featured-image

South Street Coffee, in Southchurch Road, opened yesterday morning replacing the former Clifford’s Café. Owner Cameron Leitch-Adams, 23, has experience as a barista before taking a leap into running his own business. The café will have a “community focus” and is set to support community groups such as Pride and transgender support network Transpire.

Deputy mayor of Southend, Nigel Folkard, was on hand to cut the ribbon yesterday morning. He said: “It is really exciting to open. The name comes from it being in both Southchurch and Southend, so it is snappy and scalable.



It emphasises that we are about our community. “Southchurch is an area that needs revitalising, and we need to get people back and get the community spirit down here. I feel most shops around here are conglomerate companies.

“There is a lack of independent spirit. I like the idea that back in the day you could pop to a butcher’s, you could know the milk and that is what we are looking to provide – friendly faces.” Cameron initially developed the idea for his café back in February before securing the lease and carrying out a big refurbishment.

Roughly £50,000 was spent on the project and Cameron worked 13 hours a day to get the building ready, creating the café. Cameron added that the renovations needed for the café cost around £50,000 and saw him working 13 hours a day, with help from family members and contacts, to transform the building into something “sleek and trendy”. Prev.

Back to Food Page