The Hive Altrincham : Coffee shop & deli expansion

About the project ... 

If you've ever visited The Hive or used the Metrolink via Altrincham, you'll probably be familiar with the two empty looking shops adjacent to The Hive.

For the last decade they have been used as storage units for an Irish Music company (Take a look inside on YouTube). But we now have an opportunity to lease them or to even buy them!

This is where you can make a difference to the look of Grosvenor Road, to the provisions available to the local residents, and to the services we can provide to other independent businesses in the area. 

The main idea we've been working towards and the one that sparked this campaign, is to create a coffee shop in the two shop units, with a deli area to stock Italian deli products, as well as locally sourced provisions such as: 

• Local dairy milk (sold via a refill dispenser)
• Oat & Coconut milk 
• Local farm fresh eggs
• A selection of locally baked bread
• Luxury loose chocolates & truffles
• Jarred goods, oils & dressings
• Pastas & Flours
• Seasonal locally grown flowers

Click here to take a 360 tour to visualise how the space will be used!

With your help we will create a new space where our current regulars; along with new patrons can source quality provisions, as well as enjoying breakfast, lunch and small plate options in an area suitable to gather and socialise in all year round, regardless of the weather!

The coffee shop area will be a space where people can come to either spend some time alone with a book, socialise with old friends or meet new acquaintances; whilst enjoying a cup of their favourite beverage. The expansion will allow us to expand our menu to include alcoholic drinks, as well as hot and cold sandwich options for breakfast or lunch and small plate snacks.

The expansion will also allow us to host a variety of local events on set evenings. We already have locals waiting to host book clubs, yoga classes, flower workshops, table styling events, language lessons and bingo / quiz nights to name but a few. We will also pay your kindness forward, by offering the space out for FREE one evening a month to other small businesses, event hosts or community groups.

About the funds raised.

Obviously we have what we need to make the best coffee possible such as an espresso machine, a coffee grinder and the sundries that go with running a coffee shop. But the expansion from a catering trailer with 8 outdoor seats, serving drinks and sweet treats; to a bricks and mortar shop with 20 indoor seats and 16 outdoor seats, with an expanded menu is a little too much for us to finance organically in a short period of time. 

So the funds raised will pay for the following: 

• Various counters, cupboards, shelving units, drawers etc
• Installing 1 x public toilet, sink and baby changing facility
• Electrical lights, sockets, switches etc
• 1 x Sink and other plumbing supplies
• Floor and wall tiles as well as supplies
• Shop sign and window decals
• 1 x Dishwasher
• 1 x Convection oven
• 1 x Ice Machine
• 2 x Under counter fridges
• 3 x Freezers
• 1 x Grab and go fridge
• 1 x Loose chocolate display cabinet
• 1 x Cake display cabinet
• 4 x Outdoor tables and 8 x chairs
• 9 x indoor tables, 14 x indoor chairs and 2 x indoor benches.
• Crockery
• Milk dispenser

In the next few weeks we will start the physical work ourselves (extra hands will be welcomed) so if you are thinking of the famous Liam Neeson quote "I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career". All financial, physical or practical contributions, will help us install everything we need as soon as possible with the intention of opening before November 2023, so please do contact us offering those skills!

Once we have opened the new coffee shop, the plan is to save for a deposit throughout 2024 to buy the General Store & Coffee Shop. Who knows, if there happens to be a millionaire philanthropist reading this, we could even buy the property and be mortgage free by November! 

Either way, we will continue to work hard to secure The Hive's future at the heart of the local community, with ourselves at the helm for the rest of our working life, just as a 1950's shopkeeper would have done.      

About The Hive as it is and as it was!

The Beverage Bar is approaching its 2nd anniversary and the General Store & Beverage Bar both continue to grow in popularity as a place where the local community can meet and socialise over drinks.We have also become a convenient location for many people to buy their weekly provisions, such as our eco friendly refills, plastic free hardwares, natural bath and body care items and Williams Handbaked goods.

The last 18 months have seen our strong work ethic rewarded with mentions in the press and several awards. Our proudest being those voted for by the public: Business of the Year 2021, Hospitality of the Year 2021 and Micro business of the year 2022 in the Altrincham and Sale Chamber of Commerce Business Awards. We were also rewarded with the Travellers' Choice 2022 by Tripadvisor.

