Interviews

York may appear to be the ideal destination to open a café, with a varied resident population, a high density of shops, providing further potential customers, and a large number of visitors to complete the picture. But when Clare Prowse gave up her job in contract catering in London and moved to the city to join her partner, finding a site proved to be difficult.

Green Cauldron has been trading successfully in Australia for over 10 years, and was launched in the UK two years ago. The business consists of a 100 acre coffee farm in Australia, roasting facilities offsite in both Australia and the UK, and a coffee house in Liverpool, which opened its doors last year.

“The Bakehaus concept is pretty simple”, says general manager Marc Deuring, who launched the store just over a year ago. “We pride ourselves on offering high quality baked goods at affordable pricing.” German born Deuring, a son of one of the founders, came to London five years ago with a vision to bring his own German bakery to the UK.

What’s your background? As managing director of the UK & Ireland business, I am responsible for roasting over 8,000 tonnes of coffee and delivering over 20 billion cups of coffee a year out of home via leading foodservice operators and retailers. I was head hunted in 1996 by First Choice Coffee (later acquired by United Coffee in 2006). With time I rose up to board level and am now the key driver behind the company’s sales growth. I have been with United Coffee for 15 years, and in the hospitality industry for 20.

What was your dream job at school? When I was seven, I wanted to be a chef. Mum and dad worked, and because they didn’t get back home until 5–6pm, I had my own key to get in. I was hungry and there was a cookery book – Mrs Beaton’s, I think. The first thing I cooked was cheese straws, and they were pretty good. What did you end up doing?

When you were at school what was your dream job? Apprentice to Eric Morley had a lot of appeal. It was the bingo I think … (for those readers too young to remember, Morley was the impresario who founded the Miss World beauty contest.) What did you end up doing?

What was your dream job at school? A: Professional footballer. I had trials as a schoolboy, and West Brom and Nottingham Forest both wanted to sign me, but I was only 14 and it would have meant moving away from home – I’m not sure I was ready for that. Q: What did you end up doing instead?

Q: When you were at school what was your dream job? A: I thought about being a barrister, inspired perhaps by the theatrical side of it, but after a year of law at Durham University I realised it wasn’t for me and switched to English history and politics. Q: What did you end up doing?

Q: When Jamie Oliver started his school meals campaign five years ago, what made you think ‘I have to do something’?