Built by Its Community: How Hope Coffee Brought Essex to Lakeside

Some brands build an audience online and hope it eventually shows up in person. Hope Coffee didn't have to hope for long. When the Essex-born coffee brand opened its new unit at Lakeside Shopping Centre, its community didn't just show up, they queued for it. It's proof of something we believe deeply at LDC: when you give a brand's community somewhere real to show up, they will.

From Stanford-le-Hope to Lakeside

Hope Coffee started life as a small, family-run coffee shop on the high street in Stanford-le-Hope, the kind of place where the person making your flat white probably knows your order before you ask. Somewhere along the way, its personality, its coffee, and its knack for fun content turned a local favourite into an online one, with a following that grew far beyond Essex. Lakeside is its first destination unit, and its biggest stage yet.

A Community That Shows Up

What makes Hope Coffee's move to Lakeside so exciting isn't just the brand, it's the reaction. This is a community that takes "support local" seriously, and it's been showing up in force, filling out the new unit, tagging friends, and treating opening day like an event rather than just another coffee run. It's the payoff of years spent being a part of the community.

Why Visit?

Lakeside's new Hope Coffee unit comes with a curated summer menu designed specifically for the space, alongside the drinks that built the brand's following in the first place. It's the same Hope Coffee that Essex already knows and queues for, just with more room to do it in.

How LDC Made This Possible

This is exactly the kind of move we built LDC to support. Brands like Hope Coffee grow real, loyal communities online, but the traditional route into physical retail, long leases, high upfront costs, years of commitment before you know if a location works, was never built for them. Our model at Lakeside removes that risk, giving brands the chance to test, grow, and scale in a high-footfall space without betting everything on it upfront. Rebecca Morter, our founder, put it simply: "Hope Coffee is exactly the type of brand we built this platform for." It's a model we think more independent brands deserve, a real shot at physical retail, without having to already be a big business to get one.

Come Say Hello!

If you've followed Hope Coffee online, you already know what you're missing. Head to Lakeside, find their new unit, and see what all the queueing is about.