Welcome to WALTER’s
OVERVIEW
I started my working life in hospitality, as a waitress. During the school holidays I served tables, prepared food and cleaned at a family friend’s cafe business. I loved it. My career since then has seen me working in roles from direct sales, marketing, event management and eventually creating and running large scale events and festivals. My industry has been one of the hardest hit this year. Having been on furlough from my role since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, I feel this is the perfect time to utilise all of my skills and experience gained to revisit hospitality once again, with a view to creating something for others and giving back to the community on a local level.
THE GOAL
I wanted to open coffee shop in our village that not only served great coffee and tasty cakes, but also offered a welcoming and comfortable environment where people can primarily meet with friends and family, but also as a meeting/stopping point for cyclists, walking groups and dog walkers. The coffee shop would also offer practical working space for those with work-from-home roles (hugely increased during the pandemic) looking for a change of scenery and those who are elderly or live alone and are perhaps feeling isolated during this difficult time.
THE DIFFERENCE
The premise is to be more a personable service than the larger coffee shops we have become accustomed to; where a “grab and go” service point is key and volume takes precedence over customer care. We aim to create a ‘first-name terms’ environment where everyone can feel welcomed at any time of the day.
SUPPORT LOCAL, GIVING BACK & BEING GREEN
The big drive behind the idea is to give back to the community and this also applies to supporting local businesses. We will use local suppliers and service providers for all produce and services where we can.
The COVID-19 pandemic has really focussed our minds to what is important and this can certainly be said of local services that are available to us. As our freedom to travel has become limited, local businesses, local people and local support has mattered more than ever. Being located at the heart of the village our coffee shop will not only be a social space, a work space and coffee house, but eventually what it could become is much, much more. Loneliness has been shown to be a significant contributor to depression and mental illness. Increased contact with those surrounding you aids hugely in staving off both mental and also physical illnesses. We would aim to reach out to the community and create not only a place to get together, but reasons to get together, too. From walking groups, to coffee mornings, book clubs and more. We are passionate about creating something meaningful for all ages. We will also recruit locally, meaning jobs for the community when the time comes.
Environmentally, we’ll try and get it right from the start. From a simple light bulb choice, to the products we use and sell. For example, we will be sourcing all furnishings second hand and up-cycling them for use in the coffee house. We aim to only use 100% recyclable packaging. We will start out being green, with the ultimate goal being carbon neutral.
MAKING IT HAPPEN
Starting a brand new business during a global pandemic isn’t for the faint-hearted. But I feel very strongly that there is really no better time for this business than now.
I've always been a firm believer in working hard and I want to create a coffee shop that is a real community hub. It will be for locals, that uses local, gives local and supports local. I can’t wait to get started.
Please come and say hello!
Thank you,
Shelley x