; a social enterprise cafe in Garforth Main Street, Leeds, UK. It was essentially a community cafe, although in 2008 it had too much stigma of 50p cheap n cheerful mug of instant coffee and plastic chairs, to call it one.

A volunteer scheme was set up to give opportunities to young people, people with learning difficulties, people recovering from brain injuries (from a local support centre), retired, people out of work who wanted experience or new skills and people from the local church wanting to get involved. The icing on the cake was when profits were made and could be given away to local clubs, youth theatres, community centres and even flood defence.

Find out more about these cafes at CloCoffee.com/coffee-houses