Freckleface Coffee Co opens in Stamford as fragrance company branches out

From a 14-year-old’s school project to having shops across the country, a mother and son are continuing to expand their business empire.

Tasked with coming up with a viable business idea for homework in 2017, Noah Carlile-Swift began making candles with his mum Tara.

What began as a hobby has grown into Freckleface Home Fragrance, with a workshop in Bourne and shops in Stamford, York, Leeds and Cambridge and products stocked in more than 650 other stores.

As Noah turned 18 he decided it was time to branch out and run a chain of coffee shops under the Freckleface brand while Tara continues to head the fragrance side.

Noah said he has always been ‘entrepreneurial’ with Tara adding: “He used to try to sell me pictures he did at nursery at the age of three.

“I always knew then he would have his own business.”

Freckleface Coffee Co, which opened in Red Lion Street, Stamford last week, is the first of the shops. Further down the line the pair hope to have coffee shops stationed in all of their stores.

Over the past few months, as well as learning about coffee making Noah has had to become handy with a drill and a hammer as he renovated the building.

Following the same style as the stores, the café includes tables and chairs, as well as fragrances around the room.

A key part of the Freckleface business is being environmentally friendly, with plastic-free packaging and fragrances designed around nature as well as sourcing ingredients as close to home as possible.

Tara, 48, said: “We always knew we wanted really good quality coffee grown from small farms where you can track it right back to the grower to make sure it is ethically sourced and has a low carbon footprint.

“Researching it, it was unbelievable the coffee people accept.”

She added: “We made the business when he was 14 and wanted to prove you can still make money with ethics.

“It’s not been an option not to be, with this generation you can’t really grow without it - customers demand it.”

Noah is hoping to open a new coffee shop every four to six months in towns and cities across the country, while it is hoped the fragrance side of the business will have stores in London and Brighton.

Working with a parent does have its benefits with Tara and Noah able to have business meetings at whatever time of the day - even at 2am.

This has allowed them to build a business centred around family which they hope to continue for decades to come.

Similar to the candle and fragrance subscriptions, Freckleface plans to offer coffee subscriptions too.

In response to people questioning why another coffee shop has opened in Stamford, the pair believe the locally made and fresh produce will draw people in.

Tara said: “Having it in Stamford made sense. Stamford is a booming economy and we wanted to start here with people we know.

“We are so grateful to all the customers at Freckleface Fragrance for supporting the coffee shop.”

“Coffee is so evocative everybody knows what they want, and when you go to a coffee shop the expectation is much higher,” said Tara, who favours a flat white.

As well as coffee there are tea leaves brewed in hassan bags as well 70 per cent cocoa hot chocolate flakes.