Redemption Roasters is on a mission to reduce reoffending rates in the UK through coffee. We train prison leavers and people at risk of offending with the skills they need to gain secure and meaningful employment.

We provide professional coffee industry training, both inside and outside of prison with direct pathways to long-term employment. We currently run barista academies at HMP Pentonville and High Down, plus technician training, and a community academy for prison leavers and individuals identified as  ‘at risk of offending’.

These Participants then have the opportunity for employment in one of our eleven bustling London coffee shops. We also provide further support to these individuals, including one-to-one support from a caseworker.

The UK’s re-offending rates are amongst the highest in the western world, and it’s costly on both a national and personal level. 

42% of prisoners in England and Wales go on to commit another crime within one year of being released. Reoffending costs the Treasury an estimated £4.5 billion every year (£131,000 for every re-offender). Only 36% of prisoners manage to find work within two years of being released. If prisoners do find employment, they are 50% less likely to return to prison.

In 2023, we employed 30 prison leavers or individuals identified as at risk of offending, accounting for 20% of the Hospitality workforce. Our employed Participants had a 4% reoffending rate. 

* Statistics taken from the Redemption Roasters 2023 Social Impact Report 

No. Roasting coffee in a prison is expensive. The additional costs associated with more complex logistics, increased staff, education provision and management time means our roastery costs per kg of coffee roasted are higher than for comparable companies operating outside a prison. 

We do not achieve greater economic efficiencies through our prison-based facility; that’s not our aim. Instead, we recognise that the value for our business is in the unique story of social good behind our product and brand loyalty that it creates with customers.

Our business is successful because our customers and clients buy into our ethos, not because we have no costs.

Our business is successful because our customers and clients buy into our ethos, not because we have no costs.

Absolutely not, and yes.

Work initiatives in prison, generally speaking, are not as good as they need to be. Common examples of work done by prisoners in the UK are: sorting recycling or waste, mail-related manual tasks and call handling. There are some examples of educational work initiatives, especially in the building trade, but much more needs to be done.

Mundane work neither teaches hard skills, nor does it foster enthusiasm for work. Our training does both. We are teaching real skills to prison residents that they can immediately make use of upon their release, equipping them for an industry always on the lookout for staff.

Moreover, we provide direct employment opportunities for prisoners on release. You can read more about our outcomes in our most recent Social Impact Report.

All individuals in custody are compensated for work undertaken during their sentence in accordance with The Prisoners’ Earnings Act 1996, which can be reviewed here. As a company, we do not have any influence over the rates of pay for individuals while they are incarcerated, nor are we permitted to pay them directly. Our focus is on the meaningful opportunities we provide for education and employment after release.

We pay a fee to HMP The Mount to support our operations within the facility. A portion of this fee contributes to the compensation residents receive for their work. In addition, residents are eligible for a bonus, which is made available to them in full upon their release.

When we employ former residents post-release, they receive the same pay scale as any other employee.

Yes; tasting and appreciation (through drinking!) is a central part of any training we run, whether that be in barista training or at the roastery.

At the roastery, we run regular cupping sessions, where everyone can try the recent roasts.

As you would expect, we source coffee from multiple origins and farms across the world to find the best lots available.

We are able to source through direct trade, importers or collaborative importer partnerships. Whichever method we use, we have direct knowledge of the farms our coffees come from. All of them adhere to, and give warranties on, the strictest ethical principles.

To find out more sourcing information for specific coffees, visit individual product pages for information on sourcing, transparency and costs.

No, we are a commercial private company.

That said, our business is run on ‘profit for purpose’ principles; we do not consider commercial motivation to be contradictory to our social commitment. The success and growth of our business, directly leads to further opportunities for social impact as we are able to employ and support more people leaving prison.

We are currently exploring the opportunity of launching a charitable foundation to enable us to extend our impact above and beyond what we are currently doing to further our mission of reducing reoffending.

For any press enquiries, please email press@redemptionroasters.com

No, unfortunately we don’t take reservations at our coffee shops. 

Yes, you can, all our stores are dog-friendly and the vast majority have outdoor seating areas.

Due to the popularity of our stores, this is often difficult to facilitate and is something we would need to respond to on a case-by-case basis, depending on the location and the timings involved. Please email contact@redemptionroasters.com should you have such an inquiry.

If you are looking for small quantities, you can visit our webstore pages.

If you are a potential wholesale client, please visit our wholesale page and fill out the enquiry form to discuss how we can work together.

Several things: visit our coffee shops for coffee, buy our coffee for use at home or wholesale and follow us on Instagram to show your support. 

If you are a donor and looking to make a donation to the ‘Hardship fund’, or wish to become an investor please email contact@redemptionroasters.com.

Alternatively, just tell people about us!

For optimal flavour, we recommend you use our coffee beans within one month. This doesn’t mean you can’t use the coffee beans after this time but, after about four to five weeks, the beans will start to lose their flavour. For this reason, we date-stamp every bag of coffee before it leaves our roastery, so you know when your coffee was roasted.

To help your coffee stay fresher for longer, we send all our coffee in resealable bags. You should make sure the bag is properly closed to seal in the flavour. Alternatively, your coffee can be kept in an opaque, airtight container.

Our coffee bags are 100% recyclable, and sit within the recycling code no. 4. Recycling info can be found on the base. This code represents the plastic type, being LDPE plastic, and can be recycled at supermarket stores or curbside points around the city (in London for example this is mostly COOP, Tesco Metro). Local recycling rules can apply here and some local authorities offer various pick-up services. More information can be found here.

We receive a large number of requests from students to assist in their research, due to our Impact Team's work within prisons and our employment of those with lived experience of the criminal justice system. Sadly, we do not have the capacity to assist with each of these requests. Our Social Impact Report contains a vast amount of information about our work and is the best source of information we are able to share publicly. Redemption Roasters HQ is occasionally able to offer internships. Please email contact@redemptionroasters.com if you are interested in learning more about this. 

Yes, you can explore our current career opportunities on our careers page here.

No, you will need to sign up and/or login to the app and website separately.