Help Us Save And Improve The Workplace We Loved & The Cafe You Loved
Previously Velocity, going forward as Roots Cafe Inverness. Help us reopen and realise our dreams.
Velocity Cafe closed at no fault of the staff running it, and all of us lost our jobs very quickly. In the aftermath, some of the management team has gathered together to preserve what we loved about the cafe and make it our own. We loved Velocity, its ethos and its customers, and we need your help to reopen its doors.
Roots is a name we have chosen as our two founders, River Elliott and Rebecca MacKintosh, met working together at the cafe in 2021. We have built our professional roots together in the cafe, and our roots within serving the local community.
If you’re a cafe regular, or even just a casual visitor, you’ll probably remember River and Rebecca, head chef and cafe supervisor. We’re the ones at the forefront of this campaign to raise enough money to reopen, with some capital behind us as a safety net for reopening in the quieter winter months and preparing us for a busy summer ahead.
We felt such pride in our work and what we achieved, and we don’t want it to end.
We know that Velocity’s business model worked. Our turnover was good, and we believe we provided something that Inverness doesn’t have elsewhere - a fully vegetarian cafe with a unique menu and different flavours from across the world.
We also know we were loved locally and internationally. Lots of our lovely regulars have reached out to us to ask if they can help us in any way, and here we are now - please help us save the place we all loved.
For those interested to see what we plan to do and how financially we’re planning it to work, we have a cashflow analysis and a business plan available to view. This is based on real data from Velocity, accurate predictions of footfall and spending and our own expertise in running the cafe and kitchen.
We also have a planned incentives / rewards scheme for donors with different rewards set out for donations.
What is our goal and why do we need it?
In an ideal world, we raise enough money to make significant changes in the cafe. This includes a second toilet (wouldn’t that be amazing?) and moving the kitchen into a larger space to expand. We already make 90% of what we sell from scratch, and we want to make this 100% with the kitchen move. It would also create more seating for you.
We are cautious that this would be a very high target off the bat, so we’ve set a more modest goal - this includes a month’s expenditure, a safety measure that any sensible business plan would include in case of any hiccups on the road to opening or thereafter. This protects everyone’s wages and gives us a safety net to pay everything accordingly.
We also need to buy out the tangible assets in the cafe from the liquidator, and the liquidation process is already in motion, so time is of the essence.
We then have planned works to refurbish, create more comfortable seating and replace broken equipment.
And yes, for anyone asking, we are keeping the long community table!
Rewards For You
You’ve donated up to £100
Thank you! We appreciate your help so so much. Have a free piece of merch
You’ve donated over £100
Thank you for your incredibly kind donation. Have a free piece of merch on us and a free coffee when we open!
You’ve donated over £500
Goodness me your generosity is genuinely flabbergasting. We’re having 10% discount cards made for coffees that you can use any time you’re in for the first twelve months we’re open.
You’ve donated over £1000
Oh heavens, thank you thank you! Have a branded keep cup, all previous rewards and a choice of bespoke celebration cake for your next big event, or a free meal and drinks for you and three friends.
We're planning to soft launch with a special Thank You Night to eat some food, see the cafe before it opens and thank you ourselves for your generous donation
You’ve donated over £5000
We’re crying with gratitude and will reach out personally to discuss options in terms of shares in the company and a potential financial return for you.