Esquires Coffee in Caerphilly has won the award for Best Sustainable Café Chain in Gwent at this year’s Welsh Enterprise Awards.

The shop, part of an international brand first started in Canada in 1888, is the first and only branch of this company in Wales, with over 60 other branches across the UK.

According to branch owner Julie Mcilhiney, Esquires really pride themselves on being a fully sustainable company that provides an upmarket approach to coffee and outstanding customer service.

She said: “We only got the email letting us know we had won very recently, and we are over the moon to receive this award.

“We will be attending the official ceremony in November to pick up our award. Given how much of our focus as a company is on being sustainable, being recognised for that by one of our customers is just brilliant.”

This branch of Esquires was opened in January 2020 and is run by Mrs Mcilhiney and her husband John with a loyal crew of staff.

Mrs Mcilhiney believes that their unique upscale style is what has made them stand out for this award, with a regular slew of customers providing support.

She said: “We provide products that you might not necessarily find in your local Starbucks, such as eggs benedict. We are still very down-to-earth as a company – even being dog friendly - and really appreciate all the local community’s support.

“That has been invaluable to us over the last few years, particularly as we had to close for six weeks during covid, and then were only able to open as a takeaway service for a while during social distancing.”

Esquires has always been a very community-focused company, and Mrs Mcilhiney firmly believes they wouldn’t be here without the Caerphilly community. 

She continued: “We have done a lot of things for the community such as hosting the local sports teams pre and post matches or celebrating birthdays with our customers. Connecting with the people here is key for us."

Mr Mcilhiney said: “What we have found is that younger members of the community have started to use the café as a place to socialise or relax in a warm and welcoming atmosphere, and it’s really important to us that they feel they can do that.

“We are extremely proud that one of our customers felt so strongly about us that they purposefully went out of their way to nominate us for the award, and we are really grateful to them.”

The Esquires company is currently franchised by Cooks Coffee Company, who also operate Triple Two Coffee.