The Walk Café (now The Walk) had been trading in Nottingham City Centre as an English tearoom since 2008.

I was approached by the new owner in 2011 to handle the rebrand of the business due to a change in business model.

The rebrand and reopening was a success but there was still a lot of work to do.

I continue to work with the business today as creative director and sole designer; personally designing all the deliverables as well as leading all marketing strategies.

The Walk Café had a very strong identity as a tearoom; famous for its afternoon tea and cake cabinet. It was well respected for what it did but it wasn't working as a sustainable business model. The luxury nature of the experience, its location and other contributing factors meant overheads were outweighing the turnover.

The idea was to change the concept of the establishment by raising its culinary reputation and attracting more regular custom over a longer opening period while maintaining elements of the previous business.

Due to the nature and conditions of the takeover the turnaround for the rebrand and refit was very tight. Not only did the design concepts have to be honed and designs finalised but the physical manufacture and installation of the deliverables such as signage and menus had to be in place for the relaunch so the pressure was on!

With no passing trade (due to its location) and respecting what the old café had achieved the challenge was on to deliver a smooth transition for the new model without rocking the boat too much!