Leamington cafe owner expands business with new coffee shop

Lydia Papaphilippopoulos-Snape owns Warwick Street Kitchen in Warwick Street along with her business partner George.

Lydia and George have been operating the cafe since July 2017 and now they will be taking on another coffee shop in Birmingham.

Saint Kitchen – located in the heart of the city’s Jewellery Quarter district – had always been a favourite retreat for Lydia and when the opportunity arose to take over the business, she didn’t give it a second thought.

Leamington-based law firm Wright Hassall assisted with the legal aspects of Lydia’s expansion plans.

Lydia said: “The Jewellery Quarter is such a vibrant area of the city and the café culture in the neighbourhood is thriving.

“I live around the corner from Saint Kitchen and was friendly with the former owner. When he told me he was looking to sell the business and that he wanted me to take it over, I couldn’t refuse.”

Lydia is under no illusion about the challenges of running one – let alone two – coffee shops but believes the acquisition of Saint Kitchen was meant to be.

“I agreed to take over the café on my birthday in April and the terms of the contract were finally signed on George’s birthday in October - I hope it’s a good sign.”

“I’d like to thank Wright Hassall for helping me to make my dream of owning one of my favourite coffee shops a reality and for taking care of the purchase so that I was able to leave everything in their hands and concentrate on the café in Leamington.”

Bhavika Mistry, a solicitor at Wright Hassall, said: “Warwick Street Kitchen is a really popular venue in our locality so my colleague, Rees Herrod, and I are delighted to have been able to help Lydia in the expansion of her growing coffee-empire.

“I first met Lydia at a networking event over a year ago when she expressed her interest in expanding the business.

“To be able to help local businesses such as Lydia’s to expand into new markets and regions is something we really value at Wright Hassall and it has been a pleasure helping her with this.

“We wish Lydia the very best with her new venture and hope the residents of Birmingham enjoy her coffee as much as we do.”