Brook Coffee Rooms: Co-owner talks cafe makeover, Sheffield's coffee culture and working with Dan Walker

The Star, Sheffield

Duncan Rougvie took over at Brook Coffee Rooms roughly two years ago, with hopes of securing the future of a neighbourhood staple in Fulwood, Sheffield.  The cafe has gained national attention in the last year after TV presenter Dan Walker announced he was getting involved in the ownership too.  The Star's Harry Harrison went to chat with Duncan after their recent makeover to ask how business has been, Dan's support and how the cafe has carved it's own story in the local coffee industry.

Transcript

00:00David, how is business?

00:02Yes, great. Business is really good.

00:04We've been really, really pleased with how it's been the last few weeks.

00:09We had to close for a week, which is bad for business, in terms of it's horrible to say,

00:14sorry we're closed, and as any business owner will know, that's a real challenge,

00:19because you're not making any money when you're closed,

00:23but we were using that time to do refurb in terms of all of our windows and doors

00:28and outside of the cafe, and since then, business has been brilliant, actually.

00:33We've had our best day ever on Bank Holiday Monday, so we're really pleased.

00:38Talk to us about the week that you guys were closed and how that was for you.

00:42Yes, absolutely. It was horrible being closed for a week.

00:46We had to say, sorry we're closed, so many times to people.

00:50We said that to all of our regulars, which is a real shame,

00:52no matter how many times we put it on social media.

00:55The reality is people go on autopilot, which is just brilliant,

00:58but it was real frustration to say, sorry we're closed, so many times.

01:04As a business, it's a real challenge to be closed for a bunch of days as well.

01:08There's lots of takings, and that's tricky.

01:12But the great thing was, when we reopened, we then went on to have our best day ever

01:16on the Bank Holiday Monday, and set a bunch of new milestones in terms of how the business performs.

01:22The staff did it brilliantly, and we got such good feedback from customers and locals,

01:27so it was really worthwhile.

01:29I know I've said to you already, but I think it looks fantastic,

01:32and it sounds like it's been well received as well.

01:34Talk to us about the community reception to the re-brand and to Brook.

01:38Yes, absolutely. It's been super positive.

01:41We took over probably just about two years ago,

01:44and we wanted to really grow from what Helen and James, the previous owners,

01:50had built in terms of turning a GT News into a really lovely cafe.

01:55We feel like we've done that, but as you said, it's not over.

01:59Probably every six months, we try and invest some money into improving different areas.

02:05So we've done the inside, we've done the downstairs,

02:08and the next thing was to do the outside.

02:10So we got all the windows and doors changed,

02:12which makes a really big difference because the old windows were the original GT News ones,

02:17so they steamed up terribly in the winter, and they were drafty,

02:20and the doors were a bit drafty.

02:22Hopefully this winter, it will be a lot nicer and more cosy.

02:25In the summer, we can open up a bit more and have a bit more fresh air going through the cafe.

02:31Sheffield has a brilliant cafe and coffee industry and culture,

02:35but I feel like Brook has really painted out quite a different role

02:39to many other, I guess, independents in the city.

02:41This is a community staple.

02:43It seems to be the place to go locally.

02:47How do you do that?

02:49Good question.

02:51It's been quite deliberate to try and know what we are and who we're catering for,

02:58so we took a lot of time to look at who are our current customers

03:04and who we want to also have as our customers

03:07and who weren't necessarily coming into the cafe when we took over,

03:10and just to try and create something that serves all those different community groups

03:15really, really well.

03:17The key thing is taking on feedback from people,

03:20so you have an idea of what will work,

03:22and then people stop you in the street and they tell you whether it is or isn't working,

03:25and the nice thing is that's been overwhelmingly positive,

03:29so it is lovely when people say it's a great cafe and are really pleased with it

03:34and they like the changes.

03:36It's really satisfying.

03:38I can't come and chat to you about Brook without asking you about them.

03:42Yeah.

03:45I think it's just under a year now since Dan's got involved publicly.

03:50Talk to us about what that's been like, any changes,

03:53have you noticed a marked increase in popularity?

03:56What's that been like?

03:58It's been brilliant.

04:00Dan's been a friend for a while,

04:02but as you say, in the last year decided to get involved in the business

04:06having been transfixed by the cronuts,

04:10so it's been great.

04:12It's obviously brought loads and loads of public interest,

04:15which has been really good fun.

04:18It's been the right balance of lots of interest and positivity

04:23with really no downside,

04:25so it's been great.

04:27In terms of business, it definitely made it busier,

04:30which was brilliant.

04:32We've managed to maintain, I think, that sort of level of growth that we've had.

04:35It was really busy for the first couple of weeks

04:37because everyone wanted to come and check it out.

04:39We didn't necessarily live in the area.

04:42What we've found is it probably accelerated the growth in the cafe

04:47that we were seeing week over week by three to six months,

04:51so it was really, really helpful from a business perspective.

04:55I think it just got our name out there a little bit as well

04:58for people who've maybe not heard of it or not come down before.

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