Phone box entrepreneur becomes start-up ambassador

Saul Press said a loan, which helped him financially grow his business, also gave him the mentoring and support

An entrepreneur who started his business from the back of a bike and went on to open an off-license in a telephone box has become an ambassador for a start-up support firm.

Saul Press founded Beer Hatch in Norwich after he started cycling across the city and selling excess draught beer that breweries were struggling to sell during the Covid-19 lockdown.

Start-Up Loans then enabled him to purchase six draught taps to open a small bar and fridges - and he credits the company not just for the financial support but for the mentoring he received.

Speaking about his new role, he said: "I'm up there with a lot of awesome entrepreneurs and businesses I really respect... I didn't have any idea of setting up a business; it was just an idea in my head."

He added: "I seized the opportunity to start a little delivery business, popping out with the craft beers that the breweries couldn't shift because all the pubs were closed - so I would take the kegged beers and re-package them from my garage and cycle them round to people in Norwich who wanted to experience different beers."

Mr Press now owns the Beer Hatch shop, after growing his business from a Tombland phone box

At the time, he said pubs were doing take-away services; however, he wanted to "take that one step further" and found ways of delivering beer and drinks to people while also keeping them fresh from the kegs.

He said: "I saw a gap in the market for something like that, and also people who couldn't get out to the pubs and get their draught beer from there.

In August 2022, the business grew when he opened what was believed to be the UK's "smallest" off-licence in a red telephone box in Tombland, Norwich, stocked with more than 50 craft beers.

"At the time I had done a few little craft markets... there was an advert on the side of a phone box which said hire me and I had the stupid idea that I could hire it and put an off-licence in there with all the local craft beers."

Due to the success of this, in 2023, he opened his own shop and said the beer scene in Norwich was "truly unmatched".