New coffee business in Cheddar unable to open yet but owners have been touched by village spirit

A new coffee business for Cheddar had the opening of its shop in the gorge scuppered by the coronavirus crisis but its owners have said they have been touched by the village's community spirit.

Wyvern Coffee Co was due to open in Queens Row, Cheddar Gorge, at the end of March but with the lockdown restrictions coming into place, all their plans had to be put on hold.

Despite this, Tom Anderson and his team have been giving their time back to the village, and have been donating tea and cakes to local care homes.

The idea came about for Wyvern Coffee Co in July 2019, when they began working with coffee roasters and tea importers to collate a product range. A start date for opening a premises was set for the end of March 2020.

Tom said: "Our goal was quite simple, we wanted to offer quality teas and coffees to be consumed at home.

"We aren't a café, we supply coffee beans, loose leaf teas and various brewing devices to make yourself the perfect cup from the comfort of your home.

"We had worked tirelessly sourcing our products for many months, ensuring we had the best quality at the most reasonable prices as well as ensuring our products were all ethically sourced.

"Being really proud of our range, we began discussion of taking on the lease of Unit 6 Queens Row opposite Jacob's Ladder late in 2019.

"Once everything was in place we signed the lease on March 2 2020 and took on the premises on March 16 2020 with the intention of opening on March 30."

Then the coronavirus crisis hit. While fitting out the shop ready for opening, the news of the virus became more prominent and, of course, caused concerns on the future of the business but Tom continued fitting the shop until told otherwise.

It was Monday March 23, one week before the planned opening, that the lockdown measures were put into place, stopping Wyvern from finishing the refurbishment work, and delaying the scheduled opening.

Tom said: "Having signed the lease prior to the lockdown we were left paying rent on a shop that we were unable to utilise.

"We researched the help offered by the Government business support schemes. We applied for a support grant from Sedgemoor District Council to be told that we didn't qualify due to their eligibility cut off date being March 11 2020 and us not receiving our keys until five days later on the 16th.

"We have been in talks with the council about support available but at this time are currently waiting to hear back from them.

"In the interest of safety and freshness of our products we are unable to roast and supply our coffees at this time, we do however have our full range of loose leaf teas and herbal blends, a limited range of our hot chocolates and our teapots and infusers available.

"We are offering non-contact local delivery for those in the area and postal orders to those further afield on the products that we have in stock.

"I think all local businesses are struggling through this crisis - having missed the bank holidays and Easter break, many of the independent businesses around the Cheddar Gorge area have lost the holiday trade.

"Although many businesses have had to close their doors and are no doubt financially struggling, the sense of community spirit throughout the area has been so warming with many local businesses helping out in anyway they can from care packages, adding delivery to ensure the self isolating are able to receive essential items, to bakeries baking and donating treats to bring some happiness in these dark times.

"Being so touched by the community spirit as a whole we wanted to give back, while only being small and not fully established we weren't able to offer a great deal but we donated a range of our teas, some pots and infusers and bought cakes for the carers and residents of St Michael's, Green Hill and Court House care homes with the goal of saying thank you to the carers for the amazing work they do and brighten the days of the residents who are in lockdown and can't see visitors."

Tom and his team cannot wait to be able to finish refurbishing their shop and opening, but in the meantime, he has this positive message of support to the Cheddar community.

"It's amazing to see the community coming together at times of need like this, and the support shown is truly amazing," he said.

"If you're able to help in anyway I'd really urge anyone too, it may not seem like a lot to you but it could mean the world to someone.

"We're so thankful of the support we have received despite not being able to open our shop, the locals that have ordered from us, shared our social media posts and told their friends, have allowed us to gain traction and offer our donations."