When most businesses struggled during lockdown, Rise’s popularity sky rockted
18:30, 21 Jun 2025Updated 19:13, 21 Jun 2025
Rise’s Jack Swire, Connor Wynn and Leigh Norton(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
A group of friends who wanted to find a good cup of coffee ended up launching their own brunch spot. Leigh Norton and Jack Swire have been friends for nearly 10 years, and they said they were fed up of average coffee and decided to take matters into their own hands.
The pair boast a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the hospitality industry, turning their hands to managerial roles in local restaurants and national chains. Leigh, 36, told the ECHO: “We used to drive from Lythom to Manchester to get a good coffee because there was nowhere to get one.
“We used to laugh because we tested places on whether they’d even say ‘hello’ or ‘goodbye’ to you and they never did. Little standards and atmosphere make all the difference.
“We were talking and we were both going to leave our jobs for somewhere new soon. I said I wanted my own restaurant and Jack said he wanted his own coffee shop. We both looked at each other and said ‘shall we do it together’. I thought we would start taking it seriously in a few months but he handed in his notice the next day.”
Neither Leigh or Jack knew how to run a business but it didn’t prevent either from hitting the ground running. They pooled £50,000 each of their own money, threw it all at a vacant business unit in Preston, and hoped for the best.
Inside Rise(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Leigh said: “We were debating opening in Preston or Southport but chose Preston because of the university. We had a Pinterest mood board and the name, which was originally Rise and Grind. We went to design the logo and the designer asked why the name was so long, we should just change it to Rise, and so we did.”
In 2019, Rise opened in Preston. The early stages were quieter than expected and the looming Covid-19 pandemic could have left the business with no chance. And yet once lockdown hit, Rise took off.
Leigh said: “It was really slow until March. Lockdown hit, our landlords wouldn’t help us with rent, and we had bills to pay. We thought it was the end before it even began.
Rise’s Jack Swire, Connor Wynn and Leigh Norton(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
“We decided to do takeaway coffee just to do something. A day later we had around 100 people queuing outside the door. Nowhere else was really doing takeaway coffee and it was the time when people were dying to get out there again. People heard we were one of the only places open and we were rammed basically every day.
“All of a sudden we were all over Instagram and the queues got bigger every day. We needed to bring all of our staff back because we were busier than we ever were when we were open. It was a full business venture just doing takeaway coffee. We started doing food too and from there that’s where Rise really started.”
Rise became an overnight sensation with customers lining the streets for a social natter over coffee. The team was nervous customers would lose interest once pandemic restrictions lifted but there was nothing to worry about.
Inside Rise(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Leigh added: “I was on the door, Jack was manning the coffee, and our excusive chef, Connor Wynn, was on food. It was really fun. The team we had in place was so fun to work with it was a really nice time all things considered.”
In 2021, during a staycation to York, the team stumbled across a candle shop named Rise. Leigh popped in for a look around without realising he would soon be opening the brunch venue’s second site in the same unit.
He said: “We were looking for potential sites to open the second venue but Manchester felt like too much of a big leap. We looked at York and there was this space that just opened. I asked if it used to be a candle store called Rise and it was the same place I visited years ago. It felt like too much of an obvious sign to ignore, so we moved in.”
Rise’s second site opened without the slow growth of its first. The early days saw customers pack out the venue, aware of the business’ reputation via social media.
Rise became an overnight sensation(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Leigh said: “We were a bit nervous moving into a new city because we had to start from the ground up again. This time was so much easier and we couldn’t believe it. People knew us from social media and were just happy to visit.”
Rise snowballed in success with a third site popping up in Preston, specialising solely in coffee for on those on the go. The fourth most recent site opened earlier this month in Liverpool city centre Exchange Flags square for the biggest undertaking yet.
Leigh, is originally from Liverpool, said: “We almost opened on Bold Street. We were looking at the unit where BamBoo is now but thought it was too small. When we look for a venue, it’s like buying a house. You won’t buy a house if you think it’s too big or too small, you need good neighbours, you want a nice neighbourhood, otherwise you won’t move in. We were nervous about Exchange Flags because it’s a little out of the way but we loved the venue.”
Rise’s Jack Swire, Connor Wynn and Leigh Norton(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
One of Leigh’s favourite parts of the Rise journey is sharing it with the team who he says are the beating heart of the business. He said: “Friendliness is so big for us. It was one of the reasons we hated going to coffee shops before we opened Rise because you wouldn’t get a friendly service.
“We try to make everyone feel welcome and valued but even behind the scenes, we act like one big friend group. I’ve known Jack and Connor for years, and the new manager, Dan, is someone I worked with in Turtle Bay. There’s all of these relationships throughout the company that wrap around each other and it’s nice to have that in a professional seeing. It feels more fun than business most days.”