Coffee war boils over in Bishop's Cleeve

By etilley

A coffee war is brewing in the centre of Bishop's Cleeve, near Cheltenham.

The owners of independent cafe No 9 have hit out at international coffee giants Costa for what they claim were bullying tactics to steal their customers.

The shop, in Church Road, opened its doors only to find staff from the nearby chain standing outside, holding a stack of cups and offering free coffee.

Customers felt the stunt was aimed at tempting coffee lovers over to the Costa outlet in Tesco.

Jane Weaver, a No 9 customer, was incensed when she had to battle her way into the cafe.

"How can a huge company like Costa stand outside a small, community coffee place and try to take away their business?" she said.

"Costa is clearly bothered about the new cafe and would clearly like to close it down."

No 9 was opened by Anna Field and business partner Gavin Catlow-Hawkins in August last year and it has proved a hit.

Jane said: "It is a local business which we are all trying to support. They have done incredibly well and everybody loves it. Those two work their socks off to keep it going."

The row began when, only for the second time, No9 opened its doors on a Sunday. Joint owner Gavin said the new opening hours were in response to requests from customers in the run up to Christmas.

"I could understand if they were walking up and down the road but to do this right outside our door where people had to negotiate their way through two girls was interesting," he said.

"Anna and I are ex-estate agents and are used to doing things to get one over on the competition, but this is a new one for us.

"If nothing else, it has made us more determined and there is obviously a market worth fighting for on a Sunday."

A Costa Coffee spokesman said the store manager had asked its team to offer samples to people.

She said: "It is our understanding that a couple of team members choose to sample outside No 9.

"Although we actively encourage our Baristas to offer samples of our coffee, we never have, and never will, ask our teams to actively go out and give free drinks away to attract business from other cafes.

"As soon as Costa learned of the distress this had caused, the store manager apologised to No 9. This is the first and last time that this will happen."