Covid start-up Rushden coffee shop wins national award

Rylan Clark, Jimi Famurewa and the rest of the judges were impressed by the cafe's work for the community

A coffee shop set up by a couple on furlough during the Covid pandemic has won a national award.

Happy Mondays, in Rushden, Northamptonshire, received Deliveroo's Beating Heart of the Community Award.

The owners had to impress a panel which included BBC radio and TV presenter Rylan Clark and BBC Masterchef food critic Jimi Famurewa.

The judges commented on the coffee shop's fundraising for local charities and hosting of markets and events.

Happy Mondays has been in Rushden's High Street since August 2021

The owners of Happy Mondays, Luke and Daniella Wood, were working in the hospitality industry when the pandemic lockdown began in March 2020.

Mr Wood said: "It was an industry that got hit really hard - we were sat around for months on end not doing a hell of a lot.

"So we used that time to put our heads together and create our own business plan."

Luke Wood said opening the cafe was the best thing he and his wife Daniella had ever done

The coffee shop opened in August 2021 and Mr Wood said it was "the best thing we've both ever done".

"We urge anyone who's thinking of starting their own independent business to take the plunge and do it because it is the most rewarding and wonderful thing you can do," he said.

The cafe was nominated by its customers and made it into the final shortlist, which Mr Wood describes as "absolutely mad".

As one of the finalists, the owners had to deliver a "pitch" to the judging panel.

Mr Wood said making the pitch about what the coffee shop has done for the community was "just the most surreal, scary, exciting moment".