Coffee shop by day and bar by night opens its doors

A coffee shop by day and bar by night has opened in Oswestry, creating a number of job opportunities.

Twisted Taste is being launched in Leg Street by brother and sister Darren and Laura Barker, who have run St Martin’s Service Station for the last six years.

The new venture will see the couple lease the premises, well known for many years in the town as The Clubhouse clothing shop run by Martin Britten.

Twisted Taste opened on December 3.

Laura said: “We have been running the service station at St Martin’s for six years which has been going very well, so decided it was a good time to expand our interests through this new opportunity.

“We started selling some craft ales at the service station and that really took off so thought the idea of a coffee shop come bar would be a good idea.

“The plan is to concentrate on craft ales and cocktails, so the focus will be very much on high-end coffee in the day and high-end wines, cocktails and ales during the evenings.

“We will be trialling opening times to gauge demand and will then make a decision about changing things if we need to.

“We will need staff but as to how many depends on how busy we are, but we’re hopeful of creating about 10 jobs and would like to offer opportunities for young people to get onto the jobs ladder for the first time.”

Stewart Smith of law firm Lanyon Bowdler, based in Oswestry, has been helping with the lease arrangements.

He said: “Oswestry, like many other towns and cities, is changing and we are generally seeing a move away from retail to leisure and hospitality.

“Darren and Laura have been running a very successful business in St Martin’s and have been presented with the opportunity to embark on this additional venture, an innovative idea and we wish them well for the future.”