Urban Coffee Company to open “coolest coffee shop in the world” at Beneficial Building

Plans to open Birmingham’s biggest coffee outlet in the heart of the city centre have today been unveiled.

Located in the Beneficial Building opposite Paradise Forum, Urban Coffee Company is to open its fourth emporium at the site, forming part of a £16 million hotel development. The building is being transformed by Gethar Ventures, led by well-known former Wragge & Co lawyer Anthony McCourt.

The 161 sqm ground floor space, with seating available upstairs, will enable Urban Coffee Co to dramatically expand their food proposition with specific breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, with full bar service also available. The 16 sqm kitchen will also be used to offer room service to the proposed hotel above.

Customers will be greeted by a 62.5 sqm mezzanine area which will allow them to see into the kitchen through a steel mesh decorated with flowers and artwork. Raw materials such as concrete and painted brick will be used for work surfaces, whilst a graffiti art feature wall can lead to hours of gazing.

A ‘green’ wall filled with plants and flowers adorns the wall at the foot of the staircase. Upstairs, a 50 sqm conference room is available to hire, with an entrance to the hotel also located on the upper level.

Anthony McCourt, director at Gethar Ventures, said: “Urban Coffee Co was the obvious choice for us. Often hotels use the usual coffee shop chains, but we wanted an independent option to give guests something a little different. It’s one of Birmingham’s most vibrant brands with an unrivalled coffee offering.

“We have been impressed by their entrepreneurial skills from the get-go. They introduced the first of the ‘third wave’ of coffee emporiums here in Birmingham and pioneered the flat white coffee in the city.

Simon Jenner, owner and founder of Urban Coffee Co, said: “The recent explosion in the independent coffee scene has been fantastic and it gives the consumer so much choice within the sector. As a result, we’ve had to stay right at top of our game and work hard to stay ahead.

“This new site is testament to this and is especially exciting as we have a bigger budget than ever before for the kit out – we’ll certainly be going for a much quirkier look than in any of our other emporiums.

“Offering a wider range of food and other beverages, as well as maintaining the high standards of our coffee, is essential for the development of the Urban Coffee Co brand. There is nothing like us in the city so we are hoping that we can be the ones to ignite a real coffee culture in Birmingham.”

Speaking about the emporium’s design, Neil Rose, board director of architects Broadway Malyan, said: “The aspiration for this development is to create the coolest coffee shop in the world for Urban Coffee Co. The raw materials and the ‘green’ wall are different to any other coffee house and give an almost al fresco feel, whilst the upstairs area offers a much more relaxing setting.”