Coffee.
Community.
Collaboration.
River & Bean provides an invitingly private, flexible café space designed for real lives, not footfall, made available for quiet coworking, admin, studying, relaxation, collaboration, or engaging with your community or clients.
We stock and sell a vast array of exceptional tea and coffee, with discounts available for private sessions and members.
We proudly support the community with Good Cause discounts, fundraising sessions, and donations of 10p for every cup sold.
Space to think and do...
or *not* do...
because that's ok, too.
We operate through a mix of private hire, approved daytime access, and carefully chosen public sessions. This keeps the space calm, flexible and genuinely useful to the people and organisations who need it most.
The café layout provides a mix of privacy, comfort and efficiency in a clean and inviting space that we hope fuels your creativity, soothes your soul, or meets whatever your needs may be in the moment (within reason, of course...)
Remote working done right
Stop squeezing into a tight seat in a cramped café, cups clattering and kids caterwauling, before giving up and going back to your "satellite office," staring into the clinical coworking abyss of an old factory... Contact us to arrange daytime access to coworking.
Responsibility done right
Trickle-down economics is bullshit. We're developing a rigorous "Responsibility by Design" model, ensuring that we, our customers, and the government are supporting local people, local charities and local needs with each and every transaction.
Whaddayaneed?
Open and friendly communication fosters a great experience. We try to ensure you feel at home while visiting here and working with us... Well... actually, we try to make you feel not at home; that's kinda the point, after all...
Anyway, we're more than happy to let you in, serve you a nice cuppa and leave you the hell alone - don't worry, we're not pushy like that - but we do have a range of equipment we can provide for your session and services we can offer to members, plus a number of partners who can offer support and assistance with a range of topics and issues.
So, tell us... Whaddayaneed?
Join our community!
River & Bean Members gain access to members-only sessions, and can help guide our operations - plus access discount pricing, if eligible.
Basic membership is free, but we hope you'll consider subscribing. We're much more than just a private venue - or at least we will be, with your help.
Get in touchQ&A
Here we'll try to answer some questions we know you'll want the answers to. We know most of you will totally ignore this and just send us a message anyway, so we probably won't update them very often...
Are you a public café?
Not really. River & Bean is primarily a private, bookable space with selected public sessions and limited public-facing access.
Can I just drop in?
Usually, no. If a session is open to the public, it will be clearly advertised in advance.
Can I hire the space?
Yes. Evening and weekend private hire is available, along with selected daytime arrangements.
How do I ask about daytime use?
Use the enquiry form and include a short outline of who you are, what you need, and whether you are looking for one-off or recurring access.
Can food be brought in?
Absolutely!
Other than our astonishingly good teas and coffees, we don't provide a catering service unless specifically requested - we encourage the use of local caterers and takeaways.
Do you offer community/charity rates?
Yes!
Community rates are available for a large number of eligible groups and individuals; you don't have to be a charity, necessarily - get in touch to find out more.
What makes us unique?
The way we approach... well, just about everything. We have two clear aims, though; to provide great spaces for the under-served, and to underpin and subsidise that by providing great tea and coffee.
We believe that communities should more directly benefit from the commercial operations that they support and enable, and we're proud to put our money where our mouth is.
Where is your tea and coffee sourced?
Everywhere!
We buy from the official sales or distribution channels of international suppliers, and directly with local artisanal roasters to bring you a broad selection of the finest coffees and teas imaginable, from a variety of roasters, all of whom will be listed here, and in-store.
Never be limited to "small, medium, or large."
What else do you offer?
We love our standard café layout, but we're open to members mixing the space up!
Use of our kitchen can be included in your hire, and we can also provide a logitech conferencing system, green screen backdrops and enclosures, 4K cameras, some lighting options, and 24k audio. Oh, and VR. All available subject to terms.
Sweet, huh?
Do you offer coworking?
Daytime access is currently by arrangement for approved partners, organisations and trusted members rather than general public desk booking.
We're working on making bookable co-working seats available to all members - supporting us with a monthly subscription is a great way to make this happen!
Can I run a Public Event at River & Bean?
Potentially, yes.
Approved organisers and partners may be able to host suitable public-facing sessions, subject to approval.
We encourage use of our space by clubs and organisations for invite-only meetings, conferences and private fundraising events.
How can I use your space?
Private hire can be used for social gatherings, collaboration, content creation, consultations, meetings, small conferences, club events etc.
We're happy to work with members to arrange open access for exhibitions, pop-up shops and other public events, and we're delighted to support local charities with our unique Open Fundraising sessions.