SCOTTISH Olympic medallist Callum Skinner has unveiled the first high street presence for the business he set up with fellow Olympians.
The Rio de Janeiro cycling gold medallist teamed up with Owen Doull and Philip Hindes to set up 5 Rings, delivering sustainably-sourced coffee along with “the stories behind the roasts” direct to consumers earlier this year, and has now opened a café in a Meander clothing store in George Street, Edinburgh.
Mr Skinner said: “We started 5 rings in the midst of the first UK-wide lockdown, so that probably wasn’t the most advantageous time to launch, but it actually went really well for us."
READ MORE: Scottish Olympic medallist smells the coffee in latest business venture
He said: "We got a fantastic response and the demand we were getting really took us aback.
“So that gave us a little bit of confidence to bring it to the high street, which is a bigger challenge than launching an online business.
“We found some really good partners in Meander, which is a Scottish clothing company, so we have sub-leased a section of their pop-up.”
At least one of the champions will be in the café for a few days every week.
The new business has been funded equally by the three founders.
“What we are doing at the moment is dipping our toe in the water and seeing how it goes.
“Regardless, we have seen our online sales double since we started talking about the Edinburgh pop-up so it has helped our online business as well.”
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