Jamie Bowley, founder of Crumbs cafe in Woodley, says he's excited as construction adds 14 flats to the Library Parade building that houses one of his cafes. Scaffolding is up but he says disruption has been minimal.
He said: "We are very excited about the redevelopment of Library Parade and feel it’s been long overdue.
"We have worked closely with our landlord since occupying the property, so whilst there has been disruption, it has been minimal.
"Woodley is an area which, as a whole (in my opinion), has not been invested in recently, so we are happy to have like-minded landlords improving the area."
Crumbs began at Library Parade in 2019 and branched out to the Oakwood Centre, the Woodley Town Council building, in September 2024, where it now has a publicly accessible bar.
"With Covid behind us and my alcohol licence in hand, I opened Crumbs as a cocktail bar in the evenings at weekends, called Crumbs Coffee in the daytime and Crumbs Cocktails on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening.
Both day and night concepts took off. An opportunity to take the vacant shop next door let them expand seating, add a kids play area in the daytime and a dancefloor for evenings. Crumbs Cocktails moved to private events only, they invested in karaoke and now host lots of private parties, from birthdays to anniversaries, plus DJs, comedians, quiz and bingo nights and even a belly dancer.
"I also met my now partner through the shop (she was a customer of mine) - shes very good at baking, so has now helped expand the offerings from Crumbs with the introduction of items such as our home-made Vegan/Gluten Free Banana Cake, which is very popular in the shop."
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
