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Shop Hartlepool Blog

Welcome to the Shop Hartlepool blog, a great place to find out more about the amazing businesses signed up to Shop Hartlepool.

We want to shout about Hartlepool’s success stories and introduce you to the new kids on the block. You’ll find behind the scenes articles about local businesses alongside regular updates and news from the Shop Hartlepool team. 

We are always looking for great stories, so if you want to to be featured, or know a business who would, get in touch using the button below.   

The Seahorse Coffee House celebrate their 1st Birthday!

If you’ve walked along Seaton Carew seafront, you’ll likely have come across The Seahorse Coffee Box. A family-run, independent mobile coffee business with the perfect location to combine a  walk and a coffee. They sell locally roasted coffee and source their bakes from local providers as much as possible. 

After the roaring success of The Seahorse Coffee Box, the family opened a speciality coffee shop. A hidden gem at Seaton Carew, The Seahorse Coffee House opened almost a year ago to the day. Their double fronted Victorian town house is home to a coffee bar, The Seahorse Lounge, the Snug and an ‘Emporium’ selling coffee, coffee making equipment, bags and more. The Courtyard offers a great outdoor space to enjoy a coffee.

We spoke to Helen Gregory from The Seahorse Coffee House, about what makes their business special, their 1st Birthday plans and their favourite part about being a Hartlepool business. 

1. Can you introduce us to your business and what you offer

We are The Seahorse Coffee House, an independent, speciality coffee shop focusing on great, sustainably sourced, locally roasted coffee.  We do some canny food too!

2. What inspired you to open The Seahorse Coffee House?

After the success of the coffee box, we realised that Hartlepool and the surrounding area had a large population of coffee lovers, who were not able to get good coffee locally and were looking for more.  So many of our customers suggested we open a bricks & mortar that we decided to give it a go.  It had been a dream for many years, but never had the confidence to try.

3. Do you have a best seller and/or a personal favourite?

Our selection of coffees is my favourite thing about the coffee house.  We wanted to offer a wider choice of coffee beans and flavours and, and introduce people to drinking different coffee brewed in a variety of ways.  Every day our customers have a choice of 4 different coffee beans, each with a different flavour profile, for no extra cost.  We automatically make your coffee with the bean that best suits that type of coffee, but you always get a chance to try something different and new. 

4. What is your favourite part about being a Hartlepool based business?

I love that people visit Seaton Carew from all over the world, and the length and breadth of the region and the UK, and are surprised to find quality coffee and food on offer.  I’m proud to be able to help break the stereotypes of the north and change people’s perceptions of Hartlepool and the region. It’s been absolutely brilliant meeting so many interesting local people, and of course, their dogs!

Discover what the The Seahorse Coffee House has to offer

5. You mentioned your 1st Birthday is coming up, can you tell us a bit about what your plans are to celebrate?

We will be celebrating our first birthday over the weekend of 30th April-1st May. There will be lots of offers over the weekend and on the Sunday afternoon, we will be holding a just for fun dog show and adoption event for Maxi’s Mates rescue and Rehoming centre. All the money we raise will go to them. We will be giving people the chance to ditch the dairy and try a milk alternative at no extra cost.  We have a new plant-based product that might be a surprise too! 

6. What are your highlights from the first year of business? 

Every time we get someone to try a different coffee and they love it, it makes me so pleased! It’s an uncertain time to have opened a business, but the feedback we get every day makes me more confident that we can make a success of our business. I also love how people are more than pleasantly surprised when they find us and discover our lovely location and products.

7. What are your hopes/plans for the next year and/or beyond?

This year will be all about the coffee!  We have some new things in the pipeline, and will be running more Bartista Experience sessions, which are in demand. 

We as a team hope to welcome many more people to Seaton and to our coffee, and continue to offer our warm welcome and be a friendly place to meet up with friends or celebrate your special day!

Thank you to Helen from The Seahorse Coffee House for introducing us to their fantastic local business. We can’t wait to see the 1st Birthday celebrations this weekend and we are looking forward to seeing what the next year of business brings.

If you haven’t visited The Seahorse Coffee House before, stop by during your next visit to Seaton Carew. The perfect place to visit for a welcoming atmosphere, friendly staff and great coffee. Don’t forget that the Coffee Bar, The Snug and The Courtyard are all dog friendly making them a great place to stop for a mid-walk treat! 

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