A NEW CHAPTER FOR THE COMPANY

As one year draws slowly to a close an exciting and busier New Year opens, and with it yet again will come the start of a whole new chapter for Urban Espresso.

In January 2009 you will see the launch of the new Urban Espresso identity that will take its influence from the current face that everyone has been so used to for the past 3 years, to what you see now. Obviously we don’t want to give too much away, but we thought it would be good to share with our customers, friends and colleagues a little sneak preview of the great things to come.

Over the past 4 months we have been working extremely hard with our newly appointed design agency 375, in coming up with a new face and strategy that will take our business onto the next leg of our journey, and with it we hope an increased level of success.

With the new Ue identity, there will also come an increased range of new Ue branded items to compliment an already extensive portfolio with items such as, Ue branded eco friendly disposables, crockery, point of sale, barista uniforms , fixed and micro retail concepts and you will soon start to see our new coffee packaging filtering its way into the system over the coming weeks.

We hope you are as exciting as we are with the new face, and we look forward to hearing from you with your own comments over the coming weeks and months.

Ue VENTURES INTO THE LUXURY HOTEL MARKET

If you’ve been keeping a close eye on our recent updates, you would have read about one of our latest new contract wins for Urban Espresso with Crowne Plaza Hotels and in particular the Birmingham city centre location that has just undergone a £18m refurbishment.

You may be wondering why Urban Espresso have ventured into the luxury hotel market... well its quite simple.

Initially when we were approached by Crowne Plaza to take a look at their refreshments offer in their corporate meeting rooms and conferencing areas. It was clear that they needed help with their offer throughout the business and not just in the meetings rooms.

When talking to the management team it was obvious that they had a requirement and a desire to make improvements to their coffee menu, enabling them to take the standard of their offer to the next level.

After using Starbucks and Matthew Algies for a good number of years, all of us at Urban Espresso relished the opportunity to pull together or combined experience in putting together a strategy and menu that would enable the hotel to offer their guests a coffee service that would set them apart from any other hotel chain in their local area and further afield.

As well as a change in attitude for the hotel management, we have made a major change in how traditional coffees and teas have been typically served. This was only possible by way of Urban Espresso’s intensive barista training program, which required us to spend a considerable amount of time in training all there managers, supervisors and staff in understanding and coming to appreciate the benefits and rich rewards associated with customer satisfaction and increased sales through the implimentation of such an offer.

With this new menu came about a new and innovative approach and innovative drinks such as the UK’s very first Espresso Gourmand where launched, along with a selection of after dinner espresso martinis and the introduction of the newly packaged London Tea boutique silk pyramid second flush tea range, all of which have been exclusively brought to Crowne Plaza Hotels by Urban Espresso.

AVANTA BUCK THE FRESH COFFEE TREND

Avanta Managed Offices Limited, one of the fastest growing serviced office providers with locations in all major cities throughout the UK, have bucked the trend by introducing fresh speciality coffee to their clients at their head offices in Hammersmith.

Avanta called upon the help of Urban Espresso to look at coming up with a fully integrated solution that would make it possible for the site to offer a self-service fresh specialty coffee menu, that enabled their clients to enjoy their favourite drink by a simple touch of a button.

Since the new system went in at the end of September it has been a total success and a big hit with all their clients, to such a degree that Avanta are now looking at ways to introduce the same offering to a number of their other locations throughout London.

NEW CONTRACT WINS

What with all the doom and gloom currently in the market, its great when you hear that companies are still doing well even after all the odds. Well that’s exactly what Urban Espresso have been experiencing in the past few months.

With our continued determination to bring great coffee to all, we are extremely proud to announce that we have successfully won a number of contracts to supply a number a high profile companies with both coffee, systems and consumables.

Names such as Crowne Plaza Hotels, RTKL, Westfield, Interact and Chapman Taylor are some of the new clients that have been added in recent weeks to an already impressive and ever increasing customer base that is serviced by Urban Espresso nationally.

Look out for further news in regards to Crowne Plaza Hotels over the coming weeks, as Urban Espresso are introducing a new branded beverage concept that will bring a whole new meaning to coffee and tea in 4 star conferencing and luxury.

UNQUESTIONABLE ETHICS

We genuinely believe that as a company we have a responsibility today and in the future, to do whatever is humanly possible to adopt ethical practises that will benefit our farmers today, as well as sustainable policies that will benefit both the environment and future generations.

Its not by chance then that each and everyone of our coffee, tea, hot chocolate and sugar product lines are certified as being 100% Fairtrade.

Wherever possible we source from both sustainable and organic origins through our work with the Rainforest Alliance and Soil Association, and this is evident in both our coffee and tea lines currently. With ongoing product development these products are set to grow in our range.

We are also mindful that as a company if we work with our suppliers, we can positively reduce the impact we have on the environment by sourcing locally wherever possible and reducing and only using recyclable materials in our packaging. This is visible as Urban Espresso’s entire disposable product range comes from a sustainable source as well as being 100% biodegradable after it has been used.

Our commitment to only trading in a responsible manner, is further demonstrated through our work with the Coffee Kids Charity. We donate 2% of all our company profits generated through the sale of all our fresh coffee lines, which in turn goes to help the lives of many children in poorer coffee producing countries.