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Formed in 2011 by managing director Richard Doherty and director Jim Devlin, the company rents out “bean to cup” coffee machines with names such as the Boss and the Champion to offices under an overall mission statement of making sure that nobody has a bad coffee at work ever again .
The majority of the brews inside the coffee machines are carefully sourced from small hold farmers while each purchase triggers a donation to the environmental charity Cool Earth. A proportion of each sale of Cool Earth Coffee goes to protecting at risk Amazonian rainforests as well as paying for new schools and hospitals.
Fellow ethical brands the Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade are other major Office Coffee Company partners.
Doherty, who labels himself as “Head Bean”, said: We approached Cool Earth and secured exclusive use of its brand in early 2012. When we formed our company we wanted to focus on quality, value and sustainability. I have a daughter and we have a responsibility of protecting the planet for generations to come.
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He also mentioned that the Office Coffee Company worked with clients such as handbag maker Mulberry and clothes group Diesel to work out the environmental benefits made in carbon emissions and the number of trees saved.
Our free carbon assessments help to underpin their environment/CSR policies and ISO14001 accreditation. We send our customers a certificate each year detailing this information,? Doherty stated. Its going extremely well and it surprises me how many firms come to us having found us online rather than having to cold-call or do leaflet distributions. One of the earliest I remember is Abbey Road studios who phoned us out of the blue and said they loved our sustainability policies and Cool Earth, and that being our customer would be great for them.
Other growing businesses could reap the benefit from creating sustainable policies but they must genuinely commit to the changes. You have to do it in a responsible way and have it high up on your companys list of criteria. It must be more than just marketing hype,” he said. It really will help your bottom line.
Doherty believed it was easier to make these changes in an SME than a large organisation. He worked as a sales director for eight years at Premier Watercoolers and then one year at PHS Waterlogic after it acquired the business.
Premier was a small, quirky, entrepreneurial firm. PHS had a very different culture. It was frustrating not to be able to develop ideas as quickly,” he stated. I left and formed the Office Coffee Company because of my love of quality coffee and good customer service, bring the two together and you have a way of growing a new business.
Backing came from investors Phil Langley, former managing director of Premier Watercoolers and John Cullum, former Chairman of Premier and the father of jazz singer Jamie Cullum.
The middle of 2011 may not have been the best time to launch a new company but our arrival coincided with the office trend of replacing vending units with coffee machines,” he said. Vending companies were concentrating on workplaces, hotels and leisure with little or no focus on quality but we narrowed that to target white collar offices looking for best quality and value.
Read on for experiences with Jamie Callum and to find out how much coffeeDoherty drinks…
Doherty believed one of the reasons its machines appeal to company bosses is because they remove the temptation for staff to nip over the road for a coffee in a Starbucks or Costa store.
“We certainly can play a part in keeping staff in the office and improving productivity,” he said. Even renting one coffee machine from us will pay for itself over time by the number of work hours you gain.
Doherty mentioned he liked quirky the company lists other coffee induced work benefits on its website.
Did you know the perfect time to drink coffee is between 9.30am and 11.30am and that coffee helps promote alertness, boost brain function, memory and even works as a pain-killer to ease those neck and back twinges when sat at a computer all morning
You do now.
Its fun but it also shows a willingness to fully understand their customers habits and needs. Everything we do we put the customer first. I think those companies who failed to do so fell by the wayside during the recession,” Doherty said. At least once a year we strive to do something for our customers which far exceeds their expectations.
One example was a call from Abbey Road Studios late one afternoon to say that they had a small issue with one of their machines and it had to be fixed for the musician booked to do a recording later that same evening.
I remember asking who the musician was,” Doherty said. Jamie Cullum, came the response! Luckily our service team responds to problems the same day!?
The group employs a ‘customer success champion’ dealing with new business enquiries and helping customers choose the right products for their office.
It can be quite complicated and often offices get it wrong. We find out how many coffee drinkers there are in the company and how many drinks a day they will have,” Doherty explained. Sometimes companies can order machines which are too big and costly for their needs.
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Doherty said its rental model also helps firms save cash: 90 per cent of our machines are rented. It gives our customers flexibility over the 36 month rental period.”
The Office Coffee Company doesnt see any dampening in demand for coffee among British businesses, noting rising demand from SMEs, and is steadily expanding online selling coffee, tea and biscuits with next day delivery options.
International expansion seems to be a possibility but present focus remains on developing the UK market. We are happy where we are finding the right partners and getting the service right,” said Doherty.
The company is also keeping a look out for new so-called speciality coffees such as those emerging from Ethiopia. They are lighter, more like an herbal tea and are proving very popular in central London. We identify the coffees, try to understand them and then assess what is the right product for the right market,” Doherty explained.
So after four years hes still a keen fan of coffee
Of course. I drink about six cups a morning,” he laughed. Oh, and a more relaxing Redbush in the afternoon.
