Tim Sharp

His knowledge and bright mind inspires me to be a better version of myself every single day. His approach to coffee and hospitality challenges the status quo and helps me to understand where are we heading in this industry. Please enjoy a deep meaningful interview with Tim (Instagram: @tmthydshrp)

1. Why are you interested in coffee?

I guess what got me interested in coffee in the first place is the sheer diversity of interaction types that you can have over it. It is (when compared to having a meal) often a cheap way of inhabiting a space, and as such it’s a way for those in the hospitality industry to offer space to people from a variety of spaces. People looking for somewhere to sit and read, take a break from exploring a new city, catching up with old friends, having job interviews, the number of interactions it facilitates is fascinating. This has grown from the 17th and 18th Century coffee houses where intellectual elites would meet to debate and haggle to a place that can be co opted by anyone.

2. Your most memorable hospitality experience while travelling?

Hard question as I have many great memories which share a common theme, but one that stands out is a trip to Kotor in Montenegro that my wife and I took with a few friends. The first night there we were recommended a little place down the road from our accommodation, it was very much a local families house, with seating out on an old stone jetty, with views down the water to the city. Despite almost no ability to communicate in a shared language the host brought us food, wine (local, and by the litre) and when we managed to ask about dessert, which the restaurant didn’t officially serve, she brought us some cake from her families kitchen. Despite a complete inability to verbally communicate, this family showed us so much love and hospitality. Again and again while I’ve been travelling, or hosting those from other countries, regardless of a shared language, I have been cared for, and been able to care for others, through this industry.

3. Cafes are great at providing a space where we can socialise but what in your opinion makes some coffee shops successful and others not so much?

I won’t pretend to know the great secret, but something I’ve noticed is the tendency to narrow our vision in the industry to one kind of person, often someone who is very similar to us. Some people start coffee shops because they love coffee. Or pastries. Or tea. That’s great, do what you love. But doing coffee well is no real excuse for having a poor offering on your food menu, weighing your dry dose and timing your yield with espresso is of course important; blindly throwing tea leaves in a pot at erratic measurements and not timing your steep is just as grave an error if you want to be a place that welcomes more than just coffee enthusiasts. Do what you do well, all of what you do, even the stuff you have to push yourself to care about a little more than you want.

4. Coffee flavours are subjective, tastes in decor can be different so if it’s not the product or hanging plants in the coffee shop then maybe people make the shop so much more special and unique? What in your opinion are the great qualities of a shop team member?

Empathy, through and through. If you can see what a guest cares about, and push yourself to care about it too, then you’re going to excel in the hospitality industry.

5. What are the biggest problems in the UK hospitality industry you experienced recently and how can we fix them?

Rather than going into specific issues and trying to offer remedy for them, I try to focus on what causes those issues. As large chains try to take over the hospitality market, and new start ups are often looking for a quick expansion or sell, staff at all levels of the industry and being disenfranchised. Is it worth putting in the extra effort if you’re scraping minimum while you know that the head of the group that owns the chain you’re working in is putting away £2.5m a year, and if your shop excels that, in reality, only means bigger bonuses for those at the top. Smaller shops are not always innocent in this, but pushing to get Tronc systems in place in a wider range of hospitality businesses which means a real wage increase for staff working hard to increase the success of a business incentivises staff to care. Money is not the only incentive, allowing staff to have some input over the decor, menu, events, whatever it is they are passionate about, can encourage a sense that they are welcoming guests into their space, not the business owners.

Treating symptoms of disenfranchisement is largely pointless if the underlying root of these is going unnoticed.

6. We spoke briefly about coffee business and agreed that business is an extension of a business owner. I know that you’d like to open your own business in the future. What is your cause and how would you bring it to life within a coffee shop context?

I’m new to Cardiff, and aware that some areas are becoming saturated with coffee shops, many doing great things. Before I can give specifics in what I would want to see in a business I’d have to settle on what area the business would be opening in. Is it Adamsdown, in need of a space to unite people from a variety of ethnic and economic backgrounds? Is it Grangetown, in need of space that locals can co opt and meet in?

Wherever I settle (if indeed I ever do) I would want to be aware of what the community is lacking, what they have a desire for, and to seek to fill that void with something run with compassion and a shared vision with those who care for their local area.

Find Tim at Little Man Garage, Cardiff.