Whats Brewing?

23 Aug2016 Creating the perfect blend as Insomnia Coffee partners with Blakemore Retail

Insomnia Coffee Company has announced an exciting new partnership with Blakemore & Son Ltd. Blakemore was founded in 1917 and is a family-owned food and drink retail, wholesale and distribution business, based at Longacres Industrial Estate in Willenhall, West Midlands, UK.

The Company currently employs more than 7,800 people and has a turnover circa £1.3 billion. Some of the nine separate divisions include Retail, which consists of 300 retail SPAR stores; Trade Partners, which serves 681 independently owned SPAR stores; Logistics, which distributes to 975 SPAR stores in addition to supporting the wider AFB Group; Wholesale, which operates 14 cash & carry and delivered depots nationwide.

Blakemore Retail has opened a brand new SPAR petrol forecourt store alongside an INSOMNIA coffee shop on the Laceby Crossroads in Grimsby UK.

The 5,000sq ft. store, which occupies the site of a former Little Chef, was officially opened on Wednesday 10th August.

The store also has an in-store Greggs and Subway counters, along with INSOMNIA Coffee Company providing customers with a one-stop convenience, restaurant and takeaway solution. 

Insomnia opened in two independently owned SPAR stores; Market Harborough and Calver in 2015 and will also open in Cardiff and Bakewell this year. Laceby is the first company owned and operated Blakemore site.

“We are delighted to partner with INSOMNIA Coffee, we wanted a strong barista coffee offer that would help complement our food-to-go range in stores that needed more than an ‘express’ solution” commented Chris Bacon Store Operations Director. “The Laceby site is the first company owned site, and we are looking forward to a further roll out over the next year.”

“We are very proud to announce this new partnership with Blakemore Retail”, said Harry O’ Kelly, CEO of INSOMNIA Coffee Company. “ The cosy seating and relaxed atmosphere of our stores will offer tired customers the chance to properly unwind and recharge with a coffee for their onward journey. Laceby is also our first store in the North East of the UK so we are very excited about this new territory”

This latest partnership marks a high point in Insomnia’s growth which has seen the company go from strength to strength since the opening of its first outlet in a Galway Bookstore in 1997 to over 120 stores & 300 self-service machines across Ireland and the UK. Other successful partnerships for the brand include Debenhams, Primark, Heatons, Compass Catering Ireland, Eason, SPAR, EUROSPAR and most recently Maxol.

INSOMNIA opened its first UK Site in 2015 and will operate 12 by the end of 2016 with openings in Cardiff ,Bristol, Oxford Street London, Bromley and Reading.