A new coffee and wine bar will be opening in Oxford’s city centre this summer.
NewGround Coffee is a coffee roastery and social enterprise based in Headington and founded in 2018. They have seen enough success since the opening of their main location on Windmill Road to begin expanding.
The company’s second location differs from the first in that it is a combination coffee and wine bar rather than just a cafe. Therefore, it has later opening hours, with the Headington location closing at 3pm in the week and 4pm on weekends, while the central Oxford location will close at 6pm Monday-Wednesday and 11pm Thursday-Sunday.
This new central location will be on Ship Street, opposite the St Michael at the North Gate church. It is situated very close to Jesus College (in fact being located directly below the college’s JCR) and just across the road from Exeter and Lincoln.
NewGround say that they roast “high-grade, ethically sourced coffee from small-scale farms around the world”. The new location will also offer a “wide selection of natural wines” to customers.
NewGround said in a press release about the announcement of the central location: “We’re levelling up. This coffee and wine bar has been 2 years in the making and we couldn’t be more excited about it.
“From sensational coffees from both NewGround and world-renowned roasters, to our cutting-edge design from award winning architects, this will be the place to be this summer.”
Oxford is well-known for its coffee scene and the city is host to countless coffee shops, whether they be independent cafes or high-street coffee chains. Love Coffee on the High Street, The Handle Bar on St Michael’s Street, and Black Sheep Coffee on George Street are just some of the many popular roasteries frequented by Oxford students.
NewGround was set up as an impact company in 2018, with their initial social impact focus being the re-hiring and training of ex-offenders.
In January the company became the eighth coffee roastery in the UK to receive a B Corp certification, meaning that they scored highly in analysis of their ethical business practices. B Corp quantifies these practices in five key areas: community, environment, workers, customers, and governance.
The company says that it took longer than expected to receive the certification because B Corp did not assess the employment of ex-offenders in the way NewGround did, but because of this they became “instrumental in a re-thinking of how companies who hire prisoners were assessed”.
The NewGround coffee and wine bar will open on Ship Street this summer.
NewGround advertises the new location as follows: “Come visit one of Europe’s top coffee destinations, settle in and stay for some natural wines from around the world. Whether you’re flying through for a takeaway coffee, meeting a pal for a much needed catch up, or are settling in with some good mates for an evening of incredible natural wines – NewGround OX1 is the place you never knew you needed.”
Image credits: NewGround Coffee.
Image description: A shot of the storefront of the new location.
