Even though he gets told off by his mum, there's a new caffeine-fuelled bad boy in town, and he's making waves with his sweary humour. Meet Jake Gilmour, the audacious mastermind behind Kulture Coffee, located on the vibrant Kirkstall Road in Burley.
With a mischievous glint in his eye, Jake spills the beans on his cheeky banter with customers and the “stressful” rollercoaster ride of running a café alongside his partner-in-crime, Jonathan Greenwood, 27. Their goal? To attract a hip and lively clientele who appreciate a good laugh.
Step into Kulture Coffee, and you'll immediately notice the raw authenticity that sets it apart. A bold sign on the counter demands your attention, it says ‘Do you like free s***? Of course, who doesn’t? Earn free s***,’ imploring customers to sign up to Kulture’s loyalty scheme.
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And Jake dials it up a notch on Instagram, where he fearlessly pours his heart out to his loyal patrons, posting “we f****** love you!” and calling them “all f****** class”.
He advertises special drinks, branding a very funky looking pink latte as “sassier than Regina George” and tasting “pretty f****** delicious”. Another drink, Terry’s Chocolate Orange was also “f****** naughty”.
When asked about his foul-mouthed charm, Jake chuckles self-consciously, admitting: “I like to keep it like my personality, I swear a lot!
“In the reality of today, our target market and customers are a similar age to me, either coming out of uni or young professionals. We’ve got that demographic here. So why not market ourselves in a way that they will hopefully find amusing that they can relate to.”
The Sheffield man, who has been in the café trade since he was 16 years old, makes a strong case. But his loving mum still can’t see eye-to-eye with all the cursing.
He shares his mother’s concerns, saying: “My mum says ‘You shouldn’t be swearing on Instagram! Do you need to swear on this on this Jake? Is this needed?’
“When I go home, she’s like ‘You’re still swearing on your Instagram posts, why are you doing that?’ ‘It’s just how I’ve been f****** been taught mum!” he jokes, his nervous grin suggesting he’d never in a million years dare speak to his supportive mum like that.
Behind the scenes it hasn’t been all plain sailing, there’s a lot of hard work bubbling under each scorching cuppa’ – brewed painstakingly from their own fresh roasted beans in store. Jake’s revealed the relentless stress he and Jonathan have had to endure.
On quiet days, their eyes nervously dart towards the till, dwelling on the fine margins as prices sky-rocket. “Everything” has gone up to a “crazy” extent, with flour alone – used for their delicious looking 'Volcano Cookies' – going up a mind-boggling 40 percent in the past nine months.
To add to their worries, the coffee bean duo have their five dedicated members of staff to think about, and their own personal loans to pay off – which financed their dream venture.
Jake said: “Owning a shop is very stressful, constantly. You’ve got responsibilities of rent to pay, loans to pay. So that stuff is stressful.
“In this sort of business, you’ve got to run it super lean if you want to make any money. Me and Jonathan work all hours under the sun at the minute. So that’s a stress.
“You’re constantly looking at figures to stay afloat. We’ve done it all ourselves, we’ve not had a lot of cash to start with. We’re always looking at the takings and what is our trading margins, stuff like that.
“Quiet days are stressful when you know what your costs are a month and you know that you need to take X amount of money a month to stay open. It’s a stressful thing.”
Despite the pressures, it’s all worth it. Jake’s proud of his business becoming an integral part of the fabric of Kirkstall Road which is brimming with local trade and footfall. He cherishes his regular customers and says the business has fostered a friendly culture – with a capital ‘K’.
Jake and Jonathan are currently looking into acquiring an alcohol licence with plans to serve cocktail and food in the evenings, providing the Kirkstall Road microcosm a much-needed cocktail bar. Jake teased that a variety of espresso martini recipes would be on rotation.
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