Lancaster Uni couple launch new coffee roasting business and shop in Carnforth

The pair - who were married at the Ashton Memorial in Lancaster in December 2020 - have spent the last 10 years working as wedding photographers and cruise ship musicians.

It was on their final contract for Disney Cruise Lines that they developed their business plan for a coffee roasting venture, cementing their relationship with a coffee farm in Columbia, and opening a small roastery out of a shipping container at an open farm in Warrington.

Suzy, 32, originally from Bedford, studied Fine Art at Lancaster University, while Alex, 33, originally from Bolton, took Politics and International Relations.

The couple became hobbyist roasters in 2018, and shortly after their visit to Colombia they bought a small commercial grade coffee roaster and began roasting out of a small garage.

"We relocated the coffee roastery to a shipping container at Kenyon Hall Farm, a working farm, cafe and farm shop in Warrington, Cheshire in 2020," said Suzy.

"We continued roasting coffee throughout lockdown despite losing all our wedding photography and gig bookings and grew Carringtons Coffee Co organically with the help of the farm shop and online sales.

"By March 2021 Carringtons Coffee Co exclusively imported the coffee from the same farm we visited in Colombia in 2019 and we were able to ensure the coffee farmers got a fair price - 300 per cent more than previous years."

The couple also began a partnership with Blackdog Outdoors - a mental health charity that reconnects people with the great outdoors by putting on events throughout the year - and 30p from every bag of coffee sold goes straight to Blackdog Outdoors.

The couple moved their business and lives to Carnforth in August 2021, establishing a shop and roastery at the newly expanded industrial estate Keer Park next to Carnforth Railway Station.

"After leaving the cruise ship industry, we always said we would love to live near the sea and closer to the Lake District and so Carnforth seemed the perfect fit for our life beyond working at sea," Suzy added.

They are open to the public Monday to Thursday from 10am to 4pm and will host an open day on Saturday January 22 between 1pm and 6pm.

There will be free coffee all day, a raffle for Blackdog Outdoors, coffee roasting demonstrations and live music from Suzy and Alex.