Ex-graphic designer fulfils 'selfish' dream to open coffee shop in Yorkshire town after Prince's Trust support

He made the move back into the speciality coffee industry to pursue his passion during the pandemic.

Mr Mitchell said: “Lockdown and Covid really changed my perspective on what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to stare at a laptop in my spare room.

“I became a barista at my local speciality coffee shop - Tambourine Coffee, in Saltaire.

“It was a complete change of scenery, a whole load of head space. It became a job that would make me change my whole approach going forward.

“The idea of opening my own place became a goal. I enrolled onto a business enterprise scheme with the Prince’s Trust in 2021 to build out a business plan and learn about what it would take to open a shop.

“Fast forward to summer 2023, I signed the lease for the shop where Onward is now.”

Since its doors opened just over six months ago, the success has been staggering.

Further reinforcing the community feel, the small food menu uses bread and pastries from local bakery Moin Moin in Ilkley, and a selection of cakes baked in-house and from Layer’d in Harrogate.

The rotation of coffee is sourced from UK and European roasters including Casa Espresso and Redbank Coffee, who work directly with importers and farms at origin to produce sustainable coffee.

“I still joke with customers saying I opened Onward selfishly - and I very much stand by that. It is as much for me, as it is to the community it is placed in and for the people it serves. I absolutely love it,” Mr Mitchell said.

He said that he wanted Onward to be a home from home.

“I always wanted the shop to be a community and I genuinely love making coffee. And I get to chat to people and help do that everyday.

“That’s what Onward is about. I want it to feel like somewhere people can escape for a bit.

“It is a community, brought together by a shared genuine love of coffee. I want the shop to be full of stories, people chatting away, catching up and enjoying themselves.

“It is somewhere customers can feel comfortable - whether it is sitting with a morning brew on your own, working on the laptop for an hour or bringing the family down on a weekend to grab some lunch.

“There’s nothing majorly ‘different’ about Onward - we just aim to do things as well as we possibly can, as consistently as we can. Whether that’s our interactions with customers, the coffee we’re serving or the physical shop itself. I never want to feel like it is trying to be something it is not. It is a coffee shop at heart - but with the aim of building a community for everyone who walks through the door.”

The shop is on Otley Road in Guiseley and opens between 8am-3pm on Tuesdays to Saturdays and between 9am and 2pm on Sundays.

The Prince’s Trust offers courses, enterprise initiatives, mentoring opportunities, and much more for 16 to 30-year-olds across the UK. It has helped more than 90,000 young people to start their own business in recent years.