Beyond the Bean: How Pink Door and No35 found their place in Harrogate’s coffee scene

Long before he opened a coffee shop in Harrogate, Nino Cutino would sit outside Costa in Scarborough and talk to his wife Aimee about his dream.

The couple had moved from South Africa to Yorkshire, where Nino played rugby for Scarborough RUFC and both found work at the Royal Hotel, just around the corner from the coffee chain.

"He used to sit there and say, 'I'd just love to have a coffee shop one day.' I used to say it was nice to have dreams," Aimee humorously recalls.

Then, one day, while she was at work, her phone pinged.

"I got a text from him saying, 'I've just got the keys.' I was like, 'the keys to what?' He said ‘a coffee shop, I’m going to open a coffee shop’," she said.

It was quite a time to embark on a new venture. The couple had bought a house just weeks earlier, but there was little time for second thoughts.

The following day, they were at No35, on Cheltenham Crescent, as work began to strip out the former phone repair shop.

“He just had this vision. They uncovered bare brick walls and I was the only one who could fit under the scaffolding, so I was there drilling up through the ceiling,” laughed Aimee.

Nino, 41, had some useful experience to draw on, working for Coffee Republic, opening new shops. Aimee, 35, was also working full-time, but the pair were determined to make their dream work.

No35 opened in 2017, with Nino initially balancing the coffee shop alongside his job. The arrangement meant he could spend most of his time there, although he would sometimes be away for three or four days at a time.

When the pandemic brought everything to a standstill, Nino was made redundant.

But what could have been a difficult setback instead gave the couple the push they needed to commit to No35 full-time.

Aimee said: "Covid was probably one of the things that pushed us to take the plunge and do something different.

“It's quite a scary thing because you've gone from relying on an income to then all of a sudden having the responsibility of providing your own.

"Nino just seemed so happy, and I absolutely hated my job. I used to open my laptop on a Monday and think I can't do this for the rest of my life.

“I love coffee and I wanted to have a coffee shop too."

For Aimee, the next step was to create something a little different.

Pink Door, on King's Road, was her opportunity to bring a taste of South Africa to Harrogate, with a focus on healthier options.

"We do things like smoothies and protein shakes. This sort of thing is really popular in South Africa." she said.

Pink Door opened in 2022, offering more space for customers, as well as drinks and supplements aimed at those visiting after a workout.

There is a third business in the mix, too - The Brew Society, a pub in Leeds run by Nino and Rich from Harrogate's Little Ale House.

"In this economy, to have three businesses that have survived is quite something," says Aimee.

The town’s two coffee shops have developed their own identities. No35 is a smaller, more traditional grab-and-go operation, centred around coffee, bagels and cakes. The second has a more relaxed feel, with room for customers to settle in and enjoy the surroundings.

There is, however, a common thread running through both.

Ask Aimee what makes an independent coffee shop different from one of the familiar High Street chains and she comes back to something Nino told her when they first started.

"He said: 'I won't give you any other advice apart from you treat your staff like your family.'

"We are a family. I think that family feeling among the team then gets passed on to the customers and they like that when they come in,” she said.

It is an ethos that has shaped the way they run their business.

"When you go into a chain, sometimes there's no personality. Everything can feel quite clinical. They're just hiring somebody to do a job, they’re not hiring somebody to actually create an environment,” said Aimee.

Across the two shops they employ around 13 people, and Aimee is clear that the team is just as important as the customers who come through the door.

For many of those customers, No35 and Pink Door have become part of their daily routine.

Some call in on their way to work, others call for a takeaway drink, while some arrive alone and stay for a conversation.

"It's everything," she says of the relationships they have built with their regulars.

"Without them, we wouldn't have a business. It's the same with our team.”

She believes that taking the time to talk to people can make a real difference.

“I think for customers it’s a community. We’ve got a lot of people who live by themselves. So we might be the only people they speak to every day. I think it’s really important to actually take the time to talk to our regulars. Or just anyone in general,” she said.

"You can often tell when somebody is having a bad day, so even something as simple as writing a nice message on their coffee cup can make a difference."

One member of the team in particular illustrates the strength of the community that has been created.

Having moved to the area knowing nobody, she began working at Pink Door and built friendships with people she had met at the shop.

"It's a real community and that’s how it should be,” said Aimee.

