Southsea coffee roasting Broadway Coffee Roasters business hopes to breathe new life into parade of shops

Entrepreneurial Duane set up Broadway Coffee Rosters at the end of last year after the pandemic saw a downturn in work for his metal working business.

After working on many refurbishments of Portsmouth’s cafes and restaurants, Duane had built up good relationships with the business owners – and he saw a gap in the market for a good quality commercial scale coffee roasters.

Utilising his love of coffee, he set up business in his Highland Road premises with Toby Woodfine, and now he hopes his business will spark the revival of the once-popular strip of shops.

Duane, who lives above the shop with his dog Rhubarb, said: ‘We had to make changes and adapt to stay in business.

‘We had this premises for another three years. I had lost a lot of work due to Covid so we decided to move forward with another idea and that’s how Broadway Coffee Roasters was born.’

As well as roasting coffee using award winning ethically sourced coffee beans from around the globe, Duane and his team hope to open the doors of their stylish gallery themed cafe properly after lockdown.

The cafe will feature work from some of Southsea's finest artists and creatives and host pop up events and art exhibitions.

It is something Duane says he hopes will encourage people to visit - and will attract people from nearby independent hotspot Albert Road.

Duane said: ‘This row of shops has been here since the 1900s. It was known as the Broadway and was thriving.

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‘There are lots of people who remember the old shops. They didn’t have to go into town as everything they needed was right here.

‘I hope to be the start of the area’s regeneration and bring a new lease of life to it.

‘It has got to the point where people are turning shops into houses, it such a shame. People don’t know how this row of shops used to thrive.

‘Hopefully our business will generate interest, and that will encourage more businesses to open and bring more jobs and add value to people’s properties. I hope it is the start of something.’

They have also started a commitment free subscription service available via delivery from their website broadwaycoffeeroasters.co.uk/

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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