New café opens in Lewes as businesses join forces

Bun + Bean, on Mount Pleasant, has opened a second venture at yoga and personal training studio Soulfit, on Western Road.

It will be open Tuesday to Friday with Hannah Pilfold of mobile coffee business Hannah's Van running the café.

Owner of Bun + Bean Jamie Moore said the venture came about 'through friendship' and 'a liking for the way we all do business'.

He said: "All three businesses are quite community based. We rely heavily on regular customers.

"We all seem to share the same customers which isn't true of everywhere in Lewes."

Jamie opened Bun + Bean on Mount Pleasant some two years ago. He said: "It's a good spot. It does really well."

On the new café, which opened yesterday (February 5) he added: "It's nice to have somewhere there's some involvement with other people – sharing ideas."

The new venture will serve coffee from roasters Girls Who Grind, home-brewed kombucha, smoothies, smoothie bowls, salad bowls and more.

Gyles and Fiona Abbott opened Soulfit in March last year.

They said: "When we came up with the idea for Soulfit one of our key goals was to create a strong community around it, which we firmly believe we’ve done."

"People love hanging after class to chat and catch up, and we realised quickly there was an opportunity to invite another local business in to partner up.

"Bun + Bean has always been one of our favourite places to refuel – and we love their approach to working with sustainable, local businesses."

Hannah, who has been running her mobile coffee business in Lewes for about two and a half years, says they are 'really excited' about the new venture.

She will be running the café during the week and taking out Hannah's Van for events.

She said: "It's really nice to be working with two different companies. We all get on very well and have similar values and similar ethics and we really like supporting the local community and businesses."