New independent café Modern Standard Coffee opening in Edinburgh's Bruntsfield area

Unfazed by the pandemic, a Scottish coffee entrepreneur is boldly opening her first independent café in Edinburgh.
Lynsey Harley is opening her new cafe in Edinburgh very soonLynsey Harley is opening her new cafe in Edinburgh very soon
Lynsey Harley is opening her new cafe in Edinburgh very soon

It’s a difficult time for new businesses to say the least, but that hasn’t stopped a Scottish coffee brand founder from launching her own cafe in the Capital.

Modern Standard Coffee will be opening in Bruntsfield in early December.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Its founder, Lynsey Harley, set up the business with the aim of providing ethically sourced speciality coffee. The brand, which supplies coffee to the likes of Five Guys, Amazon HQ and Sainsbury’s, is one of the fastest growing speciality roasters in the UK.

Lynsey said: “It’s been a long-held dream of mine to return to Edinburgh, where I went to university and where I had my first job in a big brand coffee shop, and open my own café.

"When I left the city there was little or no coffee scene and then the industry just exploded. Ever since that first job my passion has been for coffee.

"I have been lucky enough to travel the world discovering and buying great coffee so I am very excited to be able to bring, what I think is, the very best coffee in the world to my old home-town. With our roastery based in Glenrothes, the beans don’t have too far to travel either.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The new café is based in 49 Barclay Place overlooking Bruntsfield Links, and is currently being renovated ahead of its opening.

Modern Standard CoffeeModern Standard Coffee
Modern Standard Coffee

“Adding some Danish design to Scottish architecture will make for a wonderful combination of old and new," said Lynsey.

"Our customers can expect a comfortable light filled space to relax and enjoy a bit of hygge. Opening with pandemic restrictions in place means that the café has been carefully designed to account for the welfare, safety and comfort of our guests."

The cafe opening comes as there have been fresh calls for consumers to shop local this Christmas.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Scotland Loves Local campaign, run by Scotland’s Towns Partnership and the Scottish Government, has found the number of shops trading online is rising sharply in the countdown to Christmas as they use every means possible to help customers and communities amid Covid-19 restrictions.

Get in touch with us if you have a business opening in Edinburgh and we’ll do what we can to get the word out.

Contact [email protected] or message us on social media.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.