Franchise · Coming soon
Three shops in Leeds. The next ones won’t be ours.
We’re opening RAND to a small number of operators who want to run a specialty coffee shop properly. The programme is coming soon, and the waiting list is open now. We’d rather hear from the right people early than advertise later.
No commitment. No fee. We’ll come to you before we go public.
No 01 · Why
Why we’re opening the door.
RAND has been roasting its own beans in Leeds since 2010, and running its own shops off the back of them. Three of them now: Roundhay, the university, and the city centre, each pouring coffee roasted a few days earlier at our own roastery.
We’ve had the same conversation enough times to take it seriously. People walk into one of our shops and ask whether they could run one. Until now the answer has been no, because we hadn’t built the thing that would let someone else do it well.
We’re building it. This page is us finding out who’s out there.
No 02 · The offer
What you’d actually be getting.
Coffee from our roastery
Every bag comes from our own roastery in Leeds. You don’t source it, you don’t blend it, and you don’t guess at freshness. It arrives roasted days before it’s poured, the way it does in our own shops.
A shop that’s already been proven
The format works. We’re not asking anyone to test a concept. We’re asking someone to run one we already run, in a city we already understand.
Training from the people who built it
Our roaster and our shop teams train yours. Coffee, kit, service, the standard. Not a manual posted to you: actual time with the people doing it.
A brand people already know here
RAND is a Leeds name with a Leeds reputation. You’d be opening a shop customers already recognise, not explaining a new one.
No 03 · Where
Where we’re looking.
These are the cities we’re looking at.
- Leeds
- Manchester
- Sheffield
- York
- Harrogate
- Newcastle
- Liverpool
- London
If you’re somewhere else, register anyway. We’d rather know where the interest is than guess.
No 04 · Who
Who this is for.
We don’t have a checklist yet, and we’re deliberately not writing one before we’ve met people. But the shape of it is fairly simple.
- Someone who’ll be in the shop.
- This isn’t a passive investment. The shops that work are the ones with an owner behind the counter, at least at the start.
- Someone who cares about the coffee.
- You don’t need to be a roaster or a competition barista. You do need to actually mind whether the espresso is good.
- Someone who can fund it and see it through.
- Opening a shop is a journey, not a season. We’re looking for people who are fully committed to it and have the capital to see it through. We’ll be straightforward with you about what’s involved, and we’d ask you to be straightforward with us about where you stand.
No 05 · Next
How this will work.
You register your interest
Takes two minutes. Nothing is committed on either side.
We come back to you
A short, honest conversation about what you’re looking for and where you are. We’re learning as much from these as you are.
You see the detail first
When the programme opens, the people on the waiting list hear before anyone else, and before we advertise.
We meet properly
For the people it’s right for, a day in Leeds: the roastery, the shops, the numbers, and the people you’d be working with.
Register your interest
Tell us you’re interested.
No commitment, no fee, and it isn’t an application. It puts you on the waiting list: the people we’ll talk to first when the programme opens.
The honest bit
Questions we can’t fully answer yet.
What does it cost?
We’re not publishing numbers yet, and we’d rather tell you nothing than tell you a number that changes. Join the waiting list and you’ll get the detail as soon as it exists, before it goes public.
When will franchises actually open?
We’re building the programme now. We’re not signing anyone yet and we’re not going to rush it to hit a date.
Do I need to have run a coffee shop before?
No. It helps, and it’ll be part of the conversation, but it isn’t a requirement we’ve set.
Can I convert my existing café to a RAND?
Possibly. It’s one of the routes we’re looking at. Tell us about it in the form.
I’m not in one of those cities. Is there any point registering?
Yes. We want to know where the interest is, and if it’s somewhere unexpected, that’s useful to us.
Is this an application?
No. Nothing is committed on either side and there’s no fee. It’s a waiting list: the people we’ll talk to first.
Still roasting daily in Leeds. Now looking for the people who’ll pour it somewhere else.
Register your interest →