It is perhaps this that makes independent coffee shops such an important part of the places they serve. They are somewhere to meet, catch up and become a familiar face, as much as somewhere to buy a flat white.

Aimee says that sense of community extends beyond her own customers, with independent coffee shops in Harrogate supporting one another.

She said: "There are so many lovely coffee shops in Harrogate. I love going to The Saints, on St Winifred’s Avenue. Whenever we go in there we will always have a chat about business and we will often send each other messages.

“When Hoxton was open (on the Royal Parade), we were always popping down. It's nice for people to actually support each other's businesses as we are all in it together."

She is keen to stress that there is room for everyone, with the town’s coffee shops each having their own appeal, giving customers plenty of choice

"Some people will choose somewhere because it's convenient, others because they like the coffee or the atmosphere,” said Aimee.

It is an encouraging outlook in an industry where the pressures of running an independent business are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Ask Aimee about the biggest challenge facing coffee shops and her answer is immediate.

"Cost, without a doubt."

She recently sat down to review the figures, having last done so less than six months earlier, and found that the cost of many items had risen significantly.

A packet of ham was up by 40p, while a carton of milk had gone up by £1.10. While those individual increases might seem relatively small, across the many ingredients and supplies needed to keep two busy coffee shops running, they quickly add up, explained Aimee.

Then there are staffing costs, electricity, water and the everyday expenses of running a hospitality business.

"Nino and I always say hospitality should be one of the most well-paid jobs. Even if you're having a terrible day, you still have to be on it all the time. As a business owner, you've got that constant stress too," she said.

The couple try to limit price rises for customers, increasing their prices just once a year, but there is only so much a small business can absorb.

"We always feel so anxious. But as an independent business, we can't just absorb increases in electricity, water, ingredients and everything else. If we did, people would be paying £5 or £6 for a coffee," said Aimee.

She maintains that their prices remain competitive with the larger chains, but says there is an important distinction when it comes to where customers choose to spend their money.

"When they spend money at a big chain, that money is going towards a huge company. When they spend it here, they're supporting a small business and the people who work in it,” she said.

There is another string to the couple's business, too.

At the back of the premises sits their own roasting operation, producing coffee under the name Kiff coffee - a South African slang term meaning ‘cool’.

They began selling it at No35, where it has become a staple. Their house coffee is Kiff coffee around 99 per cent of the time, alongside guest coffees sourced from elsewhere in Europe.

At the start of this year, they also began serving it at Pink Door.

The micro-roasting operation uses an electric machine, producing around 20kg of coffee at a time.

It is a small-scale operation, but demand for the retail bags has been growing.

"We genuinely can't keep up with demand at the moment. It just flies off the shelves. We bagged up two days ago, and we already need to bag up more,” said Aimee.

For now, the couple are concentrating on selling their coffee through their own shops rather than supplying other businesses.

They are, however, looking at ways to sell online, allowing customers who have moved away or visit family in the area to continue buying it.

"We'd like to make the coffee more accessible to people who enjoy it," she said.

With three businesses between them, the couple are focused on making the most of what they have built, rather than taking on further ventures.

Away from work, Aimee and Nino are also parents to two-year-old Mila, balancing family life with the demands of running their three businesses.

But Aimee says the immediate priority is navigating what she expects to be a difficult few years for hospitality.

"I think, at the moment, the future is about surviving the next couple of years. I feel like things are going to get harder,” she said.

She had hoped the recent Budget would offer more support for businesses, particularly through changes to VAT, and believes a reduction could make a meaningful difference to the sector.

But there is also a milestone on the horizon. No35 will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2027, an achievement Aimee admits she can hardly believe.

"We'll be doing something to celebrate," she said.

After all the years of hard work, the early starts and the challenges of keeping a small business going, there is still time for the simpler pleasures.

Aimee's coffee of choice is a cortado, while her favourite from the menu is the ‘PB Bomb’ – a peanut butter shake made with milk, chocolate protein, collagen and creatine. It's her go-to after a workout.

And what would Aimee like people to know about Harrogate's independent coffee shops? That they need customers' support to survive, she said.

"Support them. Before you go to one of the chains, try an independent coffee shop.”

"If you're thinking, 'I fancy a coffee', just encourage yourself to try somewhere independent instead. Even if it's only once a week, make that little effort. It all makes a difference.”