Absolute Roasters shares the secret to their expanding business - and reveal second Glasgow location

Amid an economic crisis that has been tough on small businesses, the team behind Absolute Roasters has told the Glasgow Times exclusively that they have started work on a new shop.

Colin Mearns (Image: Colin Mearns)

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Glasgow couple Sean Williams and Megan McFarlane started their first coffee business just before lockdown and were able to secure a shop shortly after.

Megan said: “We got the option to take on our first shop which was much earlier than expected.

“But we just thought, you know, the opportunity is there so we might as well grab the bull by the horns and just do it.

“And the rest is history.”

Newsquest (Image: Newsquest)

Absolute Roasters started out by operating out of a series of locations as a pop-up, but customers will be most familiar with their first permanent location on Hyndland Street in Partick.

Now, Sean and Megan are excited to announce they will be taking over a unit on Waterloo Street in Glasgow’s financial district.

Sean said: “Unlike Hyndland Street, this place is going to be takeaway oriented.”

The idea is to convert the space into a chic, French boulangerie-style storefront displaying trays of edible goodies in the window for customers.

Sean said: “We thought we could definitely give something pretty unique to the city centre, and especially that west side, in the financial district.”

Sean and Megan have been able to navigate the shaky economic climate by sticking to their guns when it comes to their business.

Sean said: “I think the most important, fundamental part of it is to stay true to what you’ve always wanted to do and try not to lose quality.

“I think there are a few angles that you can look at the cost-of-living crisis.

“[You can look at the] cost of everything going up, and think well, I’m just going to try and save as much money as I can on every single aspect of the business and ultimately quality could go right down the pan, and then you could just continue to chance it and save money.

“But I think it’s really important, if anything, during these times, is to actually make your business a higher quality, offering the best possible products that you can sell.

“And then if there are other things that you can actually attach on to your business, like new ideas, instead of changing what you’ve already got and sacrificing quality.”

He added: “We haven’t increased any prices on any of our items since the cost-of-living crisis.

“We’ve only had one price increase in the entire time since we’ve opened this business and that was when VAT went back up.”

Sean and Megan also recommend coming up with new product ideas or business innovations to earn more money as well.

Sean said: "If there are other things you can then attach on to your business, like new ideas.

"Instead of changing what you've already got, instead of sacrificing any quality on that front, if there are new things that you can think of, new ideas for products that people would love and that are genuinely high quality but are something you could actually acquire for a more reasonable cost.

"Offer that as another thing that people can enjoy or purchase and that is giving you extra revenue to play with."

Colin Mearns (Image: Colin Mearns)

Colin Mearns (Image: Colin Mearns)

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The new shop fit-out will feature signature orange metro tiles that reference the Glasgow Underground, and the cold brew coffee Absolute Roasters is famed for is guaranteed to be sold at the venue.

Megan said: “It’s amazing to see when you first see a place which was fitted out for another business, and you move in, and you do all the work, and it looks like a completely different place.

“And it’s your place.”

Sean and Megan hope to have the outlet open before Christmas this year.