A Manchester start-up is marking its first year in business after growing from a Kickstarter project into a national coffee subscription showcasing independent UK roasters.

Vex Coffee was founded by two Manchester-based tech workers, Ross Jamieson and John Bradshaw, who began building the business as a side project after successfully completing a Kickstarter campaign at the end of 2024.

The idea for the company was formed during a drive back to Manchester from Wales, when the pair began discussing how difficult it was for many people outside major cities to access high-quality speciality coffee without specialist knowledge or travelling to independent cafés.

Vex Coffee Co-founder, Ross Jamieson, said: “The UK has a strong coffee scene, but a lot of people are still drinking either supermarket blends, or the same coffee every month. We wanted to make it easier for people to discover great coffee without having to know where to look.”

Following the Kickstarter campaign, which exceeded its £2,000 funding target, the pair began sending out monthly subscription boxes featuring two bags of speciality coffees curated and sourced from small, independent roasters around the UK.

Over the past year, Vex Coffee has grown its subscriber base by 250%, sent out thousands of boxes, and featured beans from more than 28 independent UK roasters, including Django, Dark Arts, Cartwheel, and Jolly Bean. The beans have come from over 18 coffee-producing countries, including Ethiopia, Colombia and Guatemala.

Both founders remain in full-time employment in the tech sector and continue to run the business in the evenings and at weekends.

Vex Coffee Co-founder, John Bradshaw, said: “Over the past year, we’ve seen steady growth in both subscribers and retention, and demand continues to outpace our expectations. This year, we’re aiming to grow our subscriber base by 300%, while keeping the close-knit community feel that we enjoy and our members value. Keeping our members happy will always be our top priority, alongside building partnerships with more UK roasters.

“Around 98 million cups of coffee are drunk in the UK every day, and people are increasingly interested in what they’re drinking, where it comes from, how it tastes and who roasted it. We’re trying to make that discovery simple. Alongside growth, we also want to increase our presence in the wider coffee community by attending more events and markets, expanding our network of great partners, and collaborating with more fantastic people across the industry to produce even more fun and interesting content.”

Each monthly delivery contains two different speciality coffees selected by the founders, who blind taste-test every coffee before it is included. Subscribers never receive the same coffee twice, and all the coffee is chosen to work perfectly as both espresso or filter, whole bean or pre-ground, and caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee.

Boxes are hand-packed by the founders and include tasting notes and scorecards intended to help customers better understand flavour profiles and brewing methods.

All coffee is roasted to order and dispatched at the start of each month to ensure freshness. Packaging is recycled and fully recyclable, and the company works exclusively with UK roasters who share its environmental values.

Alongside its standard Discovery Box subscription, the company also offers a gift version intended to bring new customers into the subscription through gifting.

The Discovery Box subscription costs £23.50 per month and delivers two speciality coffees each month. The gift subscription is available for three or six months, priced at £69.99 and £139.98 respectively, with each box carrying a retail value of up to £35.

Each first delivery includes a Vex Coffee scoop and clip designed to help customers measure coffee more accurately and keep it fresh for longer.