BEAR began with two lifelong friends, Craig and Michael, experimenting on a supermarket espresso machine that Craig had installed in his dad’s shed. Inspired by Craig’s travels in Australia and Michael’s Royal Marines background, they took on a derelict space in their hometown of Uttoxeter and opened the first BEAR there in February 2016. There are now nine stores, from Derby, Stone and Ashbourne to Northwich, Wimborne and Lincoln.
The Hockley store opened in 2023 as the seventh, a month after Ashbourne. It sits in Hockley, Nottingham’s creative quarter, behind a small red frontage among colourful shopfronts, and opens up inside into light rooms with coffee and cocktail nooks under a glass roof. The all-day menu runs from coffee and brunch to lunch, then small plates and cocktails in the evening, and the store serves plant-based soft serve, found only at Hockley, in sundaes and affogatos. Tables can be booked, dogs are welcome, and the Hockley Coffee School is a room that can be hired.
BEAR blends and roasts its own coffee. The Hometown Blend, its first, is used for most of the drinks across its stores, and the range is sold online alongside its own teas.
Coffee on the shelf
- Milk chocolate
- Sweet
- Butterscotch
- Dates
- Figs
- Sticky toffee
Photograph: BEAR