If you're a follower of our newsletter then you'll know that Crankhouse is now in it's 4th home since it began in my single car garage back in 2013. The latest move wasn't unexpected since the building we were in in Fore Street in Exeter was sold to developers in early 2024 and it was clear that they had plans to develop the site into apartments at the end of the two commercial leases that were in place.. one for Crankhouse, the other for a curtain shop above us on the Fore Street side. These leases expired on October 17th 2025 and that became the deadline for finding and moving to a new home.
Of course, my coffee journey didn't start in my garage in 2013 but way before then back in Australia. I'd seen the birth of what was known as 'third wave coffee' in the mid 2000s with cool cafes and cool baristas as well as Italian influenced roasteries with large mechanical machinery and lots of noise and smells. It was intoxicating and the spark to do something different. As soon as we arrived back in the UK I bought a little Gene Cafe home roaster and started running some roasting club sessions and education events at one of the cafes I was working in. Here's a flyer from one of those first events back in May 2012.
That led quickly to investing in a very well used commercial Italian made roaster which by a mix of bad and then good fortune ended up in our single car garage in a residential area of Exeter. After much tidying up and replacement of some very worn parts with the huge help from a friend, the burner(s) were fired up and Crankhouse was a GO. In those days I put stuff down on an old wordpress blog site which I've just checked.. and it's still there: 'thecyclingbarista.wordpress.com'. Here we are...squeezed into a single car garage alongside bikes, an espresso machine for the weekly Exeter market, handwritten roast plans on a whiteboard and definitely no room to swing a cat (which is a very weird saying all-together).
As the startup business grew so did the neighbourhood complaints about the smell. Someone clearly didn't appreciate the aromas of coffee wafting over their laundry hanging in the garden and the nice man from the council gave me an ultimatum. Move or be shut down. I took the former course and moved to a converted barn on the edge of Dartmoor national park on a 6 year lease (with a 3 year break).
During that time the Petroncini got a deserved makeover and new burner and control unit courtesy of David T (if you know, you know), making it quite a special little machine.
I'd gone into business with some friends who wanted to run a cafe and the site was perfect to create that combined roastery-cafe space. We created a separate business entity for the cafe and that business grew rapidly alongside Crankhouse. It seemed like a perfect fit. By the middle of the lease term, the landlord had fallen ill and his family had decided to release the equity in the building and sell it. It sold immediately and by the time we'd been made aware that the building was being developed at the end of the lease and we'd need to find new homes it was clearly time for that relationship to come to it's natural end and for us to go our own ways.
I'd looked at various options for a suitable site for a production roastery that had reasonable public access for events and perhaps a little takeaway brew bar. One site I was extremely tempted by was on a large estate only 5 mins walk from the Quay in Exeter. But these were huge empty warehouse units, albeit recently refurbished. There were a couple of small units at the rear of the site but I wanted one facing the road that was accessible especially since a local beer brewery had taken the prime road-front unit and were going to have a tap-room with outdoor seating. The risk was high. Commercial property in Exeter leases for roughly £10-£13/sqm/pa and the smallest of the front units was 350sqm, another 450sqm. That plus rates plus service charge and a 10 year lease with a 5-yr break would have been huge. Huge in size, huge fit-out costs and huge in risk. I would have been forced to grow Crankhouse, build out a cafe with freshly baked pastries, seating and additional staff. Also, I'd be forced to grow the roasting business, reducing prices and offering machinery and servicing. More staff and more risk. Perhaps if I was in my 30's or 40's then that risk would have been worth consideration. But I wasn't even working in coffee during those decades of my life and speciality coffee was only just emerging towards the end of that period. My much better half (Becca) asked me a question "What on earth are you even thinking about this for ?".
