The Coffee House

Sweet taste of success for Derry duo

Sumptuous home baked cakes and buns, quality tea and coffee, combined with a dramatic view of the sweeping Foyle river and iconic Peace bridges in Derry, have resulted in the sweet taste of success for Coffee House entrepreneurs, Karen Wiener and Caroline Miller.

With support from Invest Northern Ireland's Go for it programme, the two friends established The Coffee House - their dream business venture. Caroline and Karen are well ahead of their initial business plan and are now looking to take on extra staff.

"Karen and I were both working for a global catering firm, managing different units" said Caroline. "Neither of us wanted to gain additional promotion and progress away from the face to face environment of service and we both dreamed of opening our own businesses."

"We knew we would need help and found Invest NI's Go for it programme whilst researching on the internet. We signed up and did every course on offer in the evenings whilst still working full time. It was six months before we found our ideal premises but when we did we were well prepared by the team.

"The Go for it programme helped us with accountants, solicitors, health and safety, employment contracts and banking. They were absolutely fantastic and we couldn't have started up without them."

The secret of their success is working as a team. Karen does all the in-house baking and Caroline handles all the front of house service. Both ladies have their grown up children helping out and already have one full time and three part-time members of staff.

The Coffee House cakes, scones and mouth-watering tray-bakes are now so famous people are ordering them to take away. Customers queue outside the door and the list of regulars is growing daily, some visiting more than once a day.

Feedback on their facebook site has been very complimentary but they are not resting on their laurels. The Coffee House is open seven days a week, and with longer days looming they are seriously considering lengthening the opening hours to accommodate those taking in an evening stroll down the quay.

"Originally we thought our main customer base would come from the surrounding local businesses but in fact the passing trade accounts for over 60% of our turnover," explains Caroline.

"By the summer we hope to have two more full time members of staff and as many part-timers as we need. The great thing is the on-going support we receive from the Go for it programme .which provides us with help when we need it."

The Go for it Programme is provided by Invest Northern Ireland and is part financed by the European Regional Development Fund. For details, log on to: www.goforitni.com.