Kettle on the boil at Pontefract Cafe

Nigel and Yvonne Callaghan have recently celebrated their 40^th anniversary as owners of the Coffee Shop Caf� at Pontefract Bus Station. During this time they calculate they have served around 5 million customers, used 900,000 pints of milk and baked over 3 million bread-cakes.

And with around a thousand passengers using Pontefract Bus Station every hour, the kettle is always on the boil.

Nigel said:

��When we first opened in 1975, about 80% of our customers wanted a cup of tea, which cost 6p, while around 20% would go for a 7p cup of coffee! Today there has been a reversal with our customers now asking for early morning Lattes, Cappuccinos or Americanos and only 20% wanting a traditional cup of tea.�

�It does involve long hours, and I guess between us, Yvonne and I have over 260,000 between. However hearing customers telling us how much they enjoy calling in makes it all worthwhile.�

Nigel and Yvonne have also contributed to the various community days held in Pontefract Bus Station which have raised over �10,000 for the Prince of Wales Hospice.

Presenting Nigel and Yvonne with a framed photograph of the cafe, Cllr Keith Wakefield, Chair of West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee said:

�I want to congratulate Nigel and Yvonne on 40 years of first class service.

�Thanks to their hard work and the warm welcome everyone receives from Nigel and Yvonne, the Coffee Shop Caf� has become an institution at Pontefract Bus Station.

�Along with manager Liam and his team, they do a sterling job looking after the hundreds of thousands of passengers that use our Pontefract Bus Station every year and they always play an active role in the fundraising community days.�

Pontefract Bus Station is used by over 4 million passengers every year. As well as the Coffee Shop Caf� it also has a newsagent and provides baby changing facilities, cash machines, gents, ladies and disabled toilets, an Information Help Point, photo booth and public telephones.

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