Pair behind Take Two now Take Five with Diss coffee shop takeover

Going from clothes shop owners to running a coffee shop may be a big leap for some, but not for a pair of Diss entrepreneurs.

Caitlin Seale and Hannah Sidgwick, both 29, started Take Two Dress Agency in Mere Street in 2020, and moved their successful business down the road into No.8 Marketplace in August.

The duo have now expanded into coffee shops, having run the Take Five coffee shop, also in the shared business space of the former Beales building, for just over a month now.

Hannah said: “We took it over on October 17. We are getting there, finding our feet and the customers seem to love it.”

Caitlin added: “The feedback has been really good so far, and it has a nice community feel to the place – you can come in have a look around in the shops here, then have a coffee and chill out.”

The opportunity for the pair came about after a deal that would have seen someone else take it over fell through.

Hannah said: “After that, Alan Franks, who runs the Diss Community Team, was looking for people to run it and he made a passing comment as a joke to us one day that he needed someone in there like us two.

“I said to Caitlin ‘am I mad or would this be alright?’ and she said she thought we could do it, so we have.”

Since taking over, they have put their own mark on the place, such as putting in a window seat as well as sourcing local suppliers for their cookies and hot chocolate.

Caitlin said: “It has been a learning curve for us but we have got two great people we have employed working there now and we are just waiting to see what comes next.”

“We would like to give a massive thank you to everyone that has supported us. We wanted this space to become a real community hub where people could come in, meet friends, be there for local businesses and just enjoy it.

“So we are just really grateful that people seem to like it and have kept coming in time and time again.”

The Take Five coffee shop is open, Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.