Anticipated arrival of Ozone Coffee’s Global HQ is met with mixed views from locals

Licence has been granted for a new bar and restaurant in residential Cambridge Heath to serve alcohol and play loud music until late, seven nights a week.

The decision by Tower Hamlets’ licensing committee to grant permission to Ozone Coffee for sale of alcohol and extended hours to the new establishment in a populous area of Cambridge Heath has provoked a mixed response from residents and businesses.

Michele Scarr, a neighbour in Pritchard’s Road, registered an extensive complaint with the licensing committee, stating: “To have a venue closing at 23.30 on a weekday means that clients will still be finishing drinks and leaving at midnight potentially and staff will be leaving even later! This noise will be loud and audible and will keep my entire household awake.”

Ozone Coffee recently opened its first UK eatery in Shoreditch. The new premises on Pritchard’s Road will become the New Zealand brand’s global headquarters, housing a coffee roaster, café, restaurant and office space for 50 employees.

Within 10 minutes’ walk along Hackney Road there are already many coffee shops, and among them there’s a spectrum of feelings about the arrival of an internationally recognised competitor. 

James Penn, owner of nearby Hackney Coffee Company, said: “It’s overall a good thing for the area [although] no doubt we will lose customers to them.”

Lanark Coffee proprietor Greg Boyce feels secure in his business as “it’s quite small and personal… that’s what people come for”. However, he added: “It always surprises me when things break from [independent businesses] and start to look a little bit more corporate and polished; people just flock to them, which is a bit depressing.”

With the licence now approved, Ozone has announced an early October opening for the Pritchard’s Road headquarters.