City coffee shop in your pocket

A COFFEE SHOP in Birmingham’s business district claims to be the first in the UK to launch an iPhone app that customers can use to order their favourite cuppa.

Urban Coffee Company was launched as a start-up business in Church Street in the city’s Colmore Business District, using social media and other marketing techniques to get its name known.

Founder Simon Jenner said the app was a logical next step, as it will allow busy customers to send their order from their desks, and pick up their drinks without queuing.
 
Mr Jenner said: “We brew our speciality filter coffees freshly for each cup, which means a short wait is inevitable. We found that more and more customers started calling the store to pre-order their drinks – especially for large or complicated orders – so we decided to devise an online ordering facility to speed the process up.

“We believe this is the first coffee ordering app in the UK as apps available from other coffee shops concentrate on explaining menus, translating ‘barrista speak’ and locating stores rather than simply being able to order a coffee before you get there.
 
“We’re very proud to be the first company to successfully implement this type of application in the UK – beating off the big boys like Starbucks and Caffè Nero. We’ve always recognised that innovation is a tool which will allow us to punch above our weight, which is essential for a small and entrepreneurial store like ourselves.”
 
Mr Jenner claimed that since making the app available via the iTunes store three weeks ago, 200 users have downloaded it and over 100 orders have been placed via the initiative.

The application was developed by Birmingham-based open source software
developer Scott James Remnant, a regular Urban Coffee Company
customer.
 
The second of Urban Coffee Company’s outlets is due to open next month, based in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter.

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