Many great companies have re-branded Van Henri, our Citroen HY vintage coffee van, to great effect and have often been surprised at how little it costs.

But for a really low-cost way to make an impact with your brand, why don’t we brand the cappuccinos at your event?

That’s what we recently did for our friends at DPD in Lincoln, to celebrate 5 years at their major distribution hub there. And the coffee and morning pastry service went down really well as a ‘thank you’ to their drivers early in the morning…

Get in touch if you’d like us to do the same for your event, anniversary, birthday or …?

Our search for a star! – would you like to feature in our new videos?

Cafe Allez! is going to film three short videos, to promote our coffee shop on social media and elsewhere. The working title is ‘many journeys, one destination’. If YOU would like to star in one of these videos, please email us (mark@cafeallez.uk) or message us on Facebook as we are casting NOW! Don’t worry, they are non-speaking roles.Continue reading

We’re pleased to announce a partnership with The Regal Cinema, Melton Mowbray – arguably the best cinema in the country!

Card-holding Regal Cinema members can get a 10% discount on their order during weekdays at Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle, on production of a valid membership card *.

If you’ve not been yet: do make a visit to find out why The Regal is our favourite cinema. The building itself is a draw, it’s a beautifully restored art deco building. You’ll find the latest movies being screened, with regular live screenings of ballets, opera and theatre productions. The service at The Regal is consistently brilliant, as is the opportunity to take a glass of wine or beer and a generous slab of cake in to enjoy with your movie…

* This offer can’t be redeemed in addition to any other discount or offer and is valid for weekdays only.

I’m very aware that we haven’t shouted much, here or elsewhere, about the project that has been (almost) all-consuming for the team: Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle.

Now, exactly one month after opening our doors (see our first customer, Ali, below) and still with a to-do list as long as your proverbial, I’d like to share some reflections on what’s gone well, what hasn’t(!) and what we still want to achieve.Continue reading

In the midst of launching Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle (more of which soon), we were really pleased to partner once again with Butcher’s Petcare last week, for a marketing activation at Tesco’s head office in Welwyn Garden City.

Henri and the team were on hand to make sure that Tesco colleagues were well catered for with a barista coffee, hot chocolate, or tea of their choice. After which, we could hand them over to the Butcher’s team to grab their (actual!) doggy bag, to ensure their dogs got a treat on the day as well.

We love partnerships like this: providing a free (and very high quality) coffee for a customer’s staff is such a powerful way to engage with them … and for us it’s pretty gratifying to have the chance to make someone’s day.

Get in touch if you want a customer marketing / customer engagement experience on this level with a shot of Citroen HY vintage van style, I’m sure we could help…

Cafe Allez! is proud to announce the arrival of our third company vehicle, following Van Henri and Araminta (the Sprinter, our Mercedes ‘mothership’).

It’s a 1978 Carlton Professional Mk 5 bike and in our humble opinion, it’s a work of art!

There’s also a local(ish) connection: Carlton built most of their bikes, including this one, in Worksop, Notts.: less than 40 miles from our base.

We intend to ride and enjoy the bike this Summer and you should be able to spot it on display now and again at our forthcoming Belvoir Castle-based coffee shop.

Massive thanks to Michael of Michael’s Cycles in Scalford for the expert build-up, including a nerve-wracking fitting of the handlebar tape, which is genuine 1970s new-old stock and may be the last roll of this colour in the country! (No pressure, Michael).

For the technically minded: the Professional Mk5 was top of the Carlton range in ’78 and was a replica of the works team bikes of the day. This one is fitted with Mavic MA3 wheels, period-correct (and advanced for the time) Shimano 600 group set, and a Cinelli saddle. We put it on the scales and all in it’s 10.2kg, which is incredibly light for an old, steel bike.

It also has some pedigree having previously been owned by Cafe Allez!’s resident cycling guru Ollie Nuthall and having crossed the line first in the Eroica Brittania race when piloted by Mike Jones in 2016.

We’d love to hear your feedback on the original Cafe Allez! Racer…

A recent phenomena? No – coffee shops have been part of our culture in Great Britain for hundreds of years! Cafe Allez! embarks on a historical journey…Continue reading

Cafe Allez! and Belvoir Castle are delighted to jointly announce plans to open the first ‘permanent’ version of Cafe Allez!, to be sited at the old ticket office / cafe at the visitor car park at Belvoir Castle.

Cafe Allez! was formed by partners Mark Trevarthen and Claire Fretwell in 2017, providing a premium mobile coffee shop from their classic Citroen van, Henri. Van Henri became a familiar sight at Belvoir Castle last season, during which time, the Cafe Allez! team won a reputation for customer service, fabulous coffee and delicious cakes, scones and ice creams.

We fell in love with the location and enjoyed working with the Castle team, so making Belvoir Castle the first ‘permanent’ home of Cafe Allez! felt like the right partnership. We were thrilled when Her Grace, the Duchess of Rutland, agreed to our proposal.

As proud Vale of Belvoir residents, we can’t wait to bring our proposition to the iconic Belvoir Castle. Our existing customers know what we stand for: fabulous coffee, cakes and service. We’ll still be primarily a coffee shop, but we’re now able to provide a broader food offering (and shelter!) to sustain the many local villagers, cyclists, walkers, and Castle visitors we aim to welcome.

We’ll continue to cater for all including vegans and those who prefer ‘gluten free’ choices. Being near the rural capital of food, Melton Mowbray, it would be foolish not to showcase a good deal of our fine local produce. And just like our neighbour across the road, The Fuel Tank, we’ll be dog-friendly.

As for Van Henri, he remains a key member of the team as we intend to continue to cater for sporting events, corporate clients, weddings and more.

Her Grace, The Duchess of Rutland, said: “We look forward to welcoming Cafe Allez! to Belvoir Castle. The success of The Engine Yard retail village at Belvoir has been astonishing and The Fuel Tank restaurant, at its heart, is so popular that it’s often full to capacity. Having Cafe Allez! across the road will give customers and visitors even more choice and more reasons to visit”.

The opening date for Cafe Allez! Belvoir Castle will be confirmed shortly. Meantime, we will be looking to recruit a team of the highest calibre: so if you love cooking, baking and/or coffee and know how to deliver outstanding customer service, do email mark@cafeallez.uk .

You can keep up to date with plans on the Cafe Allez! Facebook and website.

March 2019: the centenary of Citroen automobiles!

Cafe Allez! is proud to join the celebrations as we continue our efforts to make Van Henri one of the finest examples of the iconic Citroen HY vans still on the road.

The Citroen connection goes way back for Mark from Cafe Allez! – his first car, which he also passed his test in, was a 1984 Citroen 2CV, a (very rare) Beachcomber special edition.

Mark has fond memories of this car: the ‘push / pull’ gearchange that took a while to master; rolling back the canvas roof all the way for star-lit drives in the Vale of Belvoir; slipstreaming lorries to get ‘free speed’ on the motorways and taking the back seat out for picnics.

He followed this up with another 2CV, then a Citroen BX 19GT, (the wedgy hatchback that was such a common sight on our roads in the ’80s and ’90s). He also persuaded his Dad to buy a CX, the big Citroen that still looks futuristic today and was the replacement for the legendary DS.

Citroen used to seem almost ashamed of their past but now they actively celebrate it – see for example their fabulous online, interactive museum, Citroen Origins, where you can take a virtual tour of every significant Citroen model produced (and some that weren’t!).

Meantime, some fascinating Citroen facts to impress your friends with:
Continue reading

This week has brought it home to us how versatile we can be with Van Henri. In the space of a few days, we’ve
– Taken a product sampling campaign (ahead of a major savoury snack launch) to the streets of London in partnership with Link Communication. The brief here was to provide our eye-catching, iconic Citroen HY van as a base for the team and as a draw for the public: no branding, no coffee service. Stealthy! We were able to site Henri at various high-footfall areas around London to enable lots of sampling opportunities.

– Been back to our happy Summer home of Belvoir Castle, this time to supplement the catering provisions for their superb inaugural Christmas market.

– Been the sole caterer for a nationwide specialist trade auction at Newark Showground, where our barista coffees, hot chocolates and home-made sandwiches went down a storm. (Truth time: we were nervous about this one as we were replacing a burger van that had been a fixture at these auctions for the last few years. For every one comment about the lack of hot food, I’d say we had 10 positives re. the food and coffee quality).

– Provided a morning coffee and home-made cakes / mince pie service as a ‘farewell’ gift for Tim Davis, a senior executive at ERT in Nottingham. A really classy move from a very genuine guy and one that was appreciated by all on a cold morning.

Contact us NOW to see what we can do (with Henri’s help) for your event, business, wedding, party, festival, sporting occasion…