The new noRmal

Ok let’s take a breath and take stock… the threat of COVID while still very real seems to have weakened in terms of severity. Most of us now being double jabbed giving that all important protection from the most severe symptoms and cases. We continue to be vigilant here at Butler’s as we welcome so many new and familiar faces through our doors and keep our fingers crossed that a fourth wave of the virus is kept at bay as we head into Autumn.

It’s been a real pleasure being able to see smiling customer faces again sat down at tables enjoying a chat, coffee and maybe a cake or two. And god knows we all deserve to indulge and treat ourselves having come through the other side of the worst pandemic in living memory!

As the kids return to school and workers return to the office the “new normal” is starting to really become apparent and it seems a new perspective on work / life balance and flexibility is here to stay (one positive to come out of this!)

Let’s take a moment though to remember those we have lost. You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who hasn’t been directly or indirectly affected by the virus and lost a loved one, but we will endure, hold on to the good times and look forward to rebuilding the future while cherishing what we still have and what’s important… each other!

a Spring in our step

What a crazy 12 months it’s been! 3 lockdowns, numerous levels of government restrictions, eat-out-to-help-out, Christmas virtually cancelled, work from home, home schooling, takeaway treats etc. This past year will certainly stick in the memory of us all, however despite all that it really is amazing to be opening back up! While it has been a testing time both professionally and personally wondering what the future will hold it finally feels like things are returning to some sort of normality and as the flowers start to bloom and the sun warms us up we have a real spring in our step hopeful for what 2021 will bring.

Every time we’ve reopened our doors we’ve been blown away by the love and support our loyal friends and customers have shown, and it is only thanks to you that we are still here able to offer with pleasure the best in speciality coffee, fresh cakes and brunch dishes.

We are so proud of our little team too who’s ideas, focus and dedication have enabled us to operate with success during the most challenging of conditions.

So welcome back one and all, let’s do this!

Bouncing back

Well it’s certainly been a while since our last blog post! And it’s been without doubt the strangest few months in living memory for most of us… lockdown kicked in back in March which now seems forever ago and it has been a stressful time full of uncertainty and for many isolation from friends and loved ones. Nothing is more important than ones health so quite rightly restricting people’s movements and interactions was 100% the best way to go about defeating COVID-19. We hope you’ve all managed to stay safe and well.

But now we look to the future and bouncing back! (Reopening from Thursday 2nd July) We’re still very conscious here at Butler’s of the continued threat of COVID-19 so have been working hard reading through various training materials and conducting a thorough Risk Assessment of our site. Measures have been put in place to minimise all risks identified and we are really looking forward to welcoming back our amazing staff, friends and customers once again.

Bingham is an amazing town to live and run an independent business and I’m sure everyone will get behind their town to give us all the best chance of bouncing back! Here’s to a more positive and hope filled remainder of 2020 - we look forward to seeing you soon!

Love, Team Butler’s

A wonderful surprise…

We love you! Our loyal regular customers we really do! Without you we wouldn’t be here... however we had a lovely surprise yesterday when a large group all the way from the Wirral joined us for lunch having discovered us on social media. They were even thoughtful enough to give us the heads up the day before letting us know of their intention while travelling through the area.

Needless to say they left with full belly’s and glowing compliments for Butler’s and the wonderful service they received from our Caroline and Nic.

So what’s our point? Well stand up, do what you believe in, and others will take notice. Another case in point being the amazing Amy who’s currently wowing all with dishes on MasterChef UK and a regular visitor to Butler’s. Good luck Amy and to all those entrepreneurs out there doing what they love!

Your independent coffee shop needs you!

The growth in the retail coffee sector has been steadily increasing year on year (on average around 8% per year since 2012) but how is that sector made up? Well the major chains still dominate with the likes of the coca-cola owned Costa having over twice as many outlets as their nearest competitor! But the independents are fighting back with over 7000 outlets nationally making up 28% of the retail coffee sector. The big boys are worried, the two most important UK consumer trends, as tracked by one of the worlds largest global coffee brands, are ranked as 1) increasingly knowledgeable consumers and 2) the growth of the independent outlets! 

Every £1 you spend with us results in a further estimated £1.45 of extra revenue being generated. But what does this mean? In our case that money goes directly to other local suppliers meaning more of the money you spend stays in the local economy rather than lining the pockets of big multinational businesses and their corporate shareholders.

Here at Butler’s we really do love what we do and strive to bring you the highest quality speciality coffee, food dishes made from the best locally sourced ingredients with friendly and proficient service.

By choosing to support local independent coffee outlets like us you are making a real difference and a genuine contribution to your local community!

Think Globally, Act Locally...

As consumers we are constantly bombarded in the media with the global challenges our planet faces - but the environmental and socio-economic impacts our daily choices make are not always obviously apparent. So how, at our modest little coffee shop, are we doing our bit? and what does it actually mean when choosing to buy a coffee at Butler’s?

1. Our coffee beans are genuine speciality coffee grade. The source of the beans being traceable down to the farm level and purchased for way above the perceived ‘fair-trade’ price. This ensures the growers receive an excellent price for their labour of love and we receive the highest quality green coffee

2. The green beans are shipped to Nottingham and lightly roasted to a particular taste profile by the experts at Outpost Coffee Roasters based in Radford. Extracting flavours such as toffee, chocolate and red berries

3. The roasted beans are delivered weekly to Butler’s in air tight bags and dispensed straight into our fantastic Mazzer Grinder

4. Every day we calibrate our equipment to ensure the perfect Espresso is extracted through our hand-built Italian beauty - La Marzocco Linea PB Espresso machine

5. Steamed milk from one of our expertly trained baristas results in a coffee experience we truly believe is exceptional

So sit back, enjoy your locally produced speciality coffee and appreciate the global journey it’s been on! Safe in the knowledge that it’s 100% traceable, ethically sourced and created by passionate coffee experts at every stage.