Redemption Roasters is on a mission to reduce reoffending through coffee.

From a pipe dream to 10 London coffee shops and a roastery behind bars, we’ve come a long way since 2016.

Redemptions mission is to help ex-offenders successfully reintegrate into society. They train them in professional roastery and barista skills and then help their graduates to find work, either in their own coffee shops (of which they have five in London), or with their partners. And that’s exactly what they’re doing. Their 2019 report states that 100% of their London based graduates have found employment in their cafes (typically on a placement for between 6–12 months).

Discover Ted’s unusual entrepreneurial roots and the underground location of our first office. Oh, and how we became the world’s first prison-based coffee company.