I started my Coffee Box business in a horse cart days before lockdown - now I have my own bistro at Affinity
“It was a scary time but as bad as it was, it benefited too.”
Little did Rosie Mackay realise how her tiny horsebox coffee shop would shape her life when she launched her business just days before Covid hit.
In 2020 Rosie was working a full time job but had a light bulb moment when she simply couldn’t find a decent place for a coffee on her way to work, except for McDonalds.
So she began to explore the options. She had a passion for coffee and decided it was time to set up shop, she always knew she’d be a business owner one day and this was her moment.
A self-confessed grafter, Rosie bought an old horse cart, completely renovated it and was lucky to grab a pitch at Affinity in Fleetwood, in her home town, to sell coffee.
She said: “It was literally 12 days before lockdown. I was a single mum, just left a job and we were in lock down.
“But I’m persistent. I lived at Harbour Village at the time and so I took the cart home, parked it on my driveway and when we could go for daily walks again, I started advertising coffee. And I had queues.
“But it was a brutal time. I was trying to get a business off the ground through a pandemic, three lockdowns - it was winter, the pipes were freezing up but I kept going . I ended up adding food to the menu and I’d make coffees and drop them off at people’s houses in the car!
“It was a scary time but as bad as it was, it benefited too.”
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By October 2021, just a year later, Affinity offered Rosie, 36, a permanent unit to work from.
She has just celebrated fives years of the Coffee Box and Bistro a proud occasion which she is celebrating next week with family, friends and staff.
Rosie, who recently married and has a 12-year-old son, employs ten staff, the majority of whom have been with her since day one.
“We literally have customers who come in every day, it’s a lovely hub for people.
“On Sunday we are having a private celebration to mark five years, I like doing celebrations for us all.”
Rosie is no stranger to business and has wonderful mentors in her life including her mum who is the owner of Lord’s deli on Lord Street and another relative who owns John Jenkinson’s Garage.