When looking at refurbishing your café, a factor that most people think of when considering the furniture is how it will appear to their customers. It is important that the customers will be in a relaxed environment, with a soothing ambiance and a lot of this can be replicated by the type of furniture you choose. It is not only the décor that can affect the mood of the restaurant, but equally it is the furniture so obviously it is of the upmost importance that they work together. This may not mean that they have to necessarily match, they could contrast, but they must work well together.

Another factor that not many people may not of considered, is when planning their café environment is asking their employees about what they think. Most managers would be inclined to agree that keeping their staff content is one of the biggest factors in a successful business. It is almost if not as important as keeping your customers happy, as more often than not these are your customer’s first contact with the establishment and getting the right impression is key.

It can be quite beneficial in asking your staff what they think as they will and do spend most of the time on the front of house and know the place just as well as you do. They may be able to help advise you on what café tables and café chairs maybe best to suit your environment. They may also be able to help with the design and configuration of the restaurant, not only with the furniture indoors, but also outdoor furniture. They will be able to give you a good 2^nd opinion as this is the place they work. Not only this but it will help your staff to feel appreciated and feel like they are actually putting input into the place and which will give the a morale boost.

Weston-Super-Mare has always relied heavily on tourism with the area boasting a range of tourist activities. There is a rather vibrant café culture in the area, however new plans issued by the council may damage this. The proposed changes include, all food eaten outside is served by waiters, all outdoor furniture such as aluminium tables and outdoor chairs must be removed from Regent Street and food or drink cannot be served to anyone sitting down.

Businesses in the area currently holding street café licences were outraged by the proposals with one of the owners calling the new rules completely “gibberish”.

Café/bistro owners are worried that if they do not stick to these rules, they could have their licences revoked by North Somerset Council, whereas others, who own businesses on the Regent Street are more concerned with the business that they will lose particularly in the peak summer months.

A meeting held by the council’s licencing department, saw the discussion of the new rules, speaking at the meeting was Grand Pier and Waterfront Fish Bar owner Kerry Michael. He stood up for the café and business owners in the area saying that the new rules made no sense.

He added: “These plans are gibberish. That is possibly the widest thoroughfare in Weston, so if we cannot have tables and chairs there, how can they be allowed elsewhere?

“We want to be able to sell what we want to our customers, when they want and we don’t want the local authority telling us what we can and can’t do.”

It seems it was not only Mr Michael that was concerned over the new plans, Andreas Macrides, co-owner of La Costa bar and restaurant said that if the outdoor café furniture was taken away, there will not be enough space for people along Regent Street and more litter will accumulate as a consequence.

Following the meeting that was held on 8/11/11, officers will be having a consultation that ends on the 25^th of November where they may amend the proposal, however as it stands at the moment the changes will be implemented at the beginning of next year.

The world has changed (for better or worse, I can’t decide) since the invention of social media networks. Not only can you get in contact with people that you have not seen for years, but you can actually follow them and see what they are doing in their day to day lives. Not only has this but it been a good chance for business to advertise themselves with some even being able to contact their customers through networks such as Facebook.

There is one craze that has come from these the creations of such social media networks is pop-up restaurants. The idea is that groups are set up on Facebook or Twitter that potential diners can follow to find out the restaurants next location and make online reservations. When the spot is picked, the restaurant is set up with outdoor furniture whether it is folding aluminium chairs and café tables or just plain café chairs or café tables and then the area functions like a normal restaurant. After the diners have left, all the furniture is packed up and the area is cleared as if nothing had been there.

This type of “fine dining” is actually a great way of young chefs to show off their skills in the hospitality field. The reason for this is that the young professionals are given the opportunity to show off their skills to potential investors in the hope of securing some kind of restaurant in the future. It is not just open areas that pop up restaurants are using. It’s underused or abandoned warehouses and former factories as well as private homes. This is also a great opportunity for young chefs to get to use professional equipment giving them practice before using the real thing. It looks like this type of dining is here to stay so look out for one in a town near you!

You would have thought that cafes located near to the Olympic grounds would be pleased that the Olympic Games were being held near their grounds as the business received from the tourists would actually be beneficial, however you would be wrong. There are increasing concerns that the games would actually cause disruption to their business. Tom Seaton who owns a small café within a stone’s throw from the park commented:

“From the local community’s point of view, the sooner the Olympics are gone, the better,” Together with his sister Seaton converted a derelict warehouse into the Counter Café. The rustic rundown look was kept with most of the expense was invested in the café furniture, the café tables and café chairs. This has over time become a hotspot for the arty trendy community from Fish Island just across from the park located near to the café.

The Games will begin on the 27^th July 2012 and continue to through to the 12^th August. This means that during this period the area outside the stadium will be occupied by security and huge numbers of people. The likely situation is that he will have to close his outdoor seating area and bring in all of his outdoor furniture including his aluminium chairs and aluminium tables as the area will be too crowded. This in turn will decrease the amount of people he can seat and therefore decrease business. Who would want to sit outside and eat or drink coffee in the middle of a crowd?

Not only this, Seaton also owned another café very close to the main stadium is being forced to close during the games which will mean a loss of business in a peak time during the summer.

Peter Vlachos an expert on events management at Greenwich University believes that the businesses close to the games will suffer. Though there is little evidence to go on about the Games doing this, there is evidence on related research that suggests that those who own businesses that are close to the hub, even if it is a positive one, are likely to suffer.

It seems that while the majority of people will be welcoming the games next year, there are some that worry for their businesses and their livelihood. Some thought should be taken in trying to protect local businesses and perhaps even compensating them for the loss of businesses, particularly those that tend to thrive in the summer months.

There has been a huge increase of cafes and coffee houses in the past decade. The main reason is due to the increasing demand for them. Today the working public lead hectic lives calling for an increase in demand for places that people can relax and take a step back from their day to day lives, whether it be to meet up with fellow colleagues or friends or to just sit and read the paper for an hour or so.
So if you are a small business looking to open up a café/coffee house, how do you set yourself apart from the rest? How do you create an environment that people can feel relaxed in and want to spend their precious time in?
Unfortunately there is no right answer to this; however one of the biggest factors that you have to take into account is the type/style of the furniture. Café furniture is also one of the biggest (if not the biggest) investment you are going to have to make before opening, so as you can see, getting this right is crucial.
There are to main factors that have to be considered when purchasing café furniture. The first is the aesthetics of it, and the second is its functionality, but the question is which is more important?
The answer is that they are both equally important. You may have furniture that pleases the eye and could belong in an art gallery but if it doesn’t function properly or isn’t very comfortable then its pointless. On the other hand, you may have café tables and chairs that are comfortable and efficient, but if they are ugly or look horribly out of place with the surroundings, you’re not going to attract customers that are vital for your business.
Creating the right ambience within your establishment is directly related to your demographic. For example if you are looking to attract the younger generation, then it is worth thinking more about the aesthetics of the furniture, as youngsters are more interested in finding a trendy place to hang out. However if you are looking to attract the more adult and professional demographic, you may find it more important to think about whether the furniture is comfortable and meets the needs of people who wish to stay in an environment whether they just want to relax.
Fortunately there are businesses (such as Office Reality) that can help alleviate the stress of this burden. There are people that can give you honest advice as to what type of furniture best suits your needs and let you know of any businesses that are local to you that have similar furniture that meets your needs. As well as this the company has representatives that are able to come to you and give professional opinions as to the most suitable café furniture for you.

We have a comprehensive range of commercial poseur tables and bar tables to suit all applications. The Bistro Jazz poseur table has been one of our most popular bar stables and is highlighted buy the three chrome columns that are fixed around the stem of the table. The Favourite bar table has a folding frame which can be easily folded and is suitable where convenient and quick storage of the bar table is required.
This poseur table comes complete with a square 800mm or 700mm melamine top. The Easy poseur or party table easily stored within the footprint of the table top. The two piece column allows this table to be used at dining and poseur height to suit a variety of café furniture applications. This table features a chrome column and a base that incorporates a footrest. We have a number of mix and match options for poseur tables with often these table bases are also available in coffee table and dining table height. The tops for these tables can be accessed within the café table top section of our web site. One of the most popular poseur tables is the TB101 chrome circular base poseur table and Jem four leg poseur table base also in chrome. Other options include 
The Florida range of poseur tables which have heavy duty cast iron bases in a smooth or stepped design in silver or black and the Bermuda range of black cast iron poseur and bar tables which are held in stock for a 5-7 day delivery. We have the most comprehensive selection of bar and poseur tables available on line, please contact us for further information.

Tub chairs provide a flexible solution to any leisure area. Our comprehensive section of tub chairs includes leather, faux leather fabric and plastic tub chairs top suit all application. On our special offer section we are currently offering the OFO201 imitation black leather tub chair at only £99.00 this tub chair in stock for a 1-2 day delivery. Club tubs are available in vinyl and made to order for a 4-5 week lead in period again at only £99.0 there are 36 colours to choose from. Toledo leather tub chairs in brown, taupe, ivory, black, chestnut and distressed leather are offered with the option of natural or dark wood legs at only £159.00 there is also a two seater sofa in this range currently priced at 285.00. Plastic tub chairs can be found in the Fantastic plastic section our web site with the stylish Jam series of acrylic tub chairs available in 4 leg, cantilever and circular base options. Please call us for further advice on our tub chair collection.

We have a number of bargains on our special offers line hich we have added over the last few weeks Solid wood cafe tables are available in natural and dark wood finishes ant coffee table dining and poseuir height and prices start from only £79.00 with a 2-3 day delivery period. The tradituional Tristo leather sofa in a single, two seater and three seater option is vailable in a number of leather options including bugundy and brown. The leather is crib 5 rated for commercial use and with a single seater costing only £186.00 it is fantastic value for money. Also the stackable plastic ply chair the Saturn is on offer for only £14.00 reach for a minium order of 4. This is a verstile bistro and cafe chair with a contemporary style in blue or charcoal colours.  Other colours are available on special request. Please keep chacking our special offer line for other bargains which are often added on a daily basis