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Firmly rooted at the heart of high street hospitality, coffee shops have long served as more than just places to grab a quick drink. The history of the coffee shop dates all the way back to the Ottoman Empire and, over the centuries, they’ ve evolved into a hub of warmth, casual dining and community. Sim Trava exemplifies all these values and more.
Sim Trava is one of the UK’ s largest Costa Coffee franchisees, though its journey to success began from humble origins. Founded by husband-and-wife team, Simon and Tracy Vardy, in 2005, the business started with a single Costa Coffee store in Northwich, which has since grown to an estate of 80 stores across the North of England.
With the company having celebrated its 20th anniversary last year, Food Chain sits down for an exclusive interview with Simon Vardy to learn more about the story behind Sim Trava’ s rise to prominence.
“ My background was in engineering. I was an operations director for another company until my mid-30s when I fell ill and decided that I didn’ t want to work for anybody else anymore,” Simon begins.“ I decided that the safest way of doing that was through a franchise, and we were lucky that Costa Coffee had recently launched its franchising model and that I’ d received a bit of money from a previous directors’ bonus.
“ My wife and I started the business with a clear vision and a determination to build something of our own,” he continues.“ From the beginning, we focused on sustainable growth, reinvesting back into the business and expanding at a pace that felt right for us. That approach enabled us to steadily grow the estate while continuing to invest in our stores, our people and the customer experience.
“ Following the Covid-19 pandemic, our business adapted quickly to changing customer behaviors and was able to
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