As part of our ongoing partnership withย Xero, makers of beautiful accounting software for small businesses worldwide, we’re excited to bring the latest in a series of videos highlighting leading specialty coffee entrepreneurs.
In this edition of Xero Stories, we’re bringing you a video look inside Square Mile Coffee headquarters in London with James Hoffmann, the brand’s managing director and co-founder. Hoffmann is the author of the World Atlas of Coffee, has been involved in espresso & grinder tech development with Nuova Simonelli, and was the 2007 World Barista Champion.
He’s also a small business owner, and puts his trousers on one leg at a time like the rest of us (we assume).ย Like many small business owners, the “business of business” wasn’t part of the original allure for Hoffmann. but as the years pass and Square Mile continues its growth and development in the London coffee scene, he’s developed a passion for that part of his career. “I just love being able to see how the machine is working,” he tells Xero in the short film below.
As always, and above all else, Hoffmann is a happy advocate for the power of delicious coffee. “The drive to do coffee better comes from a number of different placesโit comes from wanting to make someone’s day just a little bit better.”
The timing of this video release is fortuitous, as the first update in several months was just released on James Hoffmann’s coffee blog, JimSeven. If you’re a Sprudge reader who works in specialty coffee professionally, give it a readโit’s a challenging take on the current state of the industry, with paragraphs like this one:
“I donโt think Iโm alone in feeling that the industry has begun to stagnate. The number of experimental, innovative or unusual coffee businesses opening has undeniably decreased dramatically. I also think that the general level of excitement about coffee is dropping.”
Check out this previous Xero interview with Al Keating, of New Zealand’s Coffee Supreme.