Our "edge of centre" location, means we are convenient for Altrincham office workers and public transport users; whilst also being in the heart of a fabulous residential neighbourhood. During the 20th century, the two shops were home to various well known businesses such as:

• Lesley Sparkes' greengrocers, butchers and provisions
• Alan Merrill's greengrocers & butchers
• The Butterworth's bakery and confectionery
• Rona & Benny's antique shop
• Dorothy Jackson's DIY shop
• Mrs Crawford's secondhand bookshop
• Margaret & Tony White's pine shop
• Jared Harris' Carpet shop
• Lynn Bingham's "Zappy Pot Stop" shop

About us, the people asking for support!  

If you don't know us, we are Steven and Gareth; the founders of The Hive in Altrincham, a multi award winning micro business.                                               

We've been a couple since 2005, for the first decade of our relationship Gareth worked in high end fashion retail as a sales assistant and visual merchandiser; and Steven worked shifts in front line roles for two of the four emergency services.

We were like ships passing in the night, so to spend more time together, we decided to set up our own business doing something we both enjoyed, which started out as buying and selling vintage items.

We began our business at Altrincham Market in 2015 trading 4 days a week and opened The Hive in 2018. We tried juggling the market stall and The Hive, but working separately defeated the purpose of us giving up our guaranteed salaries, annual leave, sick pay and pensions in order to spend more time together.

So in mid 2020 we left Altrincham Market, rebranded The Hive into a General Store, and used our savings to buy everything we needed to set up the Beverage Bar, which we opened in April 2021. 

Since starting out in 2015 our business has been funded completely through organic growth. We both have a strong work ethic and it has always been really important to us that we were self-funded by our own hard work rather than owing money to banks or suppliers. We currently run the business as sole traders; apparently though "raising business finance can be difficult as lenders and investors tend to favour limited companies" but we believe it shows we have more faith in what we do, after all we can't rack up debts, file for insolvency and relaunch under a different trading name!

So please subscribe to our website or follow us on Instagram, YouTube or Facebook for regular updates from the project!

And finally ... 

Some small print to cover a few anticipated questions.

Can i buy a REWARD as a business?

Yes. REWARDS can be from individuals or businesses. But we would kindly ask for our VAT purposes, that DONATIONS are made by non business donors UNLESS you remain anonymous.

"3.19.1 An acknowledgement of an individual donor?s generosity, for example in a printed brochure or on a plaque. This must be a simple acknowledgement and not an advertisement for a business or some form of business sponsorship. A commemorative type plaque recording the name of the individual donor and that they provided a donation, would not be considered a benefit. However, a sign which also promoted a business would be an advert and so would be considered a benefit."

Can i remain anonymous if i make a DONATION?

Yes. Where we mention about your name being on gold plaques, on our website or on a plaque in store, you can remain anonymous if you wish to do so.

How are the coffee for a week, month & year rewards calculated?

The Hive is open 6 days a week and this has been taken into account in all of the rewards, we also take 2 x 1 week vacations a year. So this too has been taken into account for the coffee for a year reward.

Coffee for a week is based on  3.20 a day for 6 days with a 10% discount. 

Coffee for a month is based on the  3.20 for 26 days with a 15% discount.

Coffee for a year is based on  3.20 a day for 300 days with a 20% discount.

What are the RISKS & CHALLENGES of the project?

Running a business always has risks. Statistics show "of UK businesses founded in 2016, just 38.5 percent were still operating in 2021".  We started our business in 2015 and continue to grow organically. 

The success of The Hive General Store is as a result of our own hard work and determination to learn new skills and to adapt to what people want and need. This project will be no different. 

We've been hard at work for weeks setting the foundations with the lease, planning permissions, building regulations and Crowdfunder.  We will be doing as much of the process from planning, ripping out, laying the floors and building the counters our selves as possible; so the main risks are underestimating how long it will take to do the works. But we will be working as hard as possible to open before Autumn.

There is also the risk that we won't raise enough funds to fully kit out the coffee shops before Autumn. If the fund raiser isn't as successful as anticipated, funds raised will be prioritised and allocated the most important needs such as repair and building supplies to ensure that we are able to open up on schedule. This will not affect sponsorship of donations. We will keep promoting the Crowdfunder campaign and exploring other financing options to assist the project if funds do become a concern.