By Vladimir McTavish
However, real statistics suggest that in London you are never more than six feet away from a Pret A Manger. Likewise, in Edinburgh these days you never seem to be more than fifty metres away from a branch of Black Sheep Coffee. Their shops are springing up all over the city. There’s one on Princes Street, on George Street, in the St James Quarter and at Haymarket. There may be more for all I know. I reckon a couple of branches may have opened up since I started writing this. Every other vacant retail space seems to turn into another Black Sheep Coffee. Our neighbours’ house is up for sale. I wouldn’t be surprised if a Black Sheep Coffee were to open next door. The chain’s slogan is “Don’t follow the herd”, presumedly to mark them as different to the multi-nationals like Starbuck’s and Costa. The thing is that they now have so many shops that they have become the herd. I had cynically assumed that, rather than being the funky upstart new kids on the block, they would be owned by some faceless corporation. I was pleasantly surprised to find out I was wrong. It appears that the brand is still owned by the same two guys who started the company as a coffee stall in Camden in 2013. They had met as students at St Andrew’s University, which could explain why they have so many outlets in Scotland. The business grew through crowdfunding and financial support from the UK government’s Futures Fund. Twelve years on, they are an omnipresent sight on our high streets. Like most catering chains, each shop looks pretty much identical to the rest, with one subtle difference. They all have different uplifting mottos on the wall in red neon lettering. They may have a grungy rebel appearance, but they are not cheap. Waiting for a train in Aberdeen, I’d just paid ten quid for a toastie and a flat white. at their branch in Union Square. On the wall I read “It’s not all about the money”. Erm, I think it could be.