ARGUABLY the city’s best bean roast operation (discuss), Ancoats Coffee Co is opening a second venue in Manchester city centre within 111 Piccadilly. Come spring they’ll be on the ground floor of this refurbished building on Piccadilly Approach – a key part of Bruntwood Works’ £50m Pioneer programme.
Founded in 2013, ACC have been operating from a single, dedicated roastery-cafe in Royal Mills, Ancoats since 2015, their love of small batch coffee inspired by their globe-trotting barista founder’s love of Melbourne cafe culture.
At 111 Piccadilly expect the same level of detail, high-quality food and drink offerings and everything you would wish to experience if visiting their cafe-roastery itself.
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.
111 Piccadilly itself is on target to achieve platinum standard WELL certification and will be 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. Its cutting-edge circadian lighting system is designed to create a natural environment regulating a 24-hour cycle of sleep, wake, hunger, alertness, hormone release, and body temperature.
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”.
BW retail and leisure director Andrea George told ToM: “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 (above), 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.”
Jamie Boland from Ancoats Coffee Co said: "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.”
Bruntwood Work’s customer-focused Pioneer programme is aimed at reinventing a number of key buildings across the North and Midlands. Pioneer buildings offer the full range of Bruntwood Works products from meeting spaces to full floors of workspace and everything in between.