LOCK 87 – a new community café with a cycling twist!
Expressions of interest invited
Summary
The BRICK WORKS workshop has a great location near to Wigan Town Centre and the Leeds Liverpool Canal. It has a strong reputation with the local community with large numbers of people visiting every day for the furniture, second hand goods and refurbished bikes. There is an existing canteen on site but there is obvious potential to develop a profitable and sustainable small café. Early market research has been done and work has started to fit out the café area with a distinctive cycling theme.
What we need?
We need someone (it could be an individual or a group or an organisation) to work with us to develop the ideas and to deliver a friendly, high quality café for current users and new customers.
What skills and personal qualities do we need?
The BRICK WORKS is part of the BRICK charity providing support for people affected by homelessness in its many forms and people with related long term issues and needs. We need a person (or people) who understands that work, shares our vision and can also run a commercially viable café
What are we offering?
We’re committed to making the café work and are currently securing funds to invest in the building and facilities to make this into a place that people will really want to visit – again and again.
What are we looking for?
We need an individual or organisation with passion and commitment. We are open minded regarding the model of management for the café and for that reason we are inviting expressions of interest that might fit into one or more of the following models:
- Employed status – working directly for the BRICK WORKS with salary and terms dependent on the success of the café venture
- Social enterprise – led by individual/s seeking to develop self-employment or some form of community business. This might include some form of profit share with the BRICK WORKS
- Partnership – another organisation might be interested to run a café under the umbrella of the BRICK WORKS running accounts on an open book basis – with some form of profit share.
- Volunteer – individual or group who might be interested to work with us to develop the café in the short term in order to establish it as a viable trading entity. This may / may not then develop as a paid option
FAQs
BRICK WORKS is currently open Monday to Friday 9 – 5 with occasional evenings and weekends (for our bike training courses) and some early starts for our Business Breakfasts. We expect the café opening times to be flexible to meet likely patterns of demand – such as weekend walkers and cyclists.
The Café has capacity for about 40 people – mainly with small tables and some informal furniture.
We have a good Wi-Fi signal within the building and can easily provide computers and IT services if there’s demand for internet café type services.
The building has been a bit chilly in winter and so we are looking for additional heating with a wood burning stove.
There are some local businesses that might generate some regular trade for breakfasts and sandwiches but we don’t think this is likely to be a significant part of the new café business. There is scope to develop a wider customer base with other businesses, organisations and across the town centre.
We hope to have the café operational as soon as possible. We expect business to be quieter over winter so hopefully this will give time to develop new ideas, marketing and resources.
Process
If you’re interested to find out more you are welcome to visit to view the café space and to have an informal discussion.
We can provide a short information pack with outline details of the early development ideas for the café as well as background information about the charity.
If you are interested to apply we would ask you to submit a simple written proposal.
We will then invite people and organisations to meet with us to discuss ideas and plans.
At that point we would expect to shortlist and to enter into further / final written submissions or agreements.
Deadline for submission of expressions of interest is 20th October 2017
We will consider each submission on an individual basis
What to include in your expression of interest
Details of your work experience and any relevant qualifications
An outline of how you would intend to develop and run the café (taking into account the different options and models that we’ve described)
Indicative financial projections – with simple estimates of costs and income that you think we can reasonably expect
Details of any specific support or resources that you would need us to provide or to source for you
Regardless of which option / model is proposed we would expect to work on an open book basis with anyone / any organisation running the café. You would need to confirm that you would be happy to work on that basis……..
Our contact details
Natalie Gregory
The Brick Works
4 Hodson Street
Wigan
WN3 4EN
Tel: 01942 417290
Email: Natalie@thebrick.org.uk
Queen’s Hall Action on Poverty; Registered in England; Company Number 8503176; 10 Arcade Street Wigan, WN1 1LU. Charity number 1153055