WatchHouse began in 2014 in a former 19th-century watch house on Bermondsey Street in South London. The tiny building stands beside a Bermondsey church and once gave shelter to those guarding the churchyard. It became the first House and gave the company its name, and every WatchHouse coffee shop since has been a House.

Founder and CEO Roland Horne set out to build a coffee business that took quality seriously “but left the ego elsewhere”, with as much care for design and hospitality as for the cup. That approach became Modern Coffee.

The roastery opened in 2020. WatchHouse now roasts in London and New York, developing each coffee through repeated tasting and profiling so that every House pours to one standard. In London the roasting happens at Maltby Street, a converted railway arch in Bermondsey that is also the training centre and headquarters, and the team there is led by Head Roaster Nikol Novotná. A glass wall looks onto the roasting, training and tasting, and the House has a Modbar, a retail section and home-brewing courses.

WatchHouse buys seasonally through importers it trusts, builds long-term relationships with producers and cups each lot before purchase. It weighs the effect of each purchase on farmers and producers, which brings regional lots and less familiar origins into the range. The coffees sit in three collections. Rituals is the everyday range, warm and familiar, for espresso drunk black or with milk. Ventures holds complex, fruity single origins, recommended black. Horizons is the most experimental, with unusual origins and flavour profiles. The decaf, Páramo, comes from smallholder farms in the Cauca region of Colombia and is decaffeinated with a sugar cane ethyl acetate process. The coffee is also sold in pods and on subscription.

The Houses come in two formats. Espresso Houses serve coffee with fresh bakes and sandwiches, and bakeries in London and New York make the daily bakes, from croissants and cardamom buns to House banana bread. Brunch Houses add breakfast classics and seasonal plates such as poached eggs on sourdough, eggs Benedict on an English muffin and tiramisu French toast. The first Brunch House was Tower Bridge, opened in 2016 and moved into the Cardamom Building in 2019. The drinks menu pours batch brew from the three collections, and espresso comes as White, a coffee for milk, Black, or decaf, alongside matcha, chai and hot chocolate. Hanover is the home of the Rarities menu, a frozen menu of rare coffees. Somerset House adds a wine list and small plates in the evening, and Marsa Boulevard in Dubai is a seasonal pop-up espresso bar.

Bath became the first House outside London in 2023, Fifth Avenue the first in New York in 2024, and the UAE followed in 2025. The Houses in London and New York are owner-operated. The UAE Houses are run with a franchise partner, and Marsa Boulevard was the first of them. There are now 33 Houses: 25 in London, one in Bath, four in New York, two in Abu Dhabi, including Saadiyat Grove, which is still to open, and one in Dubai. WatchHouse was named Europe’s Best Coffee Chain in 2025 and 2026. Eight Houses take private hire, from 16 guests at Spitalfields to 65 at Somerset House, and the Roastery among them hosts coffee events and talks for up to 20.

London Houses include the original Bermondsey Street, the Brunch Houses at Seven Dials, Covent Garden and Somerset House, Hanover near Hanover Square, and three City espresso bars at Bishopsgate, St Mary Axe and Fetter Lane.

Locations

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  1. WatchHouse Seven Dials7 Upper St Martin's Lane, London WC2H 9DLSeven Dials, Covent GardenOpen in Google Maps
  2. WatchHouse Bermondsey Street199 Bermondsey Street, London SE1 3UWBermondseyOpen in Google Maps
  3. WatchHouse Tower Bridge37 Shad Thames, London SE1 2NJShad ThamesOpen in Google Maps
  4. WatchHouse Maltby Street36 Maltby Street, London SE1 3PABermondseyOpen in Google Maps
  5. WatchHouse Spitalfields139 Commercial Street, London E1 6BJSpitalfieldsOpen in Google Maps
  6. WatchHouse Somerset HouseEast Wing, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LAStrandOpen in Google Maps
  7. WatchHouse Fetter Lane92 Fetter Lane, London EC4A 1EPCity of LondonOpen in Google Maps
  8. WatchHouse St Mary Axe70 St Mary Axe, London EC3A 8BECity of LondonOpen in Google Maps
  9. WatchHouse Bishopsgate100 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 1GTCity of LondonOpen in Google Maps
  10. WatchHouse Covent Garden28-29 Southampton Street, London WC2E 7JACovent GardenOpen in Google Maps
  11. WatchHouse Hanover2-3 Medici Courtyard, London W1S 1BRMayfairOpen in Google Maps
  12. WatchHouse Marylebone32-34 New Cavendish Street, London W1G 8UEMaryleboneOpen in Google Maps
  13. WatchHouse Belsize Park183 Haverstock Hill, London NW3 4QSBelsize ParkOpen in Google Maps
  14. WatchHouse Hampstead Heath65 South End Road, London NW3 2QBHampsteadOpen in Google Maps
  15. WatchHouse Fitzrovia56 Wells Street, London W1T 3PTFitzroviaOpen in Google Maps
  16. WatchHouse Marble Arch60 Seymour Street, London W1H 7JNMarble ArchOpen in Google Maps
  17. WatchHouse Canary WharfRS320 Cabot Place, London E14 4QJCanary WharfOpen in Google Maps
  18. WatchHouse Fenchurch Street10 Rood Lane, London EC3M 1HSCity of LondonOpen in Google Maps
  19. WatchHouse Fenchurch AtriumAtrium Lobby, 30 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 3ADCity of LondonOpen in Google Maps
  20. WatchHouse Battersea Power Station52 Electric Boulevard, London SW11 8BJBattersea Power StationOpen in Google Maps
  21. WatchHouse Millennium BridgeUnit 1B Peter's Hill, London EC4V 4AUSt Paul'sOpen in Google Maps
  22. WatchHouse St John's Wood51A St John's Wood High Street, London NW8 7NJSt John's WoodOpen in Google Maps
  23. WatchHouse Borough21 Borough High Street, London SE1 9SEBorough MarketOpen in Google Maps
  24. WatchHouse Parsons Green251 New Kings Road, London SW6 4RBParsons GreenOpen in Google Maps
  25. WatchHouse Northcote Road28 Northcote Road, London SW11 1NZBattersea

Elsewhere

  1. WatchHouse Bath8 Old Bond Street, Bath BA1 1BWBath city centre, BathOpen in Google Maps
  2. WatchHouse 5th Ave660 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10103Midtown Manhattan, New YorkOpen in Google Maps
  3. WatchHouse Chrysler Building405 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10174Midtown Manhattan, New YorkOpen in Google Maps
  4. WatchHouse Park Avenue South287 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010Flatiron District, New YorkOpen in Google Maps
  5. WatchHouse Midtown East139 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10155Midtown East, New YorkOpen in Google Maps
  6. WatchHouse The ArcadesUnit 12, Galleria Al Khail, Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club, Al Karamah Street, Al Mushrif, Abu DhabiAl Mushrif, Abu Dhabi
  7. WatchHouse Saadiyat GroveSaadiyat Grove, Al Saadiyat Island, Cultural District, Abu DhabiSaadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi
  8. WatchHouse Marsa BoulevardMarsa Boulevard, Dubai Festival City, DubaiDubai Festival City, Dubai

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: WatchHouse