UK/IRELAND. Social enterprise Change Please Coffee UK is to take over 55 AMT Coffee sites across the UK and Ireland, many of which are located in airports, train stations and hospitals.
The move was announced in a LinkedIn post this morning by Change Please CEO and founder Cemal Ezel, a former UK Social Entrepreneur of the Year. Ezel is also co-founder of a second social enterprise, The Old Spike Roastery, which runs cafés and sells online coffee subscriptions.
Change Please – a partnership with The Big Issue – trains homeless people as baristas and provides each person with a London Living Wage job, housing, a bank account and mental health support.
In his LinkedIn post, Ezel said: “We are so pleased to announce that Change Please Coffee UK will be taking over all AMT Coffee sites within the UK and Ireland.
“This will allow all 55 sites in hospitals, airports and train stations to contribute towards our future growth and create a model that not only sells a world-class coffee, but also changes people’s lives with every beverage, pastry or sandwich someone buys from us.”
He added: “People who are homeless tend to use train stations, hospitals and airports as refuge and we will work with our landlords to offer each person a training opportunity at one of our sites. If successful this could lead to a long-term job, housing, therapy support and a bank account with HSBC.
“We are proud to welcome a further 360 people to our team who will be our frontline ambassadors and help us prove that you can offer an amazing product and do good at the same time.”
Founded in 1992, AMT Coffee is headquartered in London and employs more than 400 people.
