New ‘social hub’ opens in Castleford following major funding support.

Andrew Barrow joins Evoca

Evoca have appointed Andrew Barrow to the role of HoReCa sales manager, and to replace industry veteran, Stephen Parsons.

Andrew Barrow brings with him twenty years of experience, having ‘learned his trade’ with South Coast company, Concept Coffee Systems.

“It was a small company, so it was ‘hands on’ during every part of the process,” said Andrew Barrow. “For six years, I was qualifying leads, making face-to-face sales; setting up leasing agreements, ordering machines; putting them in the back of the car and installing them – the whole thing’,” he says. “I can even remember taking a customer’s leasing cheque to the bank! And after that, providing after-sales back up was down to me, too.”

Andrew Barrow’s connection with Evoca goes way back to his time at my Café Bar when the company was still N&W Global Vending.

While the people at Evoca say they are delighted to welcome Andrew Barrow to the team, they add that they are hugely sorry to see industry veteran Stephen Parsons depart. In his threeand-a-half-year spell at Evoca, Stephen Parsons played an enormous part in re-establishing the Gaggia brand name in the UK, successfully introducing a full suite of commercial espresso machines into the UK - from Ruby to La Reale, to Gaggia’s first ever super automatic machine, La Radiosa.

New ‘social hub’ opens in Castleford following major funding support

A Featherstone-based property developer has created a new social hub featuring an artisan coffee shop and sandwich bar, as well as a highspecification hair and beauty salon, in a project that has breathed new life into a redundant site in Castleford.

The new Livelihub on Methley Road, close to the town centre, is the brainchild of local entrepreneur Craig Mitchell, owner of Carter & Co. Property Solutions. The new venture, which has created four new jobs, was brought to fruition through funding of £100,000 arranged by Reward Finance Group. The new business aims to provide a contemporary setting for eating, drinking and socialising through its carefully selected range of high quality freshly brewed coffee, food and other drinks. The extensive redevelopment project of the former workshop and storage space, which had been derelict for twenty years, also features a salon for Luxe Professional Hairdressing, with space for five barbers.

Reward Finance Group, who was introduced to Carter & Co. by Brian Snape, owner of Mighty Oak Business and Property Finance, enabled Craig Mitchell to bring his development plans to fruition with a short-term bridging loan. This allowed the property conversion work to be completed in as short a timeframe as possible, preventing any delays in the opening of Livelihub.

Craig Mitchell, who will manage the Livelihub business as part his growing business portfolio, said: “It is fantastic to be able to realise our ambitions for this prominent site in Castleford and create a social hub unlike anything else in the town. The new salon is an exciting venture too, offering a high specification space in a superb location that immediately attracted hairdressing professionals who loved the concept of working within Livelihub.

“Being able to access £100k on a short-term basis through Reward has been really beneficial to the project. Their approach is refreshing and one that I haven’t previously experienced from the major banks, with a great dedication to getting to know my business and understand what we need to grow and thrive.”

Karen Paige, Reward Finance Group’s associate director, added: “Craig has identified an excellent business opportunity here with Livelihub given the growth in café culture and the demand for high quality commercial premises in smaller town communities like Castleford. We are delighted to be able to support the business through our Business Finance product, which is ideal for clients like Carter & Co. who require a short-term working capital facility to be able to progress with their growth plans whatever they may be.”

(L-R) Brian Snape, owner of Mighty Oak Business and Property Finance, with Reward Finance Group’s associate director, Karen Paige, and Craig Mitchell, developer and owner of the new Livelihub social hub in Castleford.