Whether it’s a morning necessity, gathering with friends, place to work, or a relaxing treat for a delicious blend, the coffee shop has become an integral part of our daily life. To celebrate this exciting and diverse scene, the London Coffee Stop awards are calling all customers to vote for their favourite coffee shop - from high street brand names to independent coffee shops, customers have ten categories to choose from including coolest baristas, best coffee shop to tastiest bakes and cakes. Customers have until April 2nd to vote and to see who will rank up top amongst Londoners. Over 200 independents such as Ozone Coffee Roasters, Artisan and Kaffeine have been listed as well as 1200 branded locations such as Starbucks, Caffe Nero and Harris & Hoole to reflect the diverse coffee scene. To vote simply visit the website www.coffeestopslondon.com and type in the name of shop and the category they’re being nominated for – it’s a simple click! In return voters can enjoy some of the support from their campaigning shops such as free coffees and need to check Facebook and Twitter @coffeestopsLDN for updates and further offers during the campaign. Founder of the awards and author of ‘Out of Office’ Chris Ward said “I’ve spend so much of my working day in coffee shops and received a great response from Londoners when we recently created the London Coffee Stops Tube map to locate some of the best coffee in the city. We wanted to get the customers involved and find out from them what makes our London coffee scene so great – from the friendly baristas, shops best for London’s cyclists to the best atmosphere”. To raise awareness of the awards Chris will be cycling around 100 coffee shops in across London on Saturday 29th March as well as distributing a special edition London Coffee Stops Monopoly-style game board. Ward continues “These awards are already creating such a buzz and excitement amongst the coffee scene that we’re looking at rolling this out as an annual event, with a UK-wide award later this year to help celebrate and promote the growing coffee scene”. Ward recently collaborated with the London’s independent coffee shops to promote them as the alternative place to work during the London tube strike through social media and the use of #outofoffice.
Voting ends on Wednesday April 2nd so hurry and vote for your favourite coffee shop! The winners will be announced at an awards event on the 23rd April at Ozone Coffee in Shoreditch, where they will receive two return flights to Addis Ababa in Ethopia – one of the best locations for sourcing coffee - courtesy of Ethiopian Airlines. Tickets will be available for the awards via the website.
