Barista behind till at Baffle House Coffee Shop.

Crowning the 10 most innovative and creative coffee shops in the UK

Grounds of Innovation Winners 🏆

For the second year running, BRITA Professional has teamed up with an expert panel of judges to uncover the most groundbreaking coffee shops in the UK. These are the places that truly inspire creativity and act as hubs for their local communities – spaces that deserve to be celebrated. Cafés from across the UK entered, but only 10 exceptional locations earned the coveted title of “Grounds of Innovation” winners.

Mother Espresso coffee and bagel

🥇 1st PLACE: Mother Espresso

"Winning this competition is absolutely amazing! Being recognised for our work, especially by a panel of industry experts, makes this victory even more special. Our goal has always been to create a welcoming community friendly space that offers a unique and creative experience.”  

Howey Gill, Head of Coffee at Grind: “Seems like it has such a great community feel.”   

As the top ranked café, Mother Espresso has won:  

  • PURITY C iQ – the world’s first data-driven intelligent filter 

  • Latte art class from Ben Lewis   

  • GRIND coffee bundle 

  • Rascal Coffee tasting experience

Redemption Roasters Coffee Shop

🥈 2nd PLACE: Redemption Roasters

  • Quote from winner “We are thrilled to be recognised for our creativity and innovation with this award from BRITA. Redemption Roasters is committed to our mission of reducing reoffending through coffee and we are grateful to be recognised alongside these other innovative brands.” 

  • Alex Bell, Editor at Café Life “The set-up is first class. Staff are very much involved, and it feels like a community operation.” 

Harts coffee shop croissants

🥉 3rd PLACE: Hart’s Bakery

  • "It's amazing to be recognised for our creativity, and we’re so grateful to be recognised alongside such an incredible cohort of coffee shops across the UK. Balancing creativity with the demands of high-capacity work is always a challenge, but we strive to find that sweet spot.” 

  • Howey Gill, Head of Coffee at Grind: “The food just looks incredible. This reaffirmed how much I love cafés and the communities around café culture.” 

Professional filter on the counter

PURITY C iQ filter - Game-changing innovation for consistent cup quality ☕️

Each of the top three has won a PURITY C iQ filter – the world’s first data-driven intelligent filter from BRITA. Seven years in the making, PURITY C iQ is much more than just a filter cartridge, giving coffee shops full transparency on all the information they need to make smarter business decisions, thanks to its self-regulating filtration system and easy-to-use online portal. 

Learn more about the innovation behind PURITY C iQ here.

Barista making coffee

Meet the Experts 💡

We teamed up with an incredible panel of judges to uncover the most innovative coffee shops across the UK:   

  • Howey Gill, Head of Coffee at Grind  

Each café was ranked on its creative flair – from quirky menus to a meaningful mission – and the enticing atmosphere they create. 

✨Congratulations, to all our winners. We had some brilliant entries and can't wait to find more creative coffee shops next year!✨