A popular Ayrshire cafe is to open a second venue next week.
The Coffee Press is to expand its offering by operating another cafe in new new multi-million-pound HALO building in Kilmarnock.
Run by husband and wife team Alisdair and Debbie Hood, the '#RockMe Cafe' aims to have a sustainable menu and locally sourced ingredients.
The couple's existing Bank Street eaterie has been on the go for 15 years with the pair building up a range of local suppliers, mostly from Ayrshire, who can support them in bringing a healthy, tasty and sustainable food offering to the ground floor of the striking Hill Street building.
The usual Coffee Press food will be on offer at the enterprise and innovation centre when it opens on Wednesday, including sandwiches, pastries, cakes, salads, soups and freshly ground coffee.
The new venture adds another branch to the couple's growing hospitality portfolio, which includes Cottage Catering.
Alisdair Hood said: “We’re an established coffee shop renowned for great tasting food, coffee and cakes and have a warm welcome for every customer.
“We use local suppliers wherever possible and our long-standing relationship with these companies means our customers always get the best quality ingredients in our products.
“The HALO has a vision for sustainability that we feel aligns perfectly with The Coffee Press. We are passionate about the environment and have been reducing our single use plastic and using more eco-friendly packaging for some time. All our cakes are handmade, and we love trying out new recipes alongside our bestselling favourites.
“We are really excited to be joining the HALO journey and look forward to welcoming tenants and guests to the Café while offering a variety of catering options for events held at the HALO Enterprise and Innovation Centre.”
Marie Macklin CBE, founder and executive chair of the HALO, added: “I’m really pleased that Kilmarnock’s The Coffee Press will be operating the HALO #RockMe café here at the HALO.
“Alisdair and Debbie are exceptional entrepreneurs and have provided a wonderful service at the many events we have already hosted at HALO this year.
“I can’t wait to sample their first menu at the #RockMe Café and I’m confident our tenants and guests will just love their fantastic variety of sustainably and locally produced ingredients.”
The award-winning HALO Enterprise and Innovation Centre was named ‘Best Regeneration Project’ at this year’s prestigious Scottish Property Awards and recognised as Scotland’s ‘Best Corporate Workplace’ at the 2022 British Council for Offices Regional Awards.
The HALO also received funding of £3.5 million from the UK Government, £3.5 million from the Scottish Government, and £2 million from East Ayrshire Council as part of the £251 million Ayrshire Growth Deal – a ten-year investment programme jointly funded by the UK and Scottish governments and local authorities. The HALO site was sold to the project for £1 by Diageo, who contributed a further £1m to the project.
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here