The lease end date at Fore Street was speeding towards me and I needed to confirm a short lease extension with the new owner. I'd had it verbally agreed but nothing in writing and that was making me nervous. The building was sold again to another developer and he agreed to a six month extension with a 3 month break which I grabbed without hesitation. At the same time I'd seen a small 'white box' unit out near the airport at a small business park called Skyways. It seemed really small compared to the quayside units, only 100sqm. Fine if it was just going to be production and a little bit of green storage space but no room for doing anything else.. public cuppings, machine demos or having a nice space to do our quality control.. or even sit to have lunch. I mentioned to the agent that the only way it could work was to install a mezzanine. He smiled and told me to follow him next door to the adjacent unit with a building crew just about to strip and remove a full length, full width mezzanine. The head contractor said his remit was to scrap it and that I should have a word with the owner. I did and got permission (in writing) that if I paid for the removal I could have the mezzanine and do what I wanted with it. That was it. Decision made. I signed the lease immediately and the start date was October 18th, one day after the original lease was to expire at Fore Street.
During the Fore Street years I'd upgraded the Petroncini to my dream machine, a Loring S15 Falcon (aka Loretta). I'd had conversations with the Loring tech (Malcolm) throughout 2025 and he was aware that I would be moving towards the end of year. He allocated a week for me in his very busy calendar beginning 17th November and that became the target to get the site prepared to move everything from Fore Street including Loretta. Electrics, gas (LPG), plumbing and the mezzanine all needed to be in place prior to his arrival. It wasn't quite as simple as moving the mezzanine from one unit to another since they were mirrored in orientation and I also wanted a section of it removed for the roaster flues to pass up and out of the rear of the building (as well as creating a nice viewing platform above Loretta). That meant it went away to a local engineering firm Kenex to reconfigure and install. Then it was a matter of waiting and juggling tradesmen and their schedules to get them in in the right order immediately that the mezzanine was installed. That finally happened the first week in November and then it was all system go. Flooring on the mezzanine, electrics, gas and water for Loretta. Still lots to do but the basics were in place ready for Malcolm. That week of the 17th was a bit of a blur to be honest. We'd setup the old training room at Fore Street as a makeshift packing area and I left Jack and Fran to keep processing orders with a stock of roasted coffee.
Moving Loretta was one of those stressful days I'd like not to repeat. Kenex turned up with a spider crane to lift and move Loretta out of Fore Street onto a flat-bed truck, to which she was strapped and driven off to her new home at Skyways. We left immediately after and must have taken a more direct route and arrived ahead of her at Skyways. To see her emerge around the corner still upright and in one piece was a relief and then it was just standing and watching as she was lifted and moved again on the spider crane before being wheeled into her new position. Malcolm seemed quite happy with the setup and that all the services were in and working properly and started the flue installation immediately. Two days later he was testing Loretta and reconfiguring the burner for the change in gas (Natural to LPG). A few test batches to see how she was behaving in her new home and testing flues etc and she was ready to go by the Friday.
Jack and Fran joined me at Skyways the following week and we worked around boxes and crates and woodwork whilst Steve the joiner finished off the alterations to the packing table and built the brew bar and as well as Dave the electrician finishing lighting and power points. Slowly slowly things took shape and we had the beginnings of our new working space with lots more shelving, an extended packing space and our new mezzanine with the basics of our QC and training areas. It was still a shambles with boxes and 'stuff' everywhere but day by day you could see the transformation of this white box unit into a very cool roastery site with some retail space and a brew bar. Over the festive break Becca and I re-painted the floor, painted the bathroom and brew bar, oiled shelves and the brew bar worktop. When we returned to work on the 5th January the place looked incredible.
We've had a number of visitors in over this settling in period, some who knew the setup in Fore Street, a few who knew Crankhouse at Longdown and even a couple of people that had seen the setup in my garage. All have said that this new space is very impressive, feels welcoming and professional. A young chap came in last week saying he wanted to get into roasting and asked how much a setup like this would cost. Twelve years ago when I started roasting in my garage I would have had no idea of how I'd like my perfect roastery space to look. Not only that but I wouldn't have had a clue as to what sort of investment it would require. That all comes with experience and doing something for a while, seeing the ways others do things and working out your own ways. This latest incarnation is the culmination of that knowledge and experience and of course investment.
We ran our first public event in the space last weekend and I'm keen to do more and show off this new space. If you're in the vicinity or passing Exeter on your way East or West then please pop in for a coffee. It would be lovely to see you and show you our new home.
Thanks for reading as always
Dave