Case Study
Juice bar, Out of the Woods, has certainly made a natural impression on the residents and businesses of Holbeck Urban Village.
The idea, a joint venture between co-owners Jon Baldwin and Ross Halliday, was to offer a healthy fast food alternative using fresh ingredients from local suppliers. The juice bar serves healthy offerings including sandwiches, salads, sushi and of course smoothies and juices.
Open from 7am to offer a healthy breakfast including muesli, granola, porridge and fruit salads, the enterprising duo have expanding their two year old company to include catering contracts with local businesses and conference venues and even healthy hampers to take away.
This is a juice bar with conscience. Not only is their mission to create a healthy Holbeck but almost all products will be made from fair trade and locally sourced ingredients. Cutlery is made by veg-ware who provide disposable bio-degradable utensils and recycled napkins for restaurants. The environmentally aware company have also refitted the shop, on the corner of Marshall Street, using reclaimed timbers and recycled materials.
Not content with being guardians of a healthy Holbeck, Ross and Jon also want to support the growing creative community in the local area. They appointed local design agency, Design Union, to create their unique brand. They also have a dedicated wall space for local artists and designers to showcase their work for sale, totally free of charge, with a different artist’s work on show every month.
Ross is excited about their venture: “We were looking for somewhere to start up our business and this area just seemed to have so much happening. We completed a survey of local businesses asking them if healthy alternatives would appeal and everyone seemed really excited about it. You get such a community vibe just from walking around the place and there is also a lot of history that seems to be being brought back to life. It is not just another city living scheme.”
Jon is so taken with the area that he recently took up residence in one of the apartments at the Round Foundry becoming the areas first live-work resident: “I recently moved to the Round Foundry as I had wanted to be nearer work for sometime. It is no use being environmentally friendly with the business if I then travel 20 miles by car to get here.”